I have often wondered if the general trend of allowing a 2.0 gpa for a biology major is appropriate. Essentially, if you GPA drops to far below a 2.5 you are essentially dead in the water. you will not get in a grad school today, nor will you get hired. I would like to see universities send a message to the studetns that higher standards are needed to make it through biology. Just a thought I'm throwing out there, I realize this is kind of changing the subject, but the door was opened by Kim, (Yeah, I'll blame Kim for this!!!! ;) )
Enjoy hearing the thoughts on this! On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Kim Cuddington <[email protected]> wrote: > Extremely limited or even no math requirements may be a more common feature > of biology programs > than you realize. For example, up until recently, my program required only a > stats course. It is my > understanding that this is an increasingly common approach for biology > programs. > > Partially as a result of my efforts, all our biology students now require a > math course, but it is not > necessarily a calculus course (linear algebra is an option, and non-calculus > physics for some reason). > Don't get me wrong, I think linear algebra is equally necessary, but many of > our ecology students opt > for the easier algebra course. Students from another environmental campus > program on campus > require no math course at all. Therefore, when I explain concepts as basic as > exponential growth in a > 4th year ecology course, I also have to explain the meaning of a derivative. > > Needless to say, I find the situation ludicrous. Educated students in ANY > science need to know what a > derivative is, and educated citizens, regardless of what their university > major, REALLY need to > understand exponential population growth. Math is not an optional part of any > education, let alone a > science education, but I've seen it being treated that way at at several > institutions. > > Kim Cuddington > University of Waterloo > (BTW this is a notoriously "mathy" school) -- Malcolm L. McCallum Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry School of Biological Sciences University of Missouri at Kansas City Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - Allan Nation 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! The Seven Blunders of the World (Mohandas Gandhi) Wealth w/o work Pleasure w/o conscience Knowledge w/o character Commerce w/o morality Science w/o humanity Worship w/o sacrifice Politics w/o principle Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
