Critical Thinking and the Practice of Science for Biologists
This freshman year experience is designed for Biology majors. Students will work closely with faculty in the Department of Biology, which offers a dynamic learning environment, exciting research and training opportunities and intensive mentoring of students at all levels. The two courses (Biol 118 and 119) will introduce students to campus resources for study in Biology and to scientific reasoning and quantitative thinking in the biological sciences. Students will learn how critical thinking principles are applied in the biological sciences and how scientists present their results in published scientific papers.
How do I know if the Critical Thinking and the Practice of Science for Biologists FLC is right for me?
Topics to be covered in Biol 118 include using 'MySSU', literature searches and library skills, scientific thought contrasted with religious belief, interpreting graphs and tables, applications of simple statistics, modeling cell and population growth, and the methods and ethics of DNA forensics. In Biol 119 we will deal with alcohol metabolism, birth control and pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, scientific realism versus constructionism, Darwin's Origin of Species, ecology and evolution of the flu, and the use of genetically modified organisms.
Students in these freshman year experience courses will be co-enrolled in an introductory Biology majors course (Biol 121 or 122). This FLC is only available to students who are declared biology majors. For more information on the Biology Department, please go to their website.