Bachelor of Science in Biology

Science as a Way of Knowing

Our graduates can frame testable hypotheses and predictions. With expertise based on lecture material and prior investigations, students are expected to hypothesize the answer(s) to a testable question. Such hypotheses should provide the basis for detailed predictions of expected results.

Science as a Way of Knowing

Our graduates can design and execute investigations and perform analyses that address biological questions or problems. While predictions are an important first step, students should be able to correctly conduct their proposed experiments using available materials and methods in which they are trained. Once completed, they need to be able to analyze and interpret their results in a biological context.

Critical Analysis and Communication

Our graduates can communicate results of scientific investigations effectively, both orally and in writing.No matter which careers our majors pursue, they will need to be able to communicate in a professional manner to diverse audiences. Thus, we require our majors to present their scientific findings (e.g., from experimental or library research) in written and oral forms.

Critical Analysis and Communication

Our graduates can locate and understand appropriate literature in the biological sciences. In this era of frequent misinformation, careful reading from a skeptical perspective is critical to becoming an informed citizen. To this end, we teach our students how to effectively search scientific databases for the literature appropriate to the question they are investigating. We require our students to become proficient with challenging literature in the biological sciences by thoroughly reading each section and applying knowledge from their courses.

Critical Analysis and Communication

Our graduates can evaluate scientific arguments critically. As students build an understanding of the field, they are expected to compare and critique competing scientific ideas. Once completed, they must effectively argue for their own opinion based on the literature and/or their own data.

Working Knowledge

Our graduates demonstrate knowledge of two unifying themes: evolution and emergent properties, and demonstrate knowledge of biological principles at all levels of organization particularly cellular/molecular biology, organismal biology, and population biology/ecology.

Working Knowledge

Our graduates understand that biology involves the study of complex, adaptive systems that are subject to natural selective pressures, and that increasing levels of complexity can result in the emergence of new properties that do not belong to any of the individual components of that system. We also expect them to comprehend these tenets across all the levels of structure/function that are expressed in living organisms.