BS Program
Department of Biology
University of West Georgia
B.S. Degree Mission Statement
The mission of the B.S. Degree Program in the Department of Biology at the University of West Georgia is to provide undergraduate students the background knowledge and training necessary to pursue graduate education, professional studies, or employment. In pursuit of this mission, the Department of Biology offers a B.S. Degree Program with four defined tracks: general, pre-professional, secondary education, and honors track.
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General Track: The general track is designed to offer the greatest flexibility in selecting major courses, thus allowing students, who wish to specialize in a specific area of biology, to better prepare for graduate studies or employment in the specific sub-discipline.
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Pre-Professional Track: The pre-professional track is designed as a more streamlined program to prepare students for the standardized tests, entrance exams, and high performance standards required by programs in the medical and allied health fields.
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Secondary Education Track: The secondary education track is designed as a restrictive degree program which ensures that future teachers meet all state and national content standards for science education.
- Honors Track: The Honors Track is designed for academically gifted students who have qualified for admission to the University of West Georgia’s Honors College. Students in this track receive special advising, options to begin research projects as freshman, and opportunity to add special enrichment activities to acquire honors credit for virtually any course offered by the Biology Department.
The ultimate goal of the B.S. Degree Program in the Department of Biology is to promote the development of skilled professionals, effective teachers, competent scientists, and informed citizens to enhance the quality of life within the University of West Georgia’s scope of influence.
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Plans
Learning Outcomes and Expected Results
- To account for fundamental concepts and ideas across diverse areas of modern biology, including cell biology, molecular biology and genetics, organismal biology, and population biology, evolution and ecology. A student will demonstrate proficiency on standardized tests in at least three of the areas specified above.
- To demonstrate critical-thinking and problem based learning skills. A student will satisfy this outcome in one of the following areas: i) develop a new idea; ii) evaluate an area of science; iii) design, implement, or evaluate one or more scientific tests; iv) assess, interpret, or analyze scientific results.
- To communicate scientific ideas in either written or oral formats. A student will organize and present technical information in a manner that is appropriate for either a technical or non-technical audience.
Assessment Methods
- Learning Outcome I
- Students who enroll for Senior Seminar will take the GRE Major Fields Test in Biology
- Students who enroll for Senior Seminar will take the GRE Major Fields Test in Biology
- Learning Outcome II
- Whenever possible, subjective, critical thinking and problem-solving questions will be incorporated into exams, literature evaluations, assignments, and projects for all upper division courses regardless of sub-discipline.
- Upper level laboratory courses will incorporate experimental design and formal, subjective lab reports whenever appropriate.
- Undergraduate students will be encouraged to undertake research projects with faculty. Each research project will be evaluated with regards to critical-thinking and problem solving skills.
- Learning Outcome III
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- Students will be required to research one or more scientific topics and present the results in a seminar format.
- Students will be encouraged to lead laboratory or workshop activities.
- Students will be encouraged to present research results at appropriate scientific forums.
Administration and Use of Assessment
Biology assesses learning outcomes using perfomance data collected from majors graduating in an academic year. Data includes results of Biology Major fields test, exams, lab notebooks, awards and recognition, evaluations of performance as workshop or laboratory leader, evaluations of presentations, and other instruments as appropriate. Data is collected for a random sample of size sufficient to achieve 90% confidence in the results. Based o the analysis, the biology adjusts curriculum, personnel, and materials to meet standards outlined above.