Results of the BUSAC Survey of Undergraduate Biology Majors, May 2001
Overview
This survey was developed by the Biology Undergraduate Student Advisory Committee (BUSAC), to assist the Biology Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. The survey was web-based, and advertised through email circulated to all current undergraduate biology majors during May 2001. The survey was a modification of a similar survey of biology undergraduates completed in 2000. 42 of the 88 current biology majors completed the survey (48%), including 14 freshmen, 9 sophomores, 12 juniors, and 7 seniors. These students were concentrating on premedicine (8), neurobiology (8), molecular biology or immunology (7), biochemisty (6), genetics (6), undecided (6), or other fields including computational and behavioral biology (4). Non-biology students who completed Bi1 are not represented in this survey.
Executive Summary
The results of an electronic survey of Caltech biology majors suggest general satisfaction with the biology curriculum, but single out a few areas requiring improvement. Student responses were generally consistent with the results from the 2000 survey. Students are most concerned by the introductory classes, the quality of teaching (both professors and TAs), and the dearth of lab courses and system- or organism-level biology classes. In brief:
Introductory classes
While students are satisfied with advanced classes, they ask that introductory classes be improved. Students are particularly dissatisfied with Bi 8, 9, and 122, asking for better teaching, TAs, less overlap, and more organization—many would like to see the three classes replaced with a yearlong course covering basic biology in a more comprehensive and united fashion.
“I would suggest making a yearlong introductory course that covers those things that Bi 8, 9, and 122 are supposed to. Everyone I know agrees that very little is learned in Bi 8 whereas Bi 9 is incredibly information-dense, making it tedious and frustrating. Material covered in Bi 9 is covered again in later classes anyway. I strongly think that a yearlong course would greatly improve our understanding of basic biology concepts, which are crucial in more advanced classes but are often lacking under the current system.”
“Bi8 is under-united. I spent maybe 12 hrs the whole term on it. But don't reduce the units; make the course better, with lectures that are relevant to the exams and exams we need to study for (i.e. not infinite time, closed book).”
“Restructure the curriculum so that students clearly understand the basics of biology after their first year.”
Teaching
Many students wish that teachers were more enthusiastic and that TAs were more stringently chosen and better trained, particularly for the introductory classes.
“There should be a more stringent selection process for TAs. Incompetent or unhelpful TAs make even the most interesting and best-taught class a nightmare for students.”
“The teaching must be enthusiastic if it is to be a good experience. [In my experience], Bi 8, 9 and 10 are regarded as the worst part of the biology curriculum…”
“Erin, Gilles, Ellen and Marc Konishi all teach only a few weeks of classes and are all good teachers. Get them to teach more and hire profs [who see teaching as a priority].”
Course improvements
Students would like to see more classes offered, particularly classes concerning macrobiology (anatomy, physiology, organismic biology) and lab courses. Students suggest that courses could be better distributed throughout the year by moving some classes from the overloaded second term to the near-empty third term and by staggering the biannual classes.
“Hire faculty who represent fields other than molecular biology and are interested in teaching.”
“ANYTHING at all on animals bigger than simple cells...it would be nice if the kind of material that is currently totally skipped over by the bio division that nonetheless appears on the MCAT and bio GRE were addressed somewhere...anywhere...”
“Advanced micro/cell biology lab.... something more advanced than Bi 10 that teaches you Flow Cytometry, southerns/westerns, tissue culture.”
“Don't make first term so crowded (Bi 150, 122, Bi/Ch 110) and be more sensible about not scheduling all the ones that are offered every other year in the same term and year (like Bi 188, 189, 190); third term is pretty empty—the distribution of classes over terms isn't good”
Detailed Survey Results
At the time the survey was given, there were 88 declared undergraduate biology majors at Caltech, of which 42 (48%) responded. Not everyone surveyed responded to all questions. In this report, the questions asked on the survey are denoted by bold, italic font. Where it is appropriate, the response is followed by the number of respondents in parentheses. Several questions required the respondents to rank their satisfaction with a particular aspect of the undergraduate biology program on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 denoted great dissatisfaction and 5 denoted great satisfaction. These data are presented graphically: the mean value is shown and error bars denote standard deviation from the mean.
Are you happy being at Caltech?
Yes 86% (36)
No 12% (5)
No Resp. 02% (1)
Are you happy as a biology major?
Yes 93% (39)
No 07% (3)
What is your field of interest in biology (premed, biochemistry, undecided, etc.)?
premedicine (8)
neurobiology (8)
molecular biology/immunology (7)
biochemisty (6)
genetics (6)
undecided (6)
other (4)
Figure 1. Distribution of respondents’ fields of interest in biology. The colors used in this figure are maintained throughout the report.
Rank your satisfaction with the biology curriculum in general
The ordinate of these figures shows the sentiments of all the biology majors who responded to the survey (hereafter referred to as students) as well as these responses broken down by class *figure 2a) and by concentration (Fig. 2b). The abscissa shows the satisfaction from a scale of 1 to 5 (very satisfied). This scheme is continued throughout.
Students showed slight satisfaction with the biology program with the exception of seniors, who were moderately dissatisfied (Fig. 2a). Students concentrating in molecular biology, immunology and genetics were most satisfied with the overall biology curriculum while students concentrating in premedicine and neurobiology were least satisfied (Fig. 2b). This finding correlates to a good representation of molecular biology and an under-representation of systems-level classes in the curriculum. Figure 2a (top) and 2b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the required biology and chemistry courses
This question did not illuminate any strong feelings of the students toward the required biology and chemistry classes. Though it is not statistically significant, there is an unfortunate trend toward increasing dissatisfaction as students experience more classes (Fig. 3a).
Again, students concentrating in fields that emphasize molecular biology seem to be happier than students interested in systems-level and organismic biology (Fig. 3b).
Figure 3a (top) and 3b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the introductory biology courses (Bi 8,9,12,122,150, Bi/Ch 110)
Introductory classes need improvement. All classes and concentrations lean from indifference to dissatisfaction with the introductory series. Freshmen are unhappy, possibly because they happen to be in the midst of those classes (Fig. 4a). Interestingly, seniors are consistently the least satisfied of all the classes.
With the exception with neutral attitude of students concentrating in biochemistry, all concentrations seem to think that the introductory classes need improvement (Fig 4b).
Though neither of these observations is statistically significant in most cases, it is a convincing trend, particularly when coupled to the responses students gave to open-ended questions. Introductory courses were frequently named as a major problem.
Figure 4a (top) and 4b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the advanced biology courses in your field of interest
Advanced courses, on the other hand, are fine. All classes and concentrations (even the seniors) ranked advanced classes highly (Fig. 5a,b). Not surprisingly, undecided students and those with atypical interests were the least satisfied.
This is intuitive, as advanced classes tent to cater to the interests of the students. After reading the students’ comments, one might also speculate that improved teaching plays a role in the students’ satisfaction. Advanced courses tend to be taught by knowledgeable professors who are interested in the material and communicate this excitement to the students. Students are aware that much of what they are learning is on the cutting edge of research.
Figure 5a (top) and 5b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the schedules of biology courses
Students that need to schedule many biology classes are dissatisfied with the process. This is evident by the relative unhappiness of sophomores and juniors, who take a greater number of required biology courses (Fig. 6a). The causes of their unhappiness are explained in detail in a free response question addressing this issue.
All concentrations with the exception of premeds seemed to be moderately unhappy with scheduling (Fig. 6b). This is an issue that needs to be addressed at a high level.
Figure 6a (top) and 6b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the suggested sequence of courses
Students seem to be more or less happy with the suggested sequence of courses, though they complain that a sense of direction is lacking, some prerequisites are inadequate and some advanced courses are easier than their prerequisites. As students gain experience with advanced courses, these problems seem to become more apparent as suggested by the trend seen in Figure 7a.
Most concentrations share similar sentiments about the suggested sequence of classes, except for students interested in under-represented fields. This can be seen in the rightmost column labeled ‘other’ in Figure 7b.
Figure 7a (top) and 7b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with how courses build upon each other
Satisfaction with the buildup of courses decreases dramatically as students experience more classes. Freshmen, with their limited experience, seem to be satisfied while sophomores and juniors feel neutral and seniors are dissatisfied (Fig. 8a).
Students concentrating in molecular biology, immunology and genetics are most satisfied, while students concentrating in neurobiology and ‘other’ fields are least satisfied (Fig. 8b)
Figure 8a (top) and 8b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the amount of overlap between courses
The breakdown of students’ satisfaction with the amount of overlap between classes strongly parallels their satisfaction with the buildup of courses, suggesting a common factor (Fig. 9a,b). A common complaint is that many professors are unaware of what material is being covered in their colleagues’ classes leading to unnecessary repetition and omission of important concepts.
Again, students grow increasingly dissatisfied throughout their time at Caltech. Neurobiologists and students concentrating on ‘other’ fields are dissatisfied with both the buildup and the amount of overlap between classes. Students concentrating in genetics, molecular biology/immunology or premedicine are moderately satisfied with both the course buildup and amount of overlap. Figure 9a (top) and 9b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the units assigned to courses
Students are generally pleased with the uniting of classes. There are no significant differences between classes or concentrations in this issue (Fig. 10a,b). For problems with specific classes, see the free response question that directly addresses this issue and asks the student to list specific classes.
Figure 10a (top) and 10b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the teaching by the professors
Students are neither strongly satisfied nor dissatisfied with teaching by professors overall. This holds true between classes and concentrations (Fig 11a,b). Many classes are adequate, some are taught exceptionally well and some are taught poorly. See the summary of student’s responses to the question “How could teaching in the biology division be improved?” for more details on this subject.
Figure 11a (top) and 11b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the teaching by the TAs
Though there are no strong opinions in any one group, there seems to be a trend toward dissatisfaction with TAs (Fig. 12a,b). Juniors and seniors seem to be more satisfied which is consistent with comments that teaching in advanced courses is generally better than teaching in introductory courses.
Figure 12a (top) and 12b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the helpfulness of professors
No group has strong feelings about the helpfulness of professors, though juniors and molecular biology/immunology students seem to be slightly more satisfied than average and neurobiologists seem to be slightly more dissatisfied (Fig. 13a,b). Professors are usually very open to students’ comments and questions, but students often lack the confidence to approach them. Student satisfaction is highest when the professor shows interest in the concerns of the class, as in Bi12.
Figure 13a (top) and 13b (bottom)
Rank your satisfaction with the helpfulness of TAs
Upperclassmen are slightly more satisfied with the helpfulness of TAS than freshmen and sophomores (Fig. 14a). This is consistent with comments that TAs in advanced classes are more knowledgeable and excited about the field than TAs in introductory classes. Students concentrating in pre-medicine are satisfied with TAs, but neurobiologists, biochemists and geneticists think that there is room for improvement (Fig. 14b).
Figure 14a (top) and 14b (bottom)
What single change to the biology curriculum would be the most beneficial?
The greatest concerns were in four areas:
1. A larger variety of courses are needed (11)
(molecular, premed, biochemistry, lab courses etc.)
2. Clearer direction for biology students, possibly split curriculum into tracks (8)
3. Better introductory courses are needed (mainly Bi 8, 9, 10 - esp. Bi 9) (6)
4. Teaching by professors and TAs should be improved (5)
Selected comments (grouped by topic):
“Adding classes on evolution, physiology, anatomy, and zoology”
“Making lab work a requirement - since it is the single experience that contributes the most to your knowledge and application of biology”
“Offering more classes [covering a] wider scope of biology . . . ”
“Offering more classes, too many are only offered in alternate years and then sometimes not offered”
“For premeds, more anatomy/physiology or immunology courses would be great!”
“Completely overhaul the curriculum. Tracks would be nice, and certain introductory courses must be improved”
“Restructuring the curriculum so that there is a logical progression of courses with only the necessary overlap. Many professors have no clue what is being taught in other classes and there does not seem to be a sense of cohesion between the classes and between the faculty”
“Maybe split up the biology option requirements like, for example, geology does, ie geobiology, geochemistry...we could have molecular biology vs. neurobiology vs. biochemistry etc. Or offer CNS as an undergraduate option. That would be great.”
“The teaching must be enthusiastic if it is to be a good experience. [In my experience], Bi 8, 9 and 10 are regarded as the worst part of the biology curriculum…”
Other concerns: