This statistical study was prompted by a desire to know more definitely just what courses are being offered in the field of Biology; to gain a better understanding and appreciation of some of the varied problems which are common to the administrative heads of Biology departments; to offer a bird\u27s eye view of curricular content to those students who are looking forward to teaching Biology or administering a department in some college devoted more exclusively to undergraduate rather than graduate study; and to obtain, with some degree of reliability, a standard of comparison for our own department

Walter, O. T.

English

University of Northern Iowa

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science Volume 39 Annual Issue Article 73 1932 Biology Courses in Fifty American Colleges O. T. Walter Macalester College Copyright ©1932 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias Recommended Citation Walter, O. T. (1932) "Biology Courses in Fifty American Colleges," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 39(1), 253-256. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol39/iss1/73 This Research is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Academy of Science at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. BIOLOGY COURSES IN FIFTY AMERICAN COLLEGES 0. T. WALT}~R This statistical study was prompted by a desire to know more definitely just what courses are being offered in the field of Biol-ogy; to gain a better understanding and appreciation of some of the varied probleri1s which are common to the administrative heads of Biology departments; to offer a bird's eye view of cur-ricular content to those students who are looking forward to teaching Biology or administering a department in some college devoted more exclusively to undergraduate rather than graduate study; and to obtain, with some degree of reliability, a standard of comparison for- our own departme11t. The data is taken from the more recent catalogues of the fifty colleges and universities listed below and from questionaires which were answered by the department heads of thirty of these institutions. The enrollment of these schools varies from a min-imum of 141 to a maximum of 1342 students, averaging approxi-mately 500 students. Since most of the colleges listed offer no work during the summer months it was decided to omit all sum-mer school students as well as all exclusively summer school courses from the tabulations thus unifying the study for the usual academic year Of nine months. Albany Alma Antioch Baldwin-Wallace Buena Vista Carleton Carroll Centre Coe Cumberland University Davis and Elkins Dubuque, University of Denison University Elmira Emporia Grove City Hamilton Hamline Hastings Huron Idaho Illinois Intermountain James Millikan University Jamestown John C. Smith Lafayette Lake Forest Lindenwood Macalester Maryville Missouri Valley Morningside Oberlin Occidental Ozarks, College of Park Parsons St. Olaf St. Thomas Swarthmore Tulsa University Tusculum Wabash Washington-Jeff er son V\T aynesburg vVestminster, Utah Wilson Wittenberg Wooster The courses listed below are arranged according to the fre-quency with which the major divisions are offered and under each 253 1Walter: Biology Courses in Fifty American CollegesPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1932254 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [VOL. XXXIX major division appear the subdivisions which are also arranged in the order of their frequency. Evolution, Genetics, and Eugenics ____________________________________ 41 Organic Evolution------------------------------------------------- 9 Applied Genetics-------------------------------------------------- 2 Botany - Genera'--------------------'------------------------------- 39 Systematic Botany ____ --------------------------------------------- 13 Plant Morphology _______________________________________________ 10 Advanced Botany_____________________________________________ 9 Plant Physiology ______________________________________ ------ 7 Plant EcologY--------------------------------------------- 7 Plant Histology and Cytology____________________________ 5 Economit Botany ________________________ -------------- 4 Plant Pathology_____________________________________ 3 Botany Seminar___________________________________ 2 Agriculture ------------------------------------ 1 Morphology of the Archegoniatae________________ 1 Botany Research-------------------------------- 1 Dendrology ------------------------------------ 1 Forest Botany___________________________________ 1 Geographic Botany __________________ ,____________ 1 History and Classics of Botany___________________ 1 Ornamental Plants------------------------------- 1 Physiology - Human~:...---------------------------------------------- 39 Physiology and Human Anatomy___________________________________ 5 Physiology - Advanced----------------------------------------- 4 Physiology and Hygiene--------------------------------------- 4 Human Anatomy____________________________________________ 2 Comparative Physiology _____________________ ~------------- 1 Embryology (Animal)----------------------------------------------- 39 Bacteriology ---------------------------------------------~---------- 36 Bacteriology - Advanced------------------------------------------ 4 Comparative AnatomY------------------------------------------------ 35 Anatomy of the Cat------------------------------------------------ 4 General Zoology __________________________________________ ---------- 30 Invertebrate Zoology _______________________________________________ 18 Vertebrate Zoology ________________________ ---------------------- 8 General Biology _____________________________________________________ 30 Histology (usually Vertebrate)--------------------------------------- 28 Michrotechnic and .(or) laboratory methods--------------------------- 17 Teachers Course or Special Methods--------------------------------- 14 Individual Course and (or) Seminar_ ________________________________ 14 Ornithology -------------------------------------------------------- 12 Advanced Phenomenology ___________ "------------------------------ 1 Ornithology and Entomology or Birds and Insects__________________ 1 Research in Animal Ecology or Ornithology_________________________ 1 Geology ------------------------------------------------------------ 10 Geology - Advanced---------------------------------------------- 1 Mineralogy ----------------------------------------------------- 1 Palaeontology ------------------------------------------------ 1 Entomology -------------------------------------------------------- 9 Hygiene ---------------------------------------------------------- 9 Hygiene and Sanitation__________________________________________ 2 Animal Ecology or Field Zoology____________________________________ 7 Biological Problems or Theory_______________________________________ 6 Development of :Modern Scientific Thought or History of Biology or Zoology ---------------------------------------------------- 6 Research in BiologY------------------------------------------------- 4 Microbiology ------------------·-------------------------------- .3 Parasitology ------------------------------------------------------- 3 Anthropology ------------------------------------------------------ 2 2Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 39 [1932], No. 1, Art. 73https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol39/iss1/731932] BIOLOGY COURSES IN AMERICAN COLLEGES Nature StudY-------------------------------------------------------Practical or Economic Zoology ______ , ________________________________ _ Science SurveY------------------------------------------------------Animal Behavior--------------------------·--------------------------Biology of Human Affairs--------~----------------------------------Biophysics -----~------------·--------------------------------------­Civic BiologY-------------------------------------------------------Tl.1e 9assics of Zoology ____________________________________________ _ D1etet1cs ------------------------------------------------------------Economic Vertebrates of N. Am.------------------------------------The Elements of Preventive Medicine _______________________________ _ Museum Methods----------------------------------------------------Advanced Museum Methods----------------------------------------~ ~~~fti~~i~~o~!..~!-~~~============================================== 255 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Public Heal th ________________ --·-____________________________________ 1 Zoology and Social Problems---------------------------------------- - 1 Total number of Courses offered--------------------------------- 75 It might be of interest to note that of the thirty colleges offering General Biology twenty-five also offer General Zoology either under the heading of General Zoology or under the headings of Invertebrate and Vertebratt: Zoology. A further analysis of the catalogue descriptions of these courses indicates that where both sourses are taught the General Biology is quite largely the cultural course for which no credit is allowed to major students, and Gen-eral Zoology is the pre-professional course required of major students and premedical and predental students. That seventy-five different courses are actually listed in the catalogues emphasizes the central position of Biology not only among the Sciences as such, but also in the College curriculum. Even a casual glance at the varied titles indicates the close relation-ship· to the Physical Sciences on the one hand, and to the Social and Mental Studies on the other. The methods of financing the laboratory work entail varied practices. In the majority of colleges all of the Biology laboratory fees are available and should cover the cost of supplies for the year. Some colleges provide additional funds for new equipment and student help, according to the needs of the department. One college makes no separate charge for laboratory fees, but includes the necessary sum for laboratory maintenance in the tuition fee. for each student. Another college charges each student an incidental fee of fifteen dollars which covers all laboratory fees whether a student takes one or several laboratory courses. Ont of this fee all the needs of the Biology department are met on a somewhat flexible budgetary basis. Research in progress during the academic year was reported by 13 out of thirty colleges. Of these three also reported research 3Walter: Biology Courses in Fifty American CollegesPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1932256 row A ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [VoL.XXXIX during the summer months. Seven colleges reported research for the summer months only. Ten Colleges reported no research on ac-count of an over-loaded teaching schedule. Four of the colleges financed the research entirely. In three colleges the research was financed entirely by outside sources, and in the remainder it was carried on quite largely at a personal sacrifice on the part of staff members. A correlation between the size of the teaching load and time for research is quite apparent. Perhaps from economic necessity and the predominance of un-dergraduate students, rather than from choice, the smaller college still places its major emphasis on teaching rather than on research. However, it is to be hoped that the teaching load can in time be sufficiently decreased so that every instructor will find it possible to devote at least a small part of his time to some form of pro-,ductive or creative work in a chosen field, the results of which would surely vitalize teaching, and stimulate the minds of the students with a desire to seek truth for its own sake. MACALES'l'ER COLLEGE, ST. PAUI,, i1INNESO'l'A 4Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 39 [1932], No. 1, Art. 73https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol39/iss1/73

Biology Courses in Fifty American Colleges

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