BIOL 150 Curriculum Change - Q &A

I have put my responses below in red beneath each question. I have also consulted with Dean Sniezek to be sure he concurs with the answers. If you would like me to meet with you and the other counselors to discuss this further and answer additional questions, please let me know.

Below is a sampling of comments collected from the Counselors on the TP/SS campus: 

• If this affects enrollment perhaps it will be reconsidered.   

We realize that initially enrollment in BIOL 150 may be lower. However, it should stabilize after a semester or so.

• Do they have data showing that students are performing at a lower level?  

Students with a higher level of math do perform better in BIOL 150

•  Students will go to other community colleges to take A&P.  

      I'm not sure I understand this question, since BIOL 150 is already a prerequisite for BIOL 212 (A & P I). I understand that     faculty at CCs that do not have an intro biology prerequisite for their A & P course, wish that they did. In fact, at lease   anecdotally, any faculty member that teaches BIOL 150 and BIOL 212 or BIOL 210 will tell you that students that get a C in their BIOL 150 class usually end up with a D or F in BIOL 212 or BIOL 210. It is difficult to pull data on this, since you would have to look up each student in each class individually.

• Question:  are we saying that now Math 150 or higher is going to be a pre-req. or co-req. for BIOL 150? I am questioning mostly out of surprise about this change.  Am I reading it correctly?   or is the intent that just Math 117 or higher will now be a pre-req. for BIOL 150?  

      Currently, there are two tracks for math in our area: 1) Students going into nursing or Health Sciences take MATH 117. Students going into STEM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Engineering majors, etc.) take MATH 165, MATH 181 and maybe 182. If students have completed MATH 117 or MATH 120 + 020 or MATH 150 + 050 or higher then they will qualify for BIOL 150.

• If other schools do not have a calculus requirement those students who want to skip calculus may choose those schools which will definitely impact our enrollment. 

I do not understand this question. Nursing and health sciences students do not need precalc or calculus. STEM majors all need to take up through at least calculus in order to earn a bachelor's degree anywhere they go.

• I feel the change will deter students from many of these majors.  As I have matured, I appreciate math more, however, in my younger years I preferred taking accelerated or summer math courses since they seemed less painful. 15 weeks in a fall or spring session vs a summer math course, I only took that 1 math course in the summer! Enrollment is down as it is and this change will more than likely contribute to lower enrollment. 

Math 117 is the lowest math needed to graduate for non stem majors. MATH 117 or MATH 120 + 020 or MATH 150 + 050 is required as a prerequisite for BIOL 150. OR MATH 165 or MATH 150 as a corequisite, not calculus. If students cannot pass the classes at the level of MATH 117 (ALEXS cutoff of 30 - 45), then health science or STEM may not be a good fit for them.

• I think I’m just curious to know what their rationale is for this change. Has it been difficult for students to complete the course without calculus? Or are they changing the curriculum? I can see the Health Sciences, particularly nursing students, being impacted by this change. 
  
  
• MATH 117 or MATH 120 + 020 or MATH 150 + 050 is required as a prerequisite for BIOL 150. OR MATH 165 or MATH 150 as a corequisite, not calculus. 
• I teach BIOL 150 and can tell you that there are too many students that cannot do simple math such as average 3 numbers or solve for X in a simple algebra problem. They are not prepared for BIOL 150. Additional math preparation should increase the success rate of BIOL 150 and reduce the number of students that need to repeat the course. Therefore, students will save money.
• The need to increase the math assessment in BIOL 150  is critical for our STEM majors to keep pace with our 4-yr transfer institutions, principally UMD and UMBC. 

  

The biology equivalent to BIOL 150 at UMD is BSCI 170 which has the following prerequisite: 

BSCI 170: Principles of Molecular & Cellular Biology Prerequisite: Must have math eligibility of MATH120 or higher. Math 120 is Elementary Calculus I. 

The biology equivalent to BIOL 150 at UMBC is BIOL 141 which has the following prerequisite: BIOL 141 - Foundations of Biology: Cells, Energy and Organisms (4): Prerequisite: MATH 150, MATH 151, or MATH 155 with a grade of ‘C’ or better or placement into MATH 151.   MATH 150 is Precalculus Mathematics (4), Math 151 is Calculus and Analytic Geometry, and MATH 155 is Applied Calculus. 

Additionally, laboratory modules integrated into the lecture and laboratory curriculum of BIOL 150 as part of an NSF IUSE grant make it necessary to increase math assessment for student success.  Assessment into MATH 117 simply is insufficient to retain articulation with our 4-yr partners, and to improve student success rates. 

 

Valerie A. Lantz, Ph.D.

Department Chair of Chemical and Biological Sciences 

Professor of Biology
Montgomery College-Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus

240-567-3989

 

Advising for Biology-Related Programs: 

https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/BiologyDepartmentRockville@montgomerycollege0.onmicrosoft.com/bookings/

 

Advising for Chemistry: https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/ChemistryProgramAdvising@montgomerycollege0.onmicrosoft.com/bookings/