Upper-division Writing Requirement Review Form (2/14)
I. General Education Review – Upper-division Writing Requirement
Dept/Program
DBS
Course # (i.e. ANTY Distributed Model
Subject
455) or sequence
Course(s) Title
various
Description of the requirement if it is not a single course.
Students with DBS majors (Biology, Microbiology, and Medical Technology) take a combination of
courses to satisfy the Upper Division Writing Requirement for their Major. Typically courses are
offered as fulfilling either 2/3 or 1/3 of the requirement, and students take a combination of two or more
courses.
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Please type / print name Signature
Submitters
Charles Janson
and Kerry Bright
Phone / Email
243-5122;
charles.janson
@mso.umt.edu;
kerry.bright@u
montana.edu
Program Chair
Dean
Charles Janson
Date
CHS
III. Type of request
New
Renew X
Reason for new course, change
or deletion
One-time Only
Change
Remove
IV Overview of the Course Purpose/ Description
Students with DBS majors (Biology, Microbiology, and Medical Technology) will take a
combination of courses to satisfy the Upper Division Writing Requirement for their Major. All
of the learning objectives for writing courses will be achieved within each DBS writing course;
however these courses do not base 50% of the grade on writing, nor do they necessarily require
20 pages of written work. Therefore, we have sorted our writing courses based on % of grade
based on writing and number of required pages. Some of these courses are 2/3 writing courses
(at least 33% of the course grade will be based on writing; 11 – 13 total pages submitted), while
other courses are 1/3 writing courses (at least 17% of the course grade will be based on writing;
6 – 7 total pages submitted). Students, depending on their major/option, will take a
combination of at least 2 – 3 courses to reach the equivalent of one full writing course. Having
a large number of partial writing courses allows our diverse group of undergraduate students to
choose upper division writing courses that are in line with their own personal interests. It also
spreads the work load of teaching writing courses for our roughly 500 students among many
faculty members.
Courses that will be considered 2/3 writing courses are: BCH 486 (Biochemistry Research
Laboratory), BIOB 411 (Immunology Laboratory), BIOE 342 (Field Ecology), BIOE 371
(Ecology Laboratory), BIOM 411 (Microbial Genetics Laboratory), and BIOB, BCH or BIOM
499 (Senior Thesis). Courses that will be considered 1/3 writing courses are: BCH 482
(Advanced Biochemistry II), BIOB 410 (Immunology), BIOB 425 (Advanced Cell and
Molecular Biology), BIOB 483 (Molecular Phlyogenetics and Evolution), BIOE 403
(Vertebrate Design and Evolution), BIOE 406 (Behavior and Evolution), BIOE 428
(Freshwater Ecology), BIOL 484 (Plant Evolution), BIOM 402 (Medical Bacteriology and
Mycology), BIOO 320 (General Botany), BIOO 434 (Plant Physiology Laboratory), BIOO 470
(Ornithology), and BIOO 475 (Mammalogy). Syllabi for all of these courses (with the
exception of the senior theses) are attached. Senior theses are individualized courses in which
students write the results of their original research in a formal paper, under the guidance of their
research mentor. These courses are almost entirely based on writing (and re-writing), and often
include an oral presentation at UMCUR.
Learning Outcomes described below are for all DBS writing courses. The specific application
of these outcomes is listed in the syllabi for the component courses, attached.
V Learning Outcomes: Provide examples of how the course will support students in
achieving each learning outcome.
Identify and pursue
sophisticated questions for
academic inquiry
x Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
Typically in lecture courses, students are asked to pursue a question
that goes beyond what they have learned in the course, in order to
explore a topic in which they are interested. In laboratory courses,
students are often required to ask their own question, and to design
their own experiments (with guidance from instructors).
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
Find, evaluate, analyze, and
synthesize information
effectively and ethically from
diverse sources (see:
http://www.lib.umt.edu/libraryinformation-literacytables#Table2) Subject liaison
librarians are available to
assist you embed information
literacy into your course:
x Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
Students will use scientific database resources (e.g. literature search
engines) appropriate to the field of study. Students are expected to use
the primary literature for the specific field of biology related to the
course. They are expected to incorporate this information into their
writing (e.g. putting their findings in context of the literature).
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
http://www.lib.umt.edu/node/115
#instructors
Manage multiple perspectives
as appropriate
Recognize the purposes and
needs of discipline-specific
audiences and adopt the
academic voice necessary for
the chosen discipline
Use multiple drafts, revision,
and editing in conducting
inquiry and preparing written
work
Follow the conventions of
citation, documentation, and
formal presentation
appropriate to that discipline
x Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
Students are expected to understand and acknowledge alternative
hypotheses in their writing. When their writing is on a controversial
topic, they are expected to consider information from all sides.
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
x Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
Students are expected to submit papers that conform to editorial
guidelines of the journal(s) of the specific field related to the course.
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
x Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
Students are given an opportunity to revise at least one of the written
assignments, after the instructor has provided written and/or verbal
feedback.
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
x Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
Students are expected to submit papers that conform to the individual
style of the journal(s) of the specific field related to the course.
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
VI. Writing Course Requirements
Enrollment is capped at 25
students.
If not, list maximum course
enrollment. Explain how
outcomes will be adequately
met for this number of
students. Justify the request
for variance.
Briefly explain how students
are provided with tools and
For some classes, enrollment is capped at 25 or even fewer students.
Other courses have larger enrollments (up to 60, but most are closer to
30). All of these courses are partial writing courses, so there are fewer
pages to grade overall. In addition, the instructors of these courses
often have graduate teaching assistants to help grade assignments. A
further strategy to allow adequate attention to the writing component
is to have up to 25 students in a larger lecture class choose a higher
credit load that reflects the extra effort involved in a UD writing class.
We focus on concise scientific writing. We use some highly
structured examples to help the students see what concise writing
strategies for effective writing
and editing in the major.
Which written assignment(s)
includes revision in response
to instructor’s feedback?
looks like.
These vary considerably from course to course and are described in
the attached syllabi, but at least one assignment in each class will be
provided with detailed critique by class instructor(s), and students will
be allowed to resubmit a revised paper.
VII. Writing Assignments: Please describe course assignments. Students should be required
to individually compose at least 20 pages of writing for assessment. At least 50% of the course grade
should be based on students’ performance on writing assignments. Quality of content and writing are
integral parts of the grade on any writing assignment.
Formal Graded Assignments
These typically take one of three forms: 1) a critique of a published
paper in the field; 2) a synthesis or review of a topic; 3) write-up of
data acquired during a lab or field experience, including introduction,
methods, statistical analysis, and interpretation.
Informal Ungraded
NA
Assignments
Paste or attach a sample writing assignment, including instructions for students.
See individual syllabi
VIII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form.
The syllabus must include the list of Writing Course learning outcomes above.
Paste syllabus here.