New Course Proposal for
Anatomy for Kinesiology
Biology 13/14
1. General Information
School: School of Science
Department(s): Biology and Kinesiology Departments
Course Number: Biology 13/14
Course Title: Anatomy for Kinesiology
2. Justification for the Course
In previous years, the Kinesiology majors on the Health and Human Performance tract
were required to take BIOL15/16 Human Anatomy with laboratory as a prerequisite to
their upper division major courses. The BIOL 15/16 course included students from both
the Kinesiology, Nursing and Kinesiology programs. Due to the popularity of the
kinesiology major across campus the BIOL15/16 course could not accommodate the
growing number of kinesiology students due to issues with class size and limitations of
laboratory resources. The solution is to offer a separate anatomy course, BIOL 13/14
Anatomy for Kinesiology, to accommodate the kinesiology students. Thus, the
BIOL13/14 course is primarily designed to support the Health and Human Performance
tract students which requires the completion of an anatomy course for graduation.
A) Objectives of this course. The objectives of BIOL 13/14 is to introduce the students
with the structures of the human body. Course information/material will take a
hierarchical approach beginning at the cellular level and proceeding to the tissues and
finally organ systems. The course will use the “systemic method”, whereby students
learn about the organs/structures as part of their specific organ system. By the end of the
course students should be able to not only identify anatomical structures but understand
their relationship to the human body as a whole.
B) How objectives relate to Department, School or College goals.
C) Evaluation of students. For the lecture portion of this course students will be
primarily evaluated through 4 exams administered throughout the semester. The lecture
exams are a combination of multiple choice, matching, true-false, fill in the blank and
short answer type questions. The examination questions are designed to not only test the
student’s ability to memorize anatomical structures but to demonstrate their ability to
understand relationships between structures and to the body as a whole. For the
laboratory portion of this course students will primarily be evaluated through 3 laboratory
practical exams. Practical examination questions will evaluate the student’s ability to
correctly identify anatomical structures and understand the related information using
plastic models and cadaver dissection images. Weekly quizzes are given at the beginning
of each laboratory period. A final examination is given for both the lecture and
laboratory. Because the BIOL 13/14 course is a required course for graduating with the
Kinesiology degree the pass/fail grading option will not be available.
3. Student Population
This class is intended for Kinesiology majors in the Health and Human Performance
tract. We will limit this class to Kinesiology. It is expected that 50-70 incoming students
will be interested in the Health and Human performance tract. Thus, the BIOL13/14
course is expected to have a full enrollment of approximately 48 students each semester it
is offered. Due to the high demand of this course it will be limited to declared
Kinesiology majors.
4. Relationship to Present College Curriculum
The BIOL 13/14 course will be offered in the fall semester as a requirement for
Kinesiology degree majors on the Health and Human Performance tract. At this time,
BIOL 13/14 will only be offered in the fall semester. This is in line with current BIOL
15/16 Human Anatomy offering. Although anatomy is not a prerequisite to BIOL 25/26
Human Physiology, offered in the spring semester, the normal progression for many
students is to take anatomy in the fall followed by physiology in the spring. We have
found that a student’s performance in anatomy often times is indicative of their success in
physiology. Those students interested in the Kinesiology major typically take KINES 10,
Introduction to Kinesiology, the spring semester of their first year. After successfully
completing KINES 10 students can declare their major as Kinesiology. It is therefore
intended that students will take this course in the fall semester of their second year.
During the experimental offering of BIOL 13/14 in the Fall 2011 semester the lecture
curriculum mirrored that of the BIOL 15/16 taken by Health Science and Nursing
students. It was important to have the same topics presented with a similar expectation
of understanding across anatomy courses as the students will be combined in the BIOL
25/26 course. Being that the BIOL 13/14 course is titled “Anatomy for Kinesiology”
topics pertaining directly to the kinesiology major in particular are emphasized.
Although the same topics are presented in the laboratory (ie. BIOL 14 and BIOL 16),
BIOL 16 students are instructed on the use of cadavers while BIOL 14 learn using virtual
dissection computer software and plastic models. The reliance on virtual dissection
software and plastic models to explore human anatomical structures and their
relationships is not unique to the BIOL 14 laboratory here at Saint Mary’s College.
Many introductory anatomy courses throughout the country have moved to guided virtual
dissections and labeled plastic models to teach undergraduate students. Nevertheless, this
past semester the BIOL 14 students were able to dissect cow hearts in addition to their
instruction on computer software and models. It is expected that additional animal
dissections can be implemented in the future.
Beginning in the Fall 2012, Biology 15, 16 will be limited to Biology, Health Science and
Nursing majors.
5. Any Extraordinary Implementation Costs
Prior to the experimental offering of BIOL 13/14 in the Fall 2011 semester the School of
Science paid for 8 MacBook Pro laptop computers, 8 Anatomy and physiology Revealed
3.0 DVDs and plastic anatomical models to be used in the laboratory portion of the class.
Additional plastic models will be purchased using the standard laboratory fees paid by
students on a per need basis. These students were also able to dissect cow hearts that
were not used in a previous biology course. The heart dissection was a highlight of the
laboratory portion of the course. It is expected that the standard laboratory fees will be
used to purchase animal organs and/or organ systems in the future.
6. Library Resources
Please see attached documents.
7. Course Credit and Grading Options
The BIOL 13/14 course will be offered for 1 credit hour. For 1 credit students will be
required to attend 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of laboratory per week. To understand
the course material at the level in which the course is taught will require a significant out
of class commitment by the students. It is expected that students will need approximately
2 hour of out of class studying per 1 hour of class.
8. Prerequisites and Corequisites
At this time the prerequisites for the BIOL 13/14 course is the successful completion of
KINES 10 and the declaration of the Kinesiology major. In addition, it is proposed
elsewhere to also include BIOL 10/11 and CHEM 2/3 as prerequisites. BIOL 13 and
BIOL 14 must be taken concurrently.
9. Course Description Wording for the Appropriate College Catalogue
Biology 13
Study of the gross and microscopic structure of the human body. This course, which is
taken primarily by kinesiology majors, emphasizes the structural relationships and
functional aspects of gross anatomy, proceeds from the cell to tissues to organs. A strong
high school science background is recommended. Three hours of lecture per week.
Concurrent enrollment in Biology 14 is required for enrollment in Biology 13. Limited to
majors in kinesiology or consent of the instructor. Prerequisites: Biology 10, 11 (lab) and
Chemistry 2, 3 (lab) with a grade of C- or better in both courses. Does not qualify for
Area B. Does not satisfy the Scientific Understanding learning goal.
Biology 14
Laboratory to accompany Biology 13. Laboratory will be taught from human models and
computer images and simulations to allow students to learn about the human body. Three
hours of lecture per week. Must be concurrently enrolled in Biology 14. Limited to
majors in kinesiology or consent of the instructor. Does not qualify for Area B.
10. Course Content
Please see attached BIOL 13/14 syllabus from the Fall 2011 semester.
11. Review of Experimental Offering
The BIOL 13/14 class was offered on an experimental basis during the fall 2011
semester. Initial enrollment for the lecture was full at 48 students. All three laboratory
sections were full at 16 students each. Several students who were declared Kinesiology
majors were unable to enroll in the course due to limited classroom space and laboratory
resources. Thirteen students dropped the course, primarily in response to their poor
midterm grade reports. The grade distribution was as follows: A= 2; B= 5; C= 15; D=
10; F= 3. This grade distribution was similar to that found previously for Kinesiology
students in the BIOL 15/16 course. Thus, reinforcing the need for BIOL 10/11 and
CHEM 2/3 as prerequisites to better prepare students for this course.