BUSAC
Presentation to the
Biology Division
2005-2006
Introductory
Questions
Field of Interest
8%
18%
11%
Biochem
5%
Neuro
Undecided
Premed
26%
Developmental Biology
Other
32%
Are you happy at Caltech?
100
Percent of Happy People
80
69
69
60
60
38
40
40
20
0
Overall
Freshman
Sophmore
Groups
Juniors
Seniors
Are you happy as a
biology major?
100
92
Percent of Happy People
80
78
80
75
60
40
40
20
0
Overall
Freshman
Sophmore
Groups
Junior
Senior
Interesting Trends…
 More people happy as a biology major
than as a Techer (78% vs. 60%)
 People are happier with their major than with
the school as a whole
 Significant decrease in happiness during
junior and senior years
 What causes this downward trend?
Structure and Content
of the Biology
Curriculum
Average Satisfaction
Rating
.
8
Rating
10
6
6.0
5.6
3.9
4
2
0
Biology Curriculum
Intro Courses
1 = dissatisfied, 10 = satisfied
Advanced Courses
Suboption Choices
Suboption
Requirements
11.4%
25.7%
Suboption
Guidelines
62.9%
General
Requirements
Under-represented
Fields
Over-represented
Fields
Inappropriate/Outdated
Requirements
Anatomy
Anthropology
Bioengineering
Bioinformatics
Biophysics
Biotechnology
Botany
Developmental Biology
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Immunology
Physiology
Systems Biology
Zoology
Biochemistry
Microbiology
Neurobiology
Bi 8/Bi 9 ->
inappropriate only
because they do not
adequately prepare
students for the
advanced courses
(Although these
were noted as overrepresented,
students did not
want courses taken
away)
Student
Comment/Suggestions
 The suboptions would be helpful in giving
students a focus.
 More classes would need to be offered in
different fields for suboptions to work.
 There is student interest for the following
suboptions: biochemistry, computational
biology, molecular/cell biology, macrobiology, neurobiology
Mechanics of the
Curriculum
Scheduling
 Satisfaction Rating: 5.03
 Are Classes Appropriately Distributed
Among the Three Terms?
45%
Yes
55%
No
Scheduling (cont.)
 Comments:
 Introductory courses can conflict with core
 Not enough to do third term sophomore year
 Biology classes conflict with each other
 Recommendations:
 Move some first and second term classes to
third term
 Try to minimize time overlaps for biology
classes
Student Satisfaction
10
8
6.38
6.30
6
5
4
2
0
Sequence
Overlap
How classes Build
Class Units
 Overunited
 Bi 8 (took the course prior to this year)
 Underunited




Bi 117
Bi 122
Bi 123
Bi 145
Curriculum
 Comments
 Professors do not seem enthusiastic about
teaching low level courses
 Outlined “tracks” for students
 More macrobiology
 Suggestions:
 Create a system of suboptions with
guidelines
 Update information in the course catalogue
(Bi 8 & 9 listed as sophomore year classes)
Teaching and
Course Specifics
Student Satisfaction
10
8
6
5.64
5.45
4.68
4
2
0
Professors
TA system
Advisor System
Do advisors & professors
respect your opinion?
 Response:
Yes
Sometimes
No
 Comments:
 Sometimes appear annoyed or impatient
 Seem more concerned about their research
 Difficult to get in touch with them
Suggestions for
Improvement
 Increase communication between
professors and the TAs
 Review homework sets before they are
distributed
 Increase communication between
professors and students
 More office hours from the professors
 Publicize an ombudsperson at the beginning
of the class
 www.its.caltech.edu/~busac
The worst part about
being a biology major
 68% of the people that responded said
that the introductory courses were the
worst ones they had taken
 Comments:
 The intro courses do not prepare you well
 Too little macrobiology
 Professors are not passionate about
teaching
The worst part about
being a biology major
 Suggestions:
 Reorganize Bi 8 and 9 so that Bi 9 can build
off of Bi 8 or act as a continuation
 Introduce more macrobiology courses
 Encourage participation from the students
 Have publicized office hours
The best part about being
a biology major
 Bi 10, Ch 41, Bi 113, and Bi 117 are
common favorites
 Comments:




The research is amazing
You learn about the latest research in class
There are many options
The professors are better than in other
departments
Thank you for your
time!
If you have any questions or
comments, please feel free to e-mail
Neha at das@caltech.edu