If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my time at the University it’s this: College-level introductory biology classes are fundamentally flawed and a waste of time and money for students and the University.
Introductory science classes serve to give students a general overview of an area of science before focusing on specific areas in subsequent classes. At first, this rationale appears perfectly reasonable. Students should be gradually exposed to scientific concepts before choosing a few they want to pursue.
However, a number of issues arise upon closer inspection.
Students should have the option of skipping these introductory classes if they feel their background is sufficient to make their choice of specialty without taking an additional class. Also, the broad scope of these classes encourages instructors to rush through important material, compared to taking an entire course devoted to just one subject.
Finally, exams and grades in these classes encourage memorization and cheating rather than genuine learning and understanding.
I believe students would be much better served by substituting these introductory classes with additional higher-level biology electives.
Introductory biology classes are almost always taught in massive lecture halls full of hundreds of students. Tests in these classes are almost always scantron or computer based. Most students follow a simple formula to pass these classes: memorize for the test, forget, rememorize for the final, forget forever.
Despite high quality instructors, the educational potential of these classes is completely undercut by their format. The rapid pace, large class sizes and test structure are not conducive to learning.
Students are so worried about memorizing minutiae as quickly as possible that they miss out on understanding and retaining underlying concepts. Instituting exams designed to test actual understanding, like essay or short answer questions, in these massive classes would be a logistical nightmare. But replacing these classes with a greater volume of smaller, specialized biology courses would allow professors to interact on a personal level with their students, encouraging understanding and passion for the material.
I understand the University is limited by accreditation requirements. But if those requirements force students to waste their time memorizing random facts rather than learning, it’s time for those requirements to change.
Most students who choose science-based majors come to college with a decent background in the basic sciences, so they already know most of what they’ll actually retain from these introductory courses.
I know some students prefer taking generic classes and predictable tests, but I would much rather spend my time and money in college actually learning rather than memorizing and forgetting pages of notes every semester.
Andrew Shockey is a 20-year-old biological engineering sophomore from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Ashockey.
 
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Contact Andrew Shockey at [email protected]