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Does this seem like a reasonable amount of work for "Intro to Biology"?

CrazyHelloDeli

CrazyHelloDeli

Platinum Member
I just got the syllabus in my email and the required work is as follows:

Text BookWe work through the ENTIRE thing in 18 weeks.
5 quizzes + final exam
30+ page paper required
2 x 10 page papers
Read 2 chapters every night with 20+ questions each
The lab
one as of yet unnamed supplementary book to read through and answer questions.

I am not lazy or a bad student, but this seems absolutely absurd for a vanilla biology class at a community college.
 
That does seem absurd.

30+ page paper + 2 x 10page papers.

that would make me take a different course.
Especially for an introductory biology class..

(i was bio major)

If you need a science course, for a non bio major
look into Geology or something. Even Evironmental Sciences are pretty easy
 
From what I was told by my professors, there are a few classes to weed people out. Calculus is used for the engineering students and biology is used for pretty much everyone else.

Freshman Comp gets anyone that doesn't get caught by the first two.
 
Originally posted by: CrazyHelloDeli
I just got the syllabus in my email and the required work is as follows:

Text BookWe work through the ENTIRE thing in 18 weeks.
5 quizzes + final exam
30+ page paper required
2 x 10 page papers
Read 2 chapters every night with 20+ questions each
The lab
one as of yet unnamed supplementary book to read through and answer questions.

I am not lazy or a bad student, but this seems absolutely absurd for a vanilla biology class at a community college.
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I'd agree for a load at a CC.
 
I agree, that's a lot of work. However, it is on par with the work I had to do when I took advanced biology in highschool, using the same book.
 
Originally posted by: daniel1113
I agree, that's a lot of work. However, it is on par with the work I had to do when I took advanced biology in highschool, using the same book.
Click to expand...

Well if it was a school year, then yes, its reasonable. But this is a semester...
 
Haha I remember that Campell book...

WTF is wrong with your professor a thirty page paper?? Are you sure he wasnt kidding around? Other than that the work seems fairly standard. In my advanced bio classes nothing even close to thirty pages is required (Not yet at least)
 
Originally posted by: MikeSci457DC
Haha I remember that Campell book...

WTF is wrong with your professor a thirty page paper?? Are you sure he wasnt kidding around? Other than that the work seems fairly standard. In my advanced bio classes nothing even close to thirty pages is required (Not yet at least)
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Not a joke. If it's some ploy to "weed" out what he views as lazy or uninterested students then so be it because I'm gonna drop it before it starts. Guess I'll take geology with a lab (yawn).
 
Originally posted by: CrazyHelloDeli
Originally posted by: daniel1113
I agree, that's a lot of work. However, it is on par with the work I had to do when I took advanced biology in highschool, using the same book.
Click to expand...

Well if it was a school year, then yes, its reasonable. But this is a semester...
Click to expand...

True... however, many college courses cover in a semester what similar high school courses cover in a year. I still agree that it's a lot of work, though.

How many credits is this class, btw? 4?
 
30 page paper? bullshit

everything else looks fine. though 2 10page still a lot.


to be honest i really do not beleive it..
 
Seems about right to me. What did you expect? Bio can be complex but it really not all that hard. My advice would be to start at the end of every chapter, read the questions, then skim and look for the answers. Its amazing how much time you can save that way, plus its a good way to figure out what the key points are. You will fall asleep everynight reading otherwise. Of course you can just copy the answers from a friend but just know that you suck if you do and it will make the tests that much harder to study for.
 
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
From what I was told by my professors, there are a few classes to weed people out. Calculus is used for the engineering students and biology is used for pretty much everyone else.

Freshman Comp gets anyone that doesn't get caught by the first two.
Click to expand...

Eh... calculus shouldn't weed out anyone. Discrete math maybe. And biology isn't a required course for most people. I took physics as my science gen ed. It was mind blowingly easy.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Eh... calculus shouldn't weed out anyone. Discrete math maybe. And biology isn't a required course for most people. I took physics as my science gen ed. It was mind blowingly easy.
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Calculus and chemistry weeded a lot of people out at my school. It seems to depend on the teacher. Fortunately, I learn well by watching them work a problem or two on the board.
 
I'm a bio major and I never had to write a paper for any of my science classes. I've taken Bio 1 and 2, Chem 1 and 2, and Genetics and no papers. 😛
 
Originally posted by: mrkun
Originally posted by: JMoore
ratemyprofessor.com ftw

learn to use it. saved my ass a couple of times.
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ditto
Click to expand...

You may want to check the school's website too. My school has an evaluations page where they put up the end of quarter evaluations for each professor.
 
I once had a prof who did that, then he realized it would be a PITA to grade... so a week into the course, he changed it.
 
That's pretty much the workload for a general bio class built around Campbell's book.
At Berkeley Bio 1A is a FIVE-unit course, divided into both a lecture and laboratory section.
 
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