Vision and Change: Biology curriculum reform at George Mason University

Background/Question/Methods

At George Mason University, faculty responsible for undergraduate biology education are split among three departments and two campuses 20 miles apart.  Other problems include over 1400 biology majors but only 10 faculty dedicated full time to instruction, limited space and a curriculum that had not changed since 1989.  At the July 2009 meeting on Transforming Undergraduate Education, held in Washington, D.C. and sponsored by NSF and AAAS, Bruce Alberts asserted that the four “pillars” of biology were: A) Evolution/Biodiversity, B) Ecology, C) Cell Biology and D) Genetics.  Other groups writing about reform emphasized the need for students to become engaged in research, to analyze large data sets in their classes, and to become more proficient in written and oral communication. 

Faculty focus groups met regularly over two summers (2009 and 2010) to design a new “core” curriculum that would be required of all biology majors.  A consensus emerged that, in spite of the large number of biology majors, we must provide hands on laboratory and field experience for all students and evolutionary biology must be infused into all of these core courses.  In addition communication and data analysis must be emphasized.  As a consequence the core consists of: Cell Biology, Biostatistics, Genetics, Fundamentals of Ecology and Evolution, and Biodiversity.  All of these courses include a laboratory, a discussion section, or both.  Among the elective courses, students must choose two that include laboratories.

Results/Conclusions

This new curriculum, launched in fall 2011, includes all of Alberts’ pillars.  Several of the courses include extensive oral and written communication as well as data analysis.  The reformed curriculum required the university to provide 25% more Graduate Teaching Assistantships.  No formal assessments have yet been made, but informal evaluations after the fall semester stimulated extensive revisions in two of the courses.  Assessments are being designed and implemented.   

A second initiative to begin in fall of 2012 is a 15 credit “research semester” in which students will earn 9 credits for individual research, 2 credits for a research seminar and 4 credits for an experimental design course.