Newsgroups: sci.bio
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca!mroussel
From: mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Marc Roussel)
Subject: Re: Introductory biology
Message-ID: <1991Apr29.170628.28608@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca>
Organization: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto
References: <1991Apr29.163115.2113@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1991 17:06:28 GMT

In article <1991Apr29.163115.2113@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
lamoran@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (L.A. Moran) writes:
>I did not recognize that Marc was excluding biology courses from his
>definition of "service courses". It is not clear to me why he has never
>heard of a "service" biology course since at most universities the 
>introductory biology course is the largest such course on campus. Most
>non-science students take biology to fulfill their science requirement so
>this means that a large number of students in introductory biology are
>not even science majors.

I'll admit that I have little idea of what goes on at the U of T outside
of my own department.  At my alma matter (Queen's University), there
were no science requirements for non-science students, and very few
physicists or chemists took biology.  The biology course was filled
with biologists and pre-med students.  I always assumed that it was the
same elsewhere.  I suppose that the pre-med students were taking biology
as a service course, although I'll admit that (for some reason) I never
thought of it that way.  (To be honest, having learned all my biology in
an ad hoc way, I can't intelligently comment on the way in which biology
courses are taught anyway.)  In any event, I'm more curious about what
people think of courses aimed at a specific non-major audience (e.g.
Physics for the Life Sciences).  Most of the people I've talked to think
that they're a deplorable necessity.  I can't make up my mind, thus
these postings to this forum.

				Marc R. Roussel
                                mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca