Big can still be small
I work with the faculty — Freeman, Bradshaw and Reusink — at the UW who teach Intro Biology and know that they are determined to maintain the high academic standards that biology is known for, while still creating a learning environment that promotes deep understanding — even with 700 students [“Taking intro to biology? At UW, you’re not alone,” page one, Jan. 27].
It wasn’t easy, but they spent considerable time redesigning the course. They had students sit with their lab section in predetermined classroom locations, teacher assistants (TAs) sat with their students, daily in-class learning activities were created, students worked in small groups with TA supervision to help master concepts and undergraduates were trained as peer TAs to compensate for lost graduate TAs.
By the end of the quarter, the faculty were calling on students by name and students knew each other. They all worked like “Dawgs” and accomplished their goals. Large classes do not have to be anonymous note-taking exercises, but they do require considerable staff support and dedicated faculty who don’t want students to pay for the budget cuts from Olympia.
We can make do for a while, but Olympia needs to realize that these students are Washington’s tomorrow and we need the resources to properly train Washington’s future scientific leaders.
— Mary Pat Wenderoth, principal lecturer, UW Biology Department, Seattle
Problem has been around since ’67
Your article about the crowded UW biology course brought back some unpleasant memories: 1967, 500 people in Intro to Biology, numbered 101 and 102. You had to take both quarters to get the 10 credits. If you only took 101 you got zip — even if you passed it.
First announcement: They graded on a curve, so there will be 50 As, 50 Fs, 100 Bs and Ds, 200 Cs. Fifty of you won’t be back for 102 [they said].
Second announcement: High-school chemistry or physics will be helpful.
Third announcement: College chemistry or physics will be more helpful — remember, it’s our first day of college; We’re freshmen and now we are panicking, but it’s too late to switch to another class.
The course was four hours of lecture — Monday through Thursday; Friday was review lecture, usually by TAs. There were two two-hour labs taught by TAs: nine hours of class per week for five credits.
For two quarters, this was easily the most horrible course at UW, which otherwise was a great experience.
— Carole Allen, Seattle
Will pay more taxes to remedy problem
The recent photo and article about the huge class sizes in some University of Washington departments was an eye-opener! 700 students in one class is obscene, and our students deserve better — and smaller.
It’s well-known and well-documented that students in smaller classes are more successful and they greatly benefit from more teacher and professor interaction.
I don’t expect university lecture halls to offer the same ratio of students-to-teachers as elementary schools, but 700 is absolutely unworkable and should not be tolerated.
Yes, I’d pay more taxes to help remedy this intolerable situation — one that is intolerable for students and faculty.
— Mary Kathryn Myers, Kent