Revamped biology major brings new opportunities

After two years of work Katie Weakland’s restructuring of the Biology major has been approved by the Academic Policy and Curriculum Committee (APCC). “I think people will be excited about it,” said Weakland, assistant professor of biology. The restructuring gives students majoring in biology more leeway in their electives as well as offering a Chemistry minor for Biology majors. It also provides a General Biology course. Senior Matt Sommer said he likes the restructuring because of the General Biology course. He said upper-level biology courses were slowed down by students that needed an introductory course to get everyone caught up to college-level science. Weakland said the General Biology course could be covered with an AP Biology test score of 3 or higher, which could be promising for students hoping to jump right into the upper-level biology courses. Some of the changes will allow for more efficient use of resources. Classes have been changed to include students of other majors—like mathematics—since, according to Weakland, “science is interlaced with mathematics.” As a result, class sizes will go up, fixing the problem of science classes with an insignificant amount of students. Some students disagree with the amount of electives offered with the changes. “People should be taking classes that are in their major, instead of having to choose so many electives,” said junior Lauren Strobel. She supported the restructuring in general, however, because the new classes will be “more suitable for the teachers.” Some courses, such as Mammology, are being taken out of the catalogue because they were geared toward professors that no longer teach at Bethel. Overall, Weakland is excited about the changes. She feels that professors in the science department are doing a better job than ever to prepare their students for complicated tests, difficult graduate schools, and complex careers. Weakland hopes that students graduating with a science degree will be up to the challenge of “bringing the kingdom of God to science.”