An Evaluation of the Newer University Biology Core Curriculum from the Professional Viewpoint and Implications for Secondary Schools. An Evaluation of High School and University Biology Instruction 1960-1966

Abstract

for all undergraduate biology majors, including pre-professional students and prospective high school teachers. It was also agreed that a required core should not include more than 1 or 2 years of work beyond the introductory course, in order to provide adequate time for biology electives, work in related disciplines, and for the acquisition of a liberal education outside of the sciences. CUEBS (1965b, p. 8) notes that a basic assumption which was made in constructing the curriculum was that all undergraduate biology majors, irrespective of future specialization, would profit from having a common core of biological science. This core should offer the student a rigorous and sophisticated introduction to the principles of all important areas of modern biology and to various groups of organisms. Moreover, a sound background in chemistry, physics, and mathematics for all biology majors is also assumed.