Relationship Between Courses in High School Biology and General Science and the Grades of Students in First Quarter College Biology

Abstract

The present paper is an attempt to determine the value of high school courses in biology and general science in relation to grades obtained by first year students in college biology in the Southern University and A. and M. College, Scotlandville, La. During the 1939-1940 academic session the general biology course as offered by the Southern University was divided into three quarters. The Fall and Winter quarters of general biology involved the study of animal life, placing particular emphasis upon the structure, classification and interrelations of the several organisms selected as typical of their respective phyla and classes. The work of the Spring quarter was designed to acquaint the student with the fundamental principles of plant life. The course was presented in such manner as to develop for the student a proper understanding of significant elementary vital phenomena. Many of these fundamental biological concepts are emphasized in a well organized high school biology course. This study covers the grades obtained by 205 students in the first quarter of general biology. The final grade is a cumulative record of the student's attainment in laboratory, lecture and quiz. Four members of the university staff cooperated in offering this course. The grading system consists of the five letters A, B, C, D, and E, the latter indicative of a failure.