| Selected Learning Self-Assessmens. Student names removed, grammar / spelling errors not corrected. |
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(General Biology I Student, fall 2001) I can admit that when this class started I thought that it was boring and that I would not learn anything. Well I'm pleased to say that I really enjoyed this class. And I know that if I had taken this class with someone else I would have just memorized lectures, but I would not have learned. Even though I have done poorly with my exams, I did learn a lot. I learned that life has structure and organization. I learned about photosynthesis and cellular respiration. I learned about DNA and RNA. The most interesting thing I learned about was genetics and evolution. Before I always believed that we always existed as we are now. I heard that some scientists would say we evolved from monkeys, but I did not know why. Now I know that it is because they have fossil records of different primates. It is a little hard for me to accept the theory. But the evidence is real strong. Now I have to say that I had a real bad semester, due to other people in my life. So many times I thought of dropping this class. I wanted to give up. But I feel you pushed me into staying. When I started my goal was to get an A in this class. I believe I could have done it, but I feel I deserve at least a C. [The student received a B in General Biology I.]
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(General Biology I Student, fall 2001) I learned many things from this biology course. I learned that following instructions is very important. I learned that not all instructors will let you get away with misspellings. It took me about about ten years but I finally learned how to use a microscope correctly. I learned that we need plants to survive and how stupid we are as humans to keep tearing down the rain forests. I learned several important basics concepts, which I failed to learn in my past schooling (mitosis & meiosis). I also learned the four major macromolecule groups and their building blocks. I learned about evolution and how our DNA is almost identical to that of the chimpanzees. To be perfectly honest, I never cared to learn anything about science until now. I guess you could say I was learning and understanding these things for the first time. [The student received an A in General Biology I.]
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(General Biology II Student, fall 2001) I learned many things in General Biology II. One thing that struck me as odd is that many of the people in the class complained a lot. I have never taken a class where the instructor goes out of his way to provide the lecture notes and make them available to the students. This made the lectures easier to understand. People still complained that the material was hard to remember or learn. They should have been grateful for having in front of them all they needed to know to make a high grade in the class. This having been said, I am glad to say that I am not afraid of bugs anymore! I used to kill all insects I found crawling in any part of the house. Now I don't mind them being around, I just figure they are not out to hurt anyone and I just let them go their way. I found the sections in taxonomy to be the most interesting. I learned how to pronounce scientific names. Before I always had trouble pronouncing these long and complicated names. If I was reading a book that came across one of these names, I used to just skip over the name and ignore it. Now I stop and pronounce it correctly. After taking General Biology II I can say that I gained much knowledge that is going to help me understand my upcoming upper level classes. [The student received an A in General Biology II.]
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(General Biology II Student, Summer 2003) Attending General Biology II during the summer was a challenge for me because this course contains a lot of information that needs to be covered. Nevertheless, I learned more than I thought in four weeks. Before taking this class I had no idea that penicillin does not kill viruses. I also never seemed to care about what's really out there such as our current population, carrying capacity or global warming. It had never crossed my mind or rvrn took time to ask myself, what if? This class made me realize that we are the only ones that can make a difference in this world. I enjoyed it because it makes you wonder about the future. I learned so many things that I would have to start from the beginning to explain, other things I already knew, but served as a great review. Overall this class was very interesting and challenging. I was able to obtain a lot of information that will come in handy in the future. [The student received an C in General Biology II.]
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(General Biology II Student, Summer 2003) I really enjoyed this class and I learneds a lot of things. The first thing that I enjoyed from this class was learning the names of the bones. I really liked the lab test. I thought that all the tests were okay, although test 2 was over five chapters, which were over the kingdoms. I learned how to classify each organism, but most important I learned that in order to get good grades you need to be self-disciplined.
I had never taken a course during summer because I thought it would be a lot of pressure since you come everyday to class. I decided to take it and noticed that I do even better in my grades than in the regular semesters. I learned something very important this semester because now I know that I need to study more if I want a good grade in my classes.
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(General Biology I Student, Summer 2003) In this class I learned a lot. Even though I didn't pass any of the tests I still think that I learned something. I feel that I have more knowledge about biology than what I used to have. I now know more about how life started and how we reproduce and all of that. I am not going to say that I liked the class because it wasn't one of my favourites but I can't say that I disliked it either. What I liked the most was the chatting on Fridays. [Because you didn't have to come to class? -Instructors comment-] I had never had a class where we did that. Well no matter what, the class is almost over and it is going to be as part of a memory. It was a pleasure having this class (even though I'm going to have to take it again). [Students usually do better if they know their grades. Despite thinking he/she was not passing the course, this student received a B in General Biology I.]
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