This photo was taken from the documents of special collections (Echo Board, 1950). This article reported about a curriculum survey with a specific focus on the biology department. The issue of the department’s curriculum was that its most common course, “Biology 1-2, ” was regarded as one of the “lesser evils.” This essentially meant that students without genuine interest in biology were enrolling in this course. At the same time, this course was filled with biology majors who were required to take this course for their major requirements. One of the primary biology professors at the time, Gordon Gates decided to address this problem through a curriculum shift. His solution was making Biology 1-2 based predominantly on human physiology. As he put it, “the most urgent need of each student was that he know himself.” His plan worked tremendously well. All students, whether they had a background in biology or not, now felt that they had experienced close contact with biological science and had some understanding of the functions and features of the human body. Gates’ methods were interpreted as a way to “stimulate real creative thinking among students,” a difficult task for many teachers specifically given the introductory nature of Biology 1-2.
Curated by Chase Holding