Program Overview

Student Learning Outcomes

B.A./B.S. Biology

The B.A./B.S. Biology program at Kansas State University is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of biological concepts and principles. The program focuses on developing core concepts and competencies that enable students to succeed in their academic and professional pursuits.

Core Concepts

The core concepts of the B.A./B.S. Biology program include:

1. Structure and function: Understanding the structure and function of the basic units in the biological hierarchy, ranging from the molecular scale to the biosphere.
2. Systems: Understanding how living systems, their components, and their environments connect and interact.
3. Flow, exchange, and storage of genetic information: Understanding how genetic information is stored and inherited, and how traits of organisms are determined through the expression of genetic information.
4. Pathways and transformation of energy and matter: Understanding that biological systems grow and change by processes based on chemical transformation pathways, governed by the laws of thermodynamics, from the molecular level to the level of the cell, organism, and ecosystem.
5. Evolution: Understanding the evolutionary processes of mutation, natural selection, and other forms of genetic change that result in the diversity of life, as well as the evolutionary relationships and ecological linkages of living organisms.

Core Competencies

The core competencies of the B.A./B.S. Biology program include:

1. Ability to apply the process of science: Ability to pose questions, generate hypotheses, design experiments, observe nature, test hypotheses, interpret and evaluate data, and determine how to follow up on findings.
2. Ability to use quantitative reasoning: Ability to apply basic quantitative skills to biological problems by interpreting and acting on quantitative data from a variety of sources.
3. Ability to tap into the interdisciplinary nature of science: Ability to apply concepts and sub-disciplinary knowledge from within and outside of biology to interpret biological phenomena.
4. Ability to communicate and collaborate: Ability to communicate biological concepts and interpretations through a variety of formal and informal written, visual, and oral methods.
5. Ability to understand the relationship between science and society: Ability to evaluate the impact of scientific discoveries on society, as well as the ethical implications of biological research.
6. Ability to demonstrate proficiency in field or lab techniques: Discipline-appropriate ability to collect, analyze, and interpret observational or experimental data and apply results.