Last week a group of more than 60 students taking Introductory Biology in the fall participated in the inaugural three-day BIO Boot Camp, which included both academic and social activities. Several faculty members from the Biology and ABEC departments volunteered their time to introduce students to a variety of critical skills such as how to take notes, how to study for quizzes and exams, how to take quizzes and exams, and presenting and interpreting data. After each introduction, students had the opportunity to practice the skill, even experiencing mini-lectures and taking a couple of quizzes!!
The social activities included a student mixer, a session to get to know the faculty, a meet the faculty dinner, game night, movie nights, and a break to watch the eclipse. The students can now tell you who, from biology and/or ABEC, has been skydiving, who has visited 45 states, who is in a viral YouTube video, and whp has danced in the Nutcracker.
Andrew Stewart, PhD, assistant professor of biology and the Canisius Science Scholars Program Director, was pleased both with the turnout and with the evaluations. The vast majority of the students said that they were happy with the program and would do it again. One common refrain was how nice it was to get to know the faculty before the semester started. Student surveys later this year will be used to refine the program, which was sponsored by Stewart’s grant from the National Science Foundation.
Submitted by: Sara Morris, associate vice president, Academic Affairs
