Goal 3.2 states that “students will be able to effectively communicate orally in multiple contexts within the discipline.”
In BIOL 288, we spent one class each week discussing scientific papers. We had to read the paper before class and be prepared to lead and contribute to a full class conversation. At first, I hated this because I was not confident in my ability to discuss high level material, but I became more comfortable with it as the semester went on. By the end of the semester, I was very confident in myself and I knew that even if I messed something up, one of my classmates would help me fix it. This semester in BIOL 455, we are doing something similar but each class a different student is in charge of leading the class discussion. I felt confident going into my first class as the leader because of the experience I had in BIOL 288. Leading these classes has challenged me because the papers are generally focused around ecology topics, which is something that I do not really enjoy. All in all, I feel confident in my ability to communicate, at least on a basic level, in all disciplines in biology. Learning these communication skills has also been useful for me during the dental school interview process. I am confident in my abilities to speak to others about issues in science, and have good conversations in general.
BIOL 251 Final Presentation https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/183kxUDYkJDXWdJLQxeYOPp7ARyTBz0YORzAfOs2ZUm0/edit?usp=sharing