Hope College Biology

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Biology Club

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Our Approach

We include students in our personal research because we believe that students best learn biology by doing biology.

Our Mission

The Biology Department is devoted to an integrated approach to the life sciences. This integration finds expression in our department first and foremost by teaching through research. Our primary mission, therefore, is to conduct this kind of teaching by supporting faculty in the establishment of vigorous research programs and by providing courses and a curriculum that center on inquiry. Inquiry at whatever level of sophistication is the integration of the facts of biology with the process of gaining knowledge. It is also our mission to integrate the whole range of biological diversity from the molecular level to the biosphere, and to integrate our knowledge of biology with its impact on our understanding of ourselves.

Each faculty member and student is expected to make the best use of his or her special gifts in a variety of activities that support our mission including:

  • Developing and offering courses of study that allow students to gain the best in biological education
  • Discovering new knowledge and disseminating it in peer reviewed publications
  • Securing of funding for research and curriculum development
  • Participating in scholarly conferences
  • Cooperating with other departments in efforts to integrate even more broadly than is possible in biology alone
  • Reaching out to share our expertise with those outside the boundaries of the college through authoring books, and conducting seminars, workshops and informal education in the community that spread our philosophy of teaching through research.

Objectives

The basic objectives of the Department's program are for students to:

  • Be active learners - that is to learn biology by doing biology.
  • Learn the basic set of principles and factual knowledge about each of the major areas of biology.
  • Learn to design, carry out, analyze, report and critique scientific studies.
  • Do in-depth study in at least one area of biology.
  • Recognize the role and limitations of biology in understanding and solving some of the major problems facing humankind.
  • Make ethical decisions regarding biological concerns.
  • Correctly utilize the major instrumentation and techniques of modern biology.
  • Understand and utilize both mathematics and chemistry in biological work.
  • Place biology within the overall context of the natural sciences, the liberal arts, and human endeavor.