Request for help

[Janice M. Glime]

  Plants are a rare component in high school courses, typically occupying
about one week of the course.  In both my intro bio course and my botany
course, students complain that they have no background in plants and
therefore it is difficult for them.  When our department discussed
eliminating botany as a required course for our majors, many of our
students disagreed, saying students would not have taken it by choice, but
that it was a much needed background and they were glad they had taken it.
  With food additives, genetic manipulation, global warming, rising CO2,
depleted nutrients, biodiversity issues, and numerous other botanically
related topics constantly before us, it seems more critical than ever that
students need an integrated approach to botany.  We have kept our course,
require it of all students earning a teaching certificate in botany or a
plant science degree, and have a large enrollment of non-majors,
especially forestry and applied ecology.
Janice
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 Janice M. Glime, Professor  
 Department of Biological Sciences
 Michigan Technological University
 Houghton, MI 49931-1295
 jmglime at mtu.edu
 906-487-2546
 FAX 906-487-3167 
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