We have chosen to have a written comprehensive exam, an oral exam one
month later, and a proposal presentation/defense. And you are absolutely
right - some students do not understand evolution at all. Our written
comprehensive covers 5 areas, one of which must be general biology at the
level of a freshman text. One is in the student's specialty. The other
three are decided by the committee and cover areas related to the
student's specific discipline. So a plant ecology student might have
ecology, botany, population biology, and a specific exam on bryophyte
ecology (my specialty).
A list of 50 things sounds reasonable, if given broad enough scope. I
would probably go to the table of contents of several good biology books
to derive the list.
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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