The course is taught by faculty. This is one of the required courses for biology majors. All major topics of genetics, except population genetics, are covered in the course. There are three lectures and one discussion per week. Grades are based on the total scores from three one-hour exams and the final.
Evolution is change in biological populations over generations.
In some semesters, the major workshop exercise includes presentation of papers from the professional literature by individual students. Grading is based on exams that cover lecture material. The text is used as backup to the lectures. This course satisfies the investigative lab requirement of the B.S. degree or a lab requirement for the B.A. degree. Goals include basic research training to allow students to have an idea of what scientific research entails, knowledge training to provide students with certain important principles operating inside the cell, and biotechnology training to expose students to modern techniques in cell and molecular biology.