0
SURVEY OF COURSES IN BIOCHEMISTRY A Committee Report GORDON H. PRITHAM Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania
IN 1944 a survey of courses in biochemistry was made
tinent to the survey, the remaining 94 representing either aninstitution a t which biochemistry is not taught or a specialized graduate course not within the scope of the survey. Therefore, this report is based on 295 courses in 264 different institutions. Eighty-six of these courses are given a t medical (71), dental (9), and pharmacal (6) colleges; 111 are offered by the larger public and private universities and technical schools (designated "Univ." in the report); and 98 are taught a t liberal arts (L. A.) colleges. Nine general courses given by medical colleges for students in ancillary fields are included in the data for the universities. The vocational goals of the students enrolled in these institutions are given in Table 1. In addition to general chemistry, which is required by all institutions, the following chemistry courses were listed as prerequisites for the study of biochemistry by the numbers of institutions given: qualitative analysis, 54; quantitative analysis (1 sern.), 136, (2 sern.), 13; organic (1 sern.), 88, (2 sem.), 182; physical, 19. The educational levels at which the beginning course in biochemistry is given are as follows (numbers of courses); graduate, 128; senior, 148; junior, 80; sophomore, 24; freshma,n, 1.
as the basis for the addition of tests in biological chemistry to those prepared and published by the Committee on Examinations of the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society.'~2~ Two tests have been written and published on the basis of the results of that survey. Since biochemical knowledge has expanded considerably in the past nine years a new survey seemed desirable. The results of this study, which was completed in August, 1953, are here presented in summary form; a copy of the complete report may be obtained from the author. These data will be used as the basis for new forms of the A. C. S. Cooperative Test in Biochemistry. Of the 450 questionnaires sent to colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, 389 (86 per cent) were returned. Of these, 295 carried data per-
' KING,K. C., AND W. J. L. WALLACE, "The 194748 college chemistry testing program," J. CAEM.EDUC.,26,426 (1949). ASHPORD, T. A,, "The testing program of the Division of Chemical IEducatian of the American Chemical Society," ibid., 25, 280 (1948). a PRITHAM, G. H., "Survey of courae9 and construction of tests in biological chemistry," ibid., 22, 84 (1945).
TABLE 1 Vocational Goals of Students in Biochemistrv Courses
Vocational
No.of
-No.of
No. of
No. of
noal
.stud.
rolrrrea
dud.
courses
stud.
1
642
46
278
Med.
Home Ei. (incl. Nutrit,inn) --------, Medicine (in Med Sch.) Pre-med. Med. Tech. Pharmacy Physiology Vet. Med. Zoology Otherst a
10
L. A.
Uniu.
,
No.of
Chiefly Animal Nutrition, Agronomy, Horticulture, and Dairy Husbandry. Education, Food Tech., Nursing, and Pharmacology. 482
Total
No.of courses
45
No.of stud.
930
Per
No.of
cent
eowses
7.0
92
SEPTEMBER. 1954
483
Of the 24 different textbooks in use, the leading six were listed, respectively, by 92, 61, 51, 39, 28, and 22 institutions. Despite the fact that instructors a t 92 institutions, chiefly medical colleges, prepared their own mimeographed laboratory manuals, 23 different printed manuals are in use. Of these, four predominate, being listed respectively by 62, 29, 26, and 15 institutions. The figures in Table 2 indicate that there has been little change in the length of courses in biochemistry during the past nine years, as the percentages of each type of institution in which a course of a given length is offered are nearly the same as they were in 1944.a The total number of class periods devoted to lecture and/or recitation likewise showed little change, as the average times are 67.7 "hours" (50-minute periods) in medical colleges, 54.6 in universities, and 46.9 in liberal arts colleges. The ranges are somewhat broader, however, as courses vary from 30 to 192 "hours" (mode = 60-80) in medical colleges, from 15 to 144 (mode = 30-54) in universities, and from 15 to 162 (mode = 42-54) in liberal arts colleges. At one medical college no formal lecture work is given. The total laboratory time varies from 60 to 384 "hours" (mode = 120-124) in medical colleges, from 24 to 216 periods (mode = 6W112) in universities, and
TABLE 2 Length of Course
Weeks
Univ.
Med.
L. A.
Total
from 24 to 216 (mode = 32-54) in liberal arts colleges. Laboratory work is not given a t one medical college, a t 16 universities and a t seven liberal arts colleges. The data in Table 3 indicate considerable variation in the relative amounts of time devoted to the various topics by the three types of institutions. In an attempt to make the test more adaptable to these differences in emphasis, future forms of the A. C. S. Cooperative Test in Biochemistry will be organized into four parts, uiz.: (a) topics common to one-semester (or quarter) courses and to the first semester (or quarter) of year (or two-quarter) courses; ( b ) topics included only in the first semester of year-courses; (c) topics common to one-semester courses and to the secoud semester of year-courses; (d) topics included only in the second semester of year-courses.
TABLE 3 Total and Average Distribution d Lecture Time
Med. ( N Topic
Carbohydrates Linids Prbteins Enzymes Biocolloids Phvsical chem Vitamins Digestion Micrometabolism Plant metabolism Animal metsbolism Hormones
=
84) .. Per
-
Uniu. (N = 101)
Pe7
Hrs. 661 385 733 346 116 254 211 279 298 92
Au.
cent
12.0 7.0 13.3 6.2 2.0 4.5 3.8 5.1 5.4 1.7 2.3
L. A. ( N = 90)
Pe7
Au. 5.5 4.1
5.6 2.5 0.9 2.0 1.8 2.8 3.4 0.8 0.6
Total (N = 675Y
cat
11.8 8.9 11.9 5.4 1.9 4.2 3.8 5.9 7.2 1.7 1.2
Urine Biol. oxidation Respiration Chemotherapy Antibiotics Antimetabolites Ion-HzO balance Minerals Tissues Othersb Hours for average course " Twenty responses failed to include sufficient data. Anal. methods, foods, nucleic acids, detoxication, e'nergy metab., acid-base bsl., isotopes, photosynthesis, plant pigments.
