This is an upper-level specialty biology course with small class sizes (8-12 students) that gets a large interest from pre-med and pre-vet students. Students learn about major evolutionary transitions in form and function during lecture and use dissections during labs to observe and identify these features.

 

It has a reputation of being difficult, so in lab I created a project to help students connect with the material (this was based on the "UnEssay" project developed by E. Sargent) - for extra credit they could create something based on what they learned in anatomy.

 

Students liked the opportunity to use their creativity and apply the concepts in their own way.