Are you keen on learning more about plants and animals? If so, BIOL 260 is the course for you! BIOL 260 is a physiology course that focuses on mammalian and plant physiology.
format of the course
This course is run pretty much the same as most courses. There are live lectures, pre-reading quizzes, and clickers. However, the course is designed in a way that encourages success and the professors (Trish and Abel) really do care about their students. The two midterms were optional and could only increase your final mark – giving you plenty of opportunity to succeed. Almost every single question on the piazza discussion board was answered by the professors or a TA, which is really rare in most classes.
gpa 🙂 or 🙁
It is definitely not a GPA booster, but also on the easier end of the spectrum in terms of biology courses. My only gripe is that they were excessively picky with wording on the exams (I had a question marked wrong for saying bicarbonate increased pH, but not explicitly stating it was a base … but this may have seen super obvious to me given my chemistry background). The two midterms and final exams are a TIME CRUNCH, all the questions are written response so you really have to think and write at the same time. They also really stress on concept application instead of memorization (thus you get a cheat sheet). Here is the grade distribution for winter 2018:
BIOL 260 grade distribution. Credits: ubcgrades.com
verdict? to take or not to take
It was one of the more enjoyable classes of my third year. I would definitely take it as I found it quite stress-free and interesting!