The biology behind surviving college

When students arrive at college, they expect to learn about subjects ranging from biology and business to history and engineering. But they’re also learning something else: how to care for themselves while navigating the everyday challenges of college life.

This fall, a newly redesigned course in Case Western Reserve University's Department of Biology aims to help students do both.

Biology 202: Biology's Survival Guide to College, explores how stressors common to student life—including sleep deprivation, dehydration and late-night snacking—affect the body's ability to maintain balance or homeostasis., The course uses those relatable topics to teach core biological concepts while helping students evaluate health information and make evidence-based decisions about their own well-being.

For Rebecca Benard, PhD, senior associate dean for academic affairs and curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences, the course is about more than understanding physiology.

"I really wanted to create a course where non-majors could learn about the human body to a level at which, when they're reading something on social media or in the news, they have enough baseline information to evaluate: Does that sound credible or not?" said Benard, who is also a senior instructor in the Department of Biology. "They should have the biological vocabulary, knowledge and evaluative skills to vet that information before they make decisions."

Originally developed as an asynchronous online summer course during the COVID-19 pandemic, “Biology's Survival Guide to College” was later adapted into a hybrid format and last taught in 2022. As Benard prepared to return to the classroom after several years focused on her administrative role, she saw an opportunity to redesign the course once again—this time to fulfill the communication-intensive requirement within Case Western Reserve's Unified General Education Requirements.

Benard said communication has always been an important part of scientific work, but the new course intentionally emphasizes those skills earlier in students' academic careers.

"The challenge for me was asking, 'How can students show me the biology they know through writing and other forms of communication, rather than primarily through an exam?'" Benard said. 

For “Biology's Survival Guide to College,” that means students won't simply learn biological concepts—they'll practice using evidence to support their conclusions and communicate what they've learned through writing. They'll investigate a physiological process of their choosing, examine how stress affects that system and evaluate scientific evidence for strategies that promote health and resilience.

The redesign also reflects Benard's unique perspective. In addition to teaching the course, as  part of her administrative role she reviews all course proposals through the College of Arts and Sciences, including communication-intensive course proposals from departments across the college.

Reading hundreds of syllabi and seeing how faculty in different disciplines approach communication instruction shaped her own thinking.

"I've learned a lot by looking at how my peers across disciplines have built these courses," she said. "It has also given me a profound respect for my colleagues in the Writing Program who have helped faculty like me develop rigorous communication-intensive courses."

The course also incorporates a new topic that wasn't part of the original version: artificial intelligence.

As students research scientific literature and evaluate health claims, they'll also reflect on the role AI should—and shouldn't—play in academic work. Benard said the rapidly changing technology prompted her to add an entirely new learning outcome focused on thoughtful, intentional use of AI.

"I'm excited to understand where students are," she said. "I have as much to learn from them as they do from me about navigating this AI world."

Ultimately, Benard hopes students leave the course with more than an introduction to biology.

"I want them to have a better understanding of who they are in their own body," she said.