Biology Intensive Workshop
The Biology Intensive Workshop is an optional workshop for entering freshmen. Offered prior to the beginning of fall classes, the workshop gives students the chance to experience college lectures and exams, participate in discussion sessions, practice study skills in breakout sessions and network with peers and faculty. The goal is for students to get a head start on course content that will also be covered in class so the class feels more manageable during the semester.
What to expect
Invitations will be sent in July, and you'll need to respond to the registration survey. This will be an email from Canvas (the UT learning platform) containing specific workshop schedule information and Zoom links. You'll be able to reserve a place on the workshop Canvas site for each session you plan to participate in.
Examples of workshop sessions in 2022
Lesson 1: Protein structure and function, Dr. Buskirk
Lesson 2: Biological membranes, Dr. Fritz
Lesson 3: DNA and mutations, Dr. Latham
Meeting 4: Meet on Zoom with your BIO 311C instructor
Meeting 5: Getting the most out of your major: events, opportunities and resources in the BIO community, Dr. Partridge.
Meeting 6: Small group problem-solving sessions: get to know your classmates, Dr. Buskirk
Workshop activities
You'll be invited into a temporary Canvas course with all workshop materials and resources provided. No textbook is needed. The workshop is designed to help freshmen entering BIO 311C understand UT’s course expectations and introduce you to UT resources for learning biology. You'll get a sense for exam expectations, course content and more via:
- lectures
- helpful learning strategies
- breakout groups for problem-solving
- short college-level practice-only quizzes (questions from BIO 311C exams)
- discussions of quiz answers
No grades are assigned and no course credit is given, as this is only prep work. Please email Dr. Ruth Buskirk, rbuskirk@austin.utexas.edu with any additional questions after reading through all of the information on this site. Put 'Biology Intensive Workshop' in the subject line.
Eligibility & Requirements
You must meet the following requirements to be eligible for the Biology Intensive Workshop:
- You must be an entering freshman at the University of Texas at Austin in Fall 2023.
- You must be registered in BIO 311C for fall 2023 by July 19th and you must know your class unique number.
- You must have completed a UT Austin freshman orientation session no later than July 19th.
- The Biology Intensive Workshop can be taken on a computer, a tablet or your smartphone.
Our online technology requirements are:
- Webcam
- Microphone
- Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox web browser
Students registered for the August orientation session cannot attend Biology Intensive Workshops.
Registration opens in July
Entering freshman at UT Austin who registered in BIO 311C for fall and completed freshman orientation before July 19th will receive the invitation to fill in the registration survey. To sign up, you will need:
- Your UT EID and email address
- Unique number of BIO 311C class in which you’re registered
- Chemistry course you plan to take in the fall (if any)
- CNS Cornerstone programs you may be in (e.g., TIP, WINS, HSS)