Fern Gauthier
E-mail: gauthier@queensu.ca

...but with online studies, one-on-one interactions are almost mandatory. These interactions are rewarding for both students and professors.

Message from Dr. Gauthier:

Adjunct Professor Fern Gauthier’s office at Queen’s is piled high with microscopes and stacks of books and research papers. Gauthier is currently hard at work developing suitable course and tutorial material for the new, online versions of these core courses in biology, BIOL 102 and BIOL 103.

Gauthier is excited about this brand new opportunity for students to take first year core courses online.

Expanding educational opportunities can only be a good thing,” he says. “We are opening up the curriculum and providing opportunities for a huge range of students, including some, who through no fault of their own, were previously precluded.

Students enrolling in online courses, BIOL 102 - Introductory Biology of Cells and BIOL 103 - Introductory Biology of Organisms, will be taught by Gauthier, who has an Honours Bachelor of Science, and a PhD, both from the University of Western Ontario.

BIOL 102 is a core course introducing the concepts of modern biology including the creation of life from molecules to cells in an evolutionary context. BIOL 103 builds on BIOL 102, and investigates biological organizational levels from organisms to ecosystems in an evolutionary context.

Gauthier is also positive about the prospect of interacting with online students, something he plans to do using email, virtual tutorials, and Moodle. “Teaching approximately one- thousand undergraduates in first year core courses makes it difficult for one-on-one interaction with students,” he says. “But with online studies, one-on-one interactions are almost mandatory. These interactions are rewarding for both students and professors. I’m looking forward to this opportunity.”

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More information:

• Computer Requirements and Internet Access
• Moodle, Our Online Learning Environment 
• Academic Integrity
• Evaluation
• Suggested Time Commitment
• Required Material