BISC 207-081 HONORS INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY
BISC 100-081 FRESHMAN SEMINAR
FALL SEMESTER 2011

INDEX

Previewing Problems and Power Point Files
Course Methods & Structure 
Presentations
Groups
Grading
Class Schedule
Peer Evaluations
Laboratory Grading
Communication
Guidelines for Success
Academic Honesty
Useful Links
BISC 100 Freshman Seminar


COURSE INFORMATION
 
 

 BISC207 Laboratory Manual, 2011 edition - note that the same manual is being used by honors and non-honors sections; any other required laboratory materials will be listed in the laboratory manual

COURSE CONTENT & CO-REQUISITES

This course includes: the biology of cells - their structure and function; heredity; and gene expression. Laboratory focuses on experimentation and data analysis. Pre- or co-requisites include C101, C103, C105 or C111. Note also that anyone registered for Honors BISC207 must also be registered for the SAME section of BISC100.

PRE-TEST AND POST TEST FOR ALL STUDENTS
As part  of an interdisciplinary initiative between Biological Sciences and Chemistry, we are working on correlating the two introductory courses (BISC 207 and CHEM 103). Therefore we wish to assess knowledge of chemical concepts inherent in biology, both before and after BISC 207 is taught. We ask that you therefore please take a pre-test at the beginning the course (as close to the beginning as possible), and a post-test after finishing the course. This test consists of 25 questions which are multiple choice. You may take this using your own computer and may have a pencil and paper handy to draw any diagrams or helpful notes as needed. Please log on to :
http://Tinyurl.com/3SZCSJH   and complete this test before learning about Inorganic Chemistry in class.
Although the results will be anonymous, participation credit of 0.5% (0.25% for each test) will be given toward your course grade.

COURSE METHODS

Course Philosophy:
Introductory Biology is intended to be a survey course which introduces students to the breadth of biological sciences and prepares them for higher level courses in biology or other science majors. Therefore a broad-based understanding of content is important. But so are the skills which will be needed to continue learning later in life. These include: the ability to learn independently, the ability to think critically and explain your understanding with clarity, and an ability to work constructively with others toward shared goals. Although the lecture format of teaching has the potential to deliver content, there is no assurance that a student will develop the skills mentioned above, since listening to lecture is a very passive activity. Furthermore, studies have suggested  that collaborative learning improves  productivity, professional self-esteem, problem-solving skills, and positive social relationships. Therefore, although this course will include lecturing, it will also have an active student-centered component of learning through the analysis of  problems, or case studies. Information about this method of learning, called problem based learning (PBL), can be found here.

Course Structure
BISC207 and BISC 100 will be combined on Wednesdays, so that the two courses will provide approximately four hours of  instruction throughout the week. About  half of this will be devoted to problem-based group learning and half will be devoted to more traditional lecturing and evaluation of your progress. Class activities are planned roughly in the following way: for every topic covered, out of three classes, two will be used for lecture, and one (on Wednesday) will be used for analysis of a problem related to the topic. Since your text is a good resource for this problem, bring your text on Wednesdays. For some of the class activities you will work as individuals and for some of them you will work as members of a group. Groups will be assigned in class.
    Lectures will be given in Power Point format. Slides will be available for viewing or for downloading through the links on your course syllabus under Class Schedule (see the appropriate topic).  See instructions in the next major section of this syllabus for how to view files from an off-campus computer. If you do not have Power Point, you can download a free read-only version from the Microsoft website. This will allow you to read slides, but not create them. Slides will be posted no later than the night before a lecture and may be removed about a week after the topic has been covered. The lecture portion of this course will NOT be taught as a WebCT or Sakai course. Do NOT hunt for Power Point notes among the WebCT or Sakai Biology courses.

Quizzes: Quizzes will be given periodically to check your understanding. If a quiz is scheduled before the lectures on the topic, it is your responsibility to do the readings and come prepared to class  to take the quiz. This quiz will be taken at the beginning of the class period. It will consist of 10-12 multiple choice questions. . Quizzes will be returned in the next class period (arrangements will be made to return quiz 4).

PBL Problems or Case Studies: Problems will be complex real-world scenarios which you will analyze in the context of a biological foundation. Working with other members of your group, you will address a series of questions which will require that you use resources (text, notes, classroom laptop computers) to solve the problems. Although the text is very useful as a resource and therefore can be brought to class on problem day, if you buy eConnect Plus, you can access the eBook while in class using the laptops in 110 Memorial (instructions below). The goal of the problems is to reinforce your understanding of the content material and give you experience in addressing real life issues which relate to biology.
         Sometimes you will be asked to do research to prepare for a problem, or you will be asked to read a "preview" of the problem. If so, this preview can be accessed from the syllabus (this preview link is restricted to the UD community).  There will always be a group "product"  due at the end of the PBL period (usually answers to questions, or opinions). These will be read, graded, and returned in the next class. Everyone in the group receives the same grade.

Exams In addition to the quizzes, there will be 6 exams. Three of them will be taken as individuals, and three will be taken as a group. They are typical hourly exams, and are scheduled during a regular class period. There will be no final exam in this section of BISC 207. 
     Individual exams will be similar in format to the quizzes (i.e. mostly multiple choice but with a more extensive synthesis of the material), and will also include one or two essays. The group exams will be in essay format. Each group will take its exam together, with all members receiving the same score.  Exams will be returned in class.
    A general rule for individual exams is that for questions which are answered on a scantron sheet, ONLY the answers on that scantron sheet will be counted. If you have a different answer circled on your exam, or have stray marks on your scantron sheet, they will NOT substitute for the answer which you gridded in on your scantron. If you forgot to grid in an answer on your scantron sheet, you will unfortunately lose credit for that question.  I will gladly entertain any questions that you have about answers on an exam. However, you must come to see me about these within one week of returning your exam in class. If you wait until the end of the semester, it is TOO LATE.

Accessing McGraw-Hill's "Brooker 2nd ed" Resources
McGraw-Hill, publishers of Brooker's textbook, has a web platform known as Connect and Connect Plus. These contain materials available for your use to supplement the text.  Connect Plus is Connect but includes the electronic version of the textbook. Connect Plus  is provided if you purchase a new text from the UD bookstore, but may not be provided if you purchase it elsewhere, or if you purchase a used version. USE OF CONNECT OR CONNECT PLUS IS OPTIONAL FOR THIS COURSE;  however, if you use either, your access is limited without linking to a virtual "course" on the website. Therefore I have set up this "course", whose URL is: http://connect.mcgraw-hill.com/class/l_dion_section_81_fall_2011 ;  when you first try to access this "course", you will be asked to register, using your email and provided password.  Someone who is not registered will still be able to use the open access site of McGraw-Hill, which is http://www.mhhe.com//biosci/majorsbio/brookerbiology/   (click on 2nd ed of Brooker). I'd suggest you try the quizzes which are available on this open-access site.
If you want more challenging quizzes, you may connect to a course-wide Connect site (established by Dr. Nauen) by logging on (username & password) to: http://connect.mcgraw-hill.com/class/bisc207fall
 These activities are completely optional (not graded), and do NOT necessarily cover all course topics, thus are a supplement, not a replacement for studying class notes. Since these materials are available course-wide (not specific for a particular section) you may encounter questions that cover a topic not relevant to your class. Answer to the best of your ability and don't worry about it.

It is possible to purchase Connect or Connect Plus from McGraw-Hill or the bookstore at an extra fee. McGraw Hill has an option for this on its website (listed above). It even offers the option for a three-week trial period for free.
Support for Connect:  I am not qualified to help you with web problems. If you have any issues while registering or using Connect, contact McGraw-Hill's CARE team through http://www.mhhe.com/support. 

BISC100 FRESHMAN SEMINAR

BISC100 is integrated with BISC207 in that Wednesdays are a combination of the two courses. Different instructors of Honors Introductory Biology will treat BISC100 differently. In this section, we will use the period for problem based learning, and for presentations of papers which are further extensions of class topics. Information about these presentations is given below. For BISC 100, you will also be expected to attend one research seminar during the semester, and write up a half to one-page typed summary of it. This can be a biology seminar (given usually on Wednesdays at 4:00 pm in 318 Wolf Hall - list of topics is posted on bulletin board outside of Biology Office in Wolf), a seminar in another science associated department (Chemistry, Entomology for example), or a special seminar (I'll try to announce special seminars as I learn about them). For BISC100 you will also visit  DBI (Delaware Biotechnology Institute).  BISC100 is designated as a Pass-Fail course. Your satisfactory presentation, attendance at other presentations, attendance at a research seminar, attendance and engagement in group work, and completion of any other BISC 100 assignment will count towards a Pass in BISC100. Details are given in the Grading section. The group work which you do on problems (PBL) will be factored into your BISC207 grade. A list of the research seminars scheduled for this fall in the Biology Department can be found here.

Presentations: Presentations of 8-9 additional topics will be given during the semester (usually based on papers from Scientific American or scientific journals which are accessible through Delcat or in the library). These may correlate with course material, and will supplement the information covered in the textbook. You will each be responsible, working with 1 other person,  for one of these. I will assign the topics and groups randomly. Presentations should be about 20 minutes long which includes time for questions. They should be done using Power Point.  I MAY provide copies of (or reference to) 1 or more articles to each group, but these are by no means meant to be the only sources used; in fact, at least one additional source (other than your text) should be used. Wikipedia, although useful for general information, should not be considered a valid reference for research - it can be altered by anyone, expert or not. If you use web references, try to find those authored by scientists or medical professionals (often with extension .edu or .gov). On the day of  presentation, each group should furnish hand-outs of notes to other class members, as well as a list of references (I will provide a form for you to take to Quick Copy in Trabant or Perkins). Exams may have one or more questions from each of these presentations. A list of topics, in order of presentation, is found here; dates are on the course schedule; assignments for these presentations are found here and will be distributed in class.  A list of guidelines for preparing talks is here.

PREVIEWING THE PROBLEMS AND POWER POINT SLIDES:  This course syllabus is linked to the World Wide Web, but Power Point notes are not. To find this syllabus on-line, you can use any computer and simply type in the URL for this course. To access Power Point notes before class, or to preview a problem the day before it's done in class, you will need to use a computer linked to the campus network. Using one from off-campus will not allow access, since these items (notes and previews) are restricted to the UD community. However, if you live off-campus you can connect through a proxy server available only to UD students by using this link:  https://proxy.nss.udel.edu/login?qurl=http://www.udel.edu/biology/dion/207_81syllabus_2011.html). When you click on this link, you will get a log-in prompt; after logging in, you should be taken back to the syllabus page, but you are now on the proxy server, so you should now be able to access restricted files. (If you have any problems, consult the "Technology help-desk" link from the UD home page for instructions).
       To access a  Power Point file, or Problem preview, find the link in the "Class Schedule" for the respective date on this course syllabus page. If you do not have Power Point as a program on your computer, you can download a Power Point Viewer (see the Microsoft.com website). It will allow you to read PP files, but not create new ones.

FORMATION AND FUNCTIONING OF GROUPS
I will assign Groups of 3-5 people each before the first class period. Unless someone drops or adds the course, these groups will be permanent for the whole semester. They will be as heterogeneous as possible, since a group’s successful functioning is related to its members being tolerant of views different from their own. On PBL days (most Wednesdays) an upperclass biology major may help your group. In addition, assigning various roles of responsibility should ensure smooth group functioning.

One of the first group activities will be to formulate ground rules, or operating rules of conduct that each member agrees to abide by. Once you agree on these, please assign someone to email these rules to me and to all group members. Each group will be given a folder in which attendance will be recorded and quizzes and problems can be stored. An explanation of  the peer evaluation process will also be in the folder.

Attendance and punctuality to group functions is very important for  the optimum functioning of the group. Someone who is careless with punctuality or attendance may be penalized grade-wise for disrupting the functioning of the group (see the section on Instructor/Peer Evaluations). In the case of illness or an unavoidable absence, please notify me, as well as your group members to avoid being penalized. If you are absent on a lecture day, Power point slides for each lecture are available through a link for each class topic (see the class schedule). However, it's very likely that I will supplement these notes during lecture. Even if you do not anticipate absence, you may still want to access the power point notes before each lecture so you can print them out and follow along with the lecture.  You should read about Attendance Policies for both lab and lecture in BISC207 here.

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GRADING

The final BISC 207 grade is a reflection of effort both in the classroom (lecture) and the laboratory. Lecture will constitute 75% of the final grade, lab 25%. Information about your laboratory grade will be provided during the first meeting of the lab. BISC 100 is devoted to both group and individual work; therefore, your final BISC 100 grade will be a Pass, with the following exceptions, any one of which would result in a Failure of BISC 100:
    Failure to participate in a presentation, or grade of 50% or less in a  presentation.
    Unexcused absence from 3 or more presentations given  by others
    Failure to attend a research seminar
    Unexcused absence from  25% of group work (this includes the problems and the group exams; there are 13 classes in which groups will collaborate, thus unexcused absence from 3 of them would result in failure of BISC 100)
    Failure to complete any other assignment for BISC 100

Your B207 grade in lecture will be based on three criteria: Individual Performance, Group Performance, and Instructor and Peer Evaluation.

                     1. Individual performance (individual quizzes, individual exams) : 60% of lecture grade
                     2. Group performance (group exams, problems) : 40% of lecture grade
                     3. Instructor and Peer Evaluation (modifies the group performance grade. The peer evaluation component of your grade is described in the next section of this syllabus). It includes not only your peers' evaluation of your group efforts, but also incorporates credit for attendance.

A more detailed breakdown of the individual and group components of the BISC 207 lecture grade is shown below:
 
 

                                    * The group grade will be modified by a value from the Instructor/peer evaluation (described in next section).

The total grade for lecture will be multiplied by 75%
An example of a grade calculation can be found here.

GRADING IN LABORATORY
The laboratory grade will be based on  the criteria shown on the table below. The weight of each toward the lab grade, and a list of what is due is shown & will be explained at the first lab meeting. A list of the labs, with assignments can be accessed at this link.  A Results section should include a verbal explanation of trends, along with appropriate graph (called a Figure) or table (a graph is preferred if possible). A "Lab Report" is a more full report, consisting of a Title page, an Introduction section, a Results Section and a Discussion Section. Unless told otherwise, a Materials and Methods section should not be included in these reports, unless a brief description of methods is necessary as part of a figure caption to clarify the figure. More information about these will be provided in lab.
 
 

The following are very rough approximations of numerical conversions to letter grades:
    A = 90-100
    B = 80-89
    C = 70-79
    D = 60-69
    F = below 60
Plus and minus grades may be given for the upper and lower limits of each grade range. I am not committed to a certain grade distribution. There will be no curve. Nor will there be any extra credit allowed to raise a grade.

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INSTRUCTOR/PEER EVALUATIONS for Lecture
For group exams and problems, all members of a group receive the same grade. The expectation is that everyone made equal contributions and expended equal effort. However, in reality, that may not be true - some may work very hard, while others may "coast". To acknowledge differences in effort among group members, you will have a chance to evaluate one another with respect to attitude, participation and contributions.
        Peer evaluations will be done twice during the semester. The first time will be in about four weeks - these will be done as practice and to provide constructive feedback to improve group performance. End-of-term peer evaluations will be done quantitatively. They will be used to advise me in determining how, or whether, to modify a person's group score.  I will also take attendance  into consideration.
        Evaluation scores will be given by assigning 0-10 points to fellow group members. A score of 10 indicates that a person is a fully functional group member (comes to class on time, comes prepared to work, contributes to group) - in other words, he/she merits 100% for group effort. In the past, Honors students have usually earned a 9 to 10. If a group is not functioning well because of one or more weak members, this should be brought to my attention as early as possible so that the situation can be corrected, and low evaluation scores can be avoided.
        After averaging your peer evaluation scores, (for example, if you receive scores of 9.5, 10, and 9  from your other group members, your average is 9.5 pts) I will then also take into consideration your attendance. Let's say you attended class only 75% of the time; I would multiply your peer evaluation (9.5 pts. or 95%) by your attendance (75%), for a total of  71.2%.  I will use this to determine whether, and how much, to modify your group grade. It is possible that you might receive only 71.2% of your group grade. A sample of the end-of-term peer evaluation form can be seen here.
 

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CLASS SCHEDULE (may be modified as needed - please check on-line periodically)
 
 

          *  For reference - entire chapter will not be covered; refer to class notes for studying material in this chapter

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COMMUNICATION

You will need access to a computer. If you do not have your own,  you can use one in a campus computing site. You will also have to activate your UD email account, which you will need for email related to this course. I will use email to communicate with the whole class, and with individuals. Often, announcements will be made by email. In addition, comments on exams and problems may be put on a link from the course web page. The web page should be checked frequently for changes or additions, and will need to be accessed  for problem previews. In laboratory, your TA will explain how you can share data with group members and the class. (Sakai may be used in lab for this, but lecture material will NOT be found on Sakai or Web CT). All lab reports must be typed and double-spaced; hand graphs may be allowed, but we want you to learn graphing by Excel also. More information about lab reports will be provided in lab.

GUIDELINES FOR SUCCESS

• COME TO CLASS. Attendance is extremely important. Your group will depend on you, especially on days with group functions. A grade penalty may be imposed for lateness or lack of attendance, since this is disruptive to group functioning.
• In event of illness or unavoidable absence from a lecture, consult the Power Point notes. Also, inform your group members.
• Read all the assigned material before taking quizzes.
• Exams can include material from anything done in class, assigned in the textbook, or formally presented by students.
• Take advantage of office hours, or ask questions by e-mail. Stay in touch. I am happy to discuss anything about the course, or your life here at UD. HELPFUL HINT: get to know at least one of your professors each semester.
• Write up laboratory reports as soon as possible after the lab is completed. It will be easier to do it immediately, rather than several days later.
  
• For lab and lecture, be familiar with the university policy on Academic Dishonesty. All work submitted for grading in lab and lecture, except the group problems done on Wednesdays must be the original work of each individual. Although laboratory experiments will be done as groups, you must write your own reports. This includes making your own graphs, tables and other figures. (see next section) 
• Students suspected of having a learning disability must seek an accommodation from the Office of Academic Enrichment http://www.aec.udel.edu/LD_ADHD_students.html.  I am not qualified to assess whether or not a student has such a disability, and therefore will not make accomodations without instructions from this office.
  

Plagiarism is the inclusion of someone else’s words, ideas, or data as one’s own. When a student submits academic work that includes another’s words, ideas, or data, whether published or unpublished, the source of that information must be acknowledged with complete and accurate references and, if verbatim statements are included, with quotation marks as well. By submitting work as his or her own, a student certifies the originality of all material not otherwise acknowledged. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

1. The quotation or other use of another person’s words, ideas, opinions, thoughts, summaries, or theories (even if paraphrased into one’s own words) without acknowledgment of the source; or
2. The quotation or other use of facts, statistics, or other data or materials that are not clearly common knowledge without acknowledgment of the source.

1. Copying of all or any portion of another’s academic work and submitting it, in part or in its entirety, as one’s own;
2. Allowing another person to copy one’s own academic work—whether intentionally or recklessly;
   
3. The unauthorized collaboration with any other person on an academic exercise, including collaboration on a take-home or make-up academic exercise, or on the writing of a laboratory report, where instructions have stated that reports must be individually written;
4. The unauthorized use of electronic instruments, such as cell phones, pagers, or PDAs, to access or share information; or
5. The unauthorized completion for another person of an academic work, or permitting someone else to complete an academic work for oneself.

USEFUL LINKS
Textbook on-line review and instruction - open access site: www.brookerbiology.com  -  Click on 2nd edition of Brooker.     
Virtual course (gives access to eBook): http://connect.mcgraw-hill.com/class/l_dion_fall_2011_section_81
  http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/static.do?p=education_discussion/molecule_of_the_month/pdb26_1.html      Useful for problem 4 - Enzymes