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Lecture & Lab Syllabus:
I.
Instructor Contact Information:
Dilek Sanver-Wang
E-mail: dilek.sanver-wang@canyons.edu
Mailbox:
A-112 (ask the switchboard operator to place it in my mailbox)
II.
Lecture/Lab Meetings:
Section 32898
Lec: Thursday, 1-3:50pm, L-206
Lab: Tuesday, 1-3:50pm, L-205
III.
Office Hours:
Tuesday and Thursday 10-10:50am and 4-5pm in I-312 (Adjunct Office)
You can always make an appointment to see me if you can’t make it to my office
hours. The best way to reach me is
via e-mail.
IV.
Course Description
This is a non-majors, general education biology
course to acquaint students with major topics in biology.
The course will explore the structure, function, and development of
living systems from cells to ecosystems. 4
units
V.
Course Texts and Materials:
Required Lecture Textbook: Krough, D. Biology. Prentice-Hall 2002
Required Laboratory Book: Clarke,
M. and Riddle, M. Laboratory
Investigations. 1998
Recommended Atlas: Perry, J. and Morton, D. Photo Atlas for Biology.
Wadsworth Publishing 1996
Recommended Lecture Text: Daniels, L. and Roberts, L.
Study Guide: Biology.
Prentice-Hall 2002
VI. Attendance:
You are expected to attend the lab and lecture
section you are enrolled in every week. Make-up
labs are not allowed in this course. Absences
during lab or exams will result in point deductions except in situations where
there is a medical emergency (a physician’s note or other appropriate
documentation will be required). If
you anticipate having to miss a lab (and you have an acceptable excuse with
proper documentation to verify your absence), you need to inform me ahead of
time so that we can try to arrange for you to attend another lab section, BUT
there are no guarantees that you will be able to do so.
If you have an emergency and are not able to contact me before lab (or on
exam day) you need to contact me ASAP. Non-excused lab absences that are not made up will result in
point deductions from your Participation grade. If you have an excused absence during an exam, you may be
allowed to take a make-up exam; however, be aware that the make-up exam may
consist entirely of essay questions.
VII. Assignment Deadlines:
All
assignments are due at the beginning
of lab. If any assignment is turned
in 30
minutes after class has started, I will deduct 5% of the points.
Assignments that are turned in a day or more late will be docked one
letter grade (10% of the points) for every day that they are late.
If you anticipate missing a lab when an assignment is due, you need to
turn in the assignment to me before that lab period.
VIII.
Academic Dishonesty:
Any student caught plagiarizing,
cheating on exams, or failing to abide by the policies of academic honesty will
immediately receive a failing grade (F) for this course.
a)
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is intellectual theft.
It means use of the intellectual creations of another without proper
attribution. Plagiarism may take
two main forms, which are clearly related:
1.
To steal
or pass off as one’s own, the ideas or words of another.
2.
To use a
creative production without crediting the source.
Credit must be given for every direct quotation, for paraphrasing or summarizing
a work (in whole, or in part, in one’s own words), and for information which
is not common knowledge.
b)
Cheating on exams:
Cheating
includes talking during an exam, passing notes during an exam, copying from
another student’s exam, using cheat sheets or other forms of unauthorized
written or verbal sources on an exam, receiving answer signals from another
student during an exam, etc.
IX.
Grading:
A.
Point Distribution:
Lecture:
3 Midterms:
300 pts (100 pts each)
Final: 100 pts
Lab:
Quizzes:
75 pts
Lab
Exercises:
30
pts
Field
Trip:
10 pts
Participation:
10 pts
Mini
Practical Exam:
30 pts
Final Practical Exam:
95 pts
Total Points:
650 pts
B.
Grading Scale:
The following scale will be
used to determine your letter grade in this course:
90-100% A
80-89%
B
70-79%
C
60-69%
D
Below 59% F
You can determine your current grade in the class at
any time by adding up all the points from exams, quizzes, assignments, etc. you
have earned, dividing that value by the total possible points you could have
obtained up to that point, multiplying by 100 to get your % score, and looking
up your grade on the grading scale.
C.
Laboratory Assignments:
a)
Lab Exercises (30 points):
For the lab questions, I want you to answer every question completely.
If you do not know the answer to a question, you need to demonstrate that
you have thought about it critically. We
will often go over the questions in class and I expect you to make corrections
and/or additions to your answers as appropriate.
I will be checking your lab manuals/worksheets in class periodically, and
checking the answers for accuracy and completeness.
You will also be
asked to write a typed, 3 page scientific report on one of the laboratory
exercises we will be conducting. More
information on this assignment will be given in a separate handout.
b)
Quizzes (75 points):
I will give 3 quizzes, each worth 25 points.
Quiz questions will be based on laboratory material and will be
administered during the first 15 min. of lab.
Each quiz will focus on material not covered on the previous quiz unless
I announce otherwise. Do
realize, however, that a lot of the information you learn early on in this
course will be reiterated in subsequent labs, so the quizzes will be cumulative
with regards to some of the content.
c)
Field Trip (10 points):
During week 9, we will not have a regularly scheduled lab.
Instead we will go on a short field trip during our regularly scheduled
lab time. The nature of this field trip will be announced shortly.
During and after the field trip you will be asked to complete worksheet
and turn it in at our next class meeting. The
points for this activity will be based on attendance, and completion of the
worksheet.
d)
Participation Points (10 points):
Participation includes: being present and on time to both
lecture and lab, staying the duration of the lecture and labs,
completing the assigned work (both homework and in-class activities), following
clean-up procedures before leaving the lab, and not disrupting the class.
e) Lab Practical Exams (125 points)
There will be a Mini Practical Exam, worth 30
points, on Oct. 21 during regularly scheduled lab.
There will be a Final Practical, worth 95 points, on Dec. 2 during regularly
scheduled lab.
The lab practical exams will consist of numerous lab stations that have been
set up with specimens, lab apparatus etc. and will contain questions that you
will have to answer. The exam will be timed and you will have a certain amount of
time to spend at each station.
D. Lecture
Assignments:
a) Midterms (300 points):
There will be three midterms, each worth
100 points. Midterms will include a
variety of question styles: multiple-choice, matching, short answer, essay, etc.
You are responsible for all the material covered in the lecture as well
as in the readings. However, testing will emphasize lecture material (approx.
80-90% of questions).
b) Final Exam (100 points):
Thursday, December 11, 12:45-2:45pm in L-206
The Final Exam will include a variety of question styles: multiple-choice,
matching, short answer, essay, etc. The exam will be a semi-cumulative review of the material
presented in the lectures and readings, with an emphasis on lecture material.
Attending class regularly, taking notes and reviewing your notes
regularly, forming study groups with fellow students and coming to me for help
during office hours will help you to succeed in this course.
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