GENERAL INFORMATION FOR BIOG 102 SPRING 2008pdf version of general informationPURPOSE AND CONTENT OF COURSEThe goal of this course is to continue to convey the basic principles and conceptual framework of contemporary biological science started in BioG 101. You should come away from the course with an understanding of the concepts that integrate modern biology and the ability to think critically about the application of biological information. The course is intended primarily for students who plan to specialize in biology, but is also appropriate for students who want to obtain a strong introduction to biology as part of their general education. It is recommended that you review the information on “Study Tips for Success in Biology 101” from last semester. LECTURESGeneral. BioG 102 meets MWF at 9:05 and 10:10 AM. You may attend either lecture, although the 10:10 AM lecture is often more crowded. All lectures will be held in Uris Hall Auditorium. The schedule of lectures is attached to the end of this document and is posted on the course website. You are expected to be in lecture. If you arrive late to class, please enter at the rear of the hall and do not disturb fellow students who arrived on time. There are no make-up lectures. If you miss a lecture, you should consult one of your fellow students to obtain a copy of the notes taken in lecture. Do not expect the professors or TAs to lend you their notes. PowerPoint files as well as audio recordings of all lectures will be posted on the course website for your reference, but this is not a substitute for attending lecture. The classroom lectures and readings in the text are complementary materials; neither alone is sufficient for the course. Do not assume that attending lecture is a substitute for the assigned readings in the text or vice versa. Any questions associated with lecture materials should be directed to Dr. Walcott or the Post- Doc Lecture Assistant, Dr. Kathryn Gardner. Please keep in mind that the time immediately before or after lecture is relatively constrained. Questions are best addressed during office hours (listed below and on the course website) or via e-mail to the course (biology_101@cornell.edu). See the section on getting help below for additional resources that are available to students who need assistance. Lecture Materials. The schedule of lecture topics for the semester is given on the BioG 102-104 schedule that is attached at the end of this handout. On the course website (see below) there will be a page that lists all of the lecture topics and provides links to materials that are relevant to each lecture. Lecture Format. Lectures will include traditional presentations of concepts and examples. We will include regular use of personal response systems (clickers), which, for those new to the course, are available for purchase in the Campus Store. The textbook (Campbell and Reece) gives a rebate on the clicker. REQUIRED TEXTCampbell, N.A., J.B. Reece. Biology, 7th edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson-Benjamin/Cummings 2005, will continue to be used. Bundled with the text will be the rebate for the clickers that students will use to answer questions in lecture. In addition, a study guide is also available: Taylor, M.R. Students Study Guide for Biology, 7th edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson-Benjamin/Cummings 2005. Use of the study guide is at the student’s discretion. The bundled text, study guide and clicker may be purchased at the Cornell Campus Bookstore and at other bookstores in the college town area. Extensive reading assignments are made in the text; for those of you who also have taken BioG 101, most of the book will have been read by the end of the semester. Questions for examinations are based mainly on the concepts derived from application of factual material from the text and lectures to relevant problems in biology. HANDOUTSAny lecture handouts will be placed on tables near the rear doors of the lecture hall. Please limit yourself to one copy. Handouts are also available on the course website at: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/biog102/. Note: the background color for all BioG 102 course information on the web is light blue. Hard copies of most handouts can also be obtained from the box in the hallway across from the course office (1140 Comstock Hall). COURSE WEBSITEThe WWW site for our course is http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/biog102/. Use this site to download lecture materials and exam information, to review handouts, web-based reference materials and supplemental information. Students should be aware of the resources available on the website and consult them for each lecture. Our web-based quizzes will also be accessed through the course website. Instructions for accessing password-protected parts of the site will be provided in lecture. The comparable BioG 101 Course Information material will also remain available on the website as a reference source. GRADESSimilar to BioG 101, grades in BioG 102 will be based on each student’s performance on the two prelim (midterm) examinations and the final exam, web-based quizzes, in-lecture clicker questions, and participation in the Explorations Program (3%). Each is described in more detail in this handout. The mid-semester lecture grade, required by some colleges, will be determined entirely by the first prelim exam. The percentage of the final grade assigned to each of these is as follows: Exam 4 12 lectures 22% Only numerical grades (% correct) will be given for the examinations and quizzes; letter grades will only be assigned after the final averages for all students have been calculated. Do not ask us to convert numerical grades to letter grades. Cornell guidelines suggest cutoffs of 90%, 80%, and 70% for A’s, B’s, and C’s, etc, but these are only guidelines. You will be informed of the approximate grade distribution (mean and standard deviation) for each exam and you can estimate your standing relative to the guideline and to the rest of the class. In previous years, the median grade in this course [and BioG 101 in Fall 2006] has been a B-. We expect a similar performance this year. We will not curve the class letter grade downward if the mean is higher than a B-, but we reserve the right to curve the grades upward if we find that exam questions are too hard or if we do not adequately cover the material in lectures. EXAMINATIONSAs in BioG 101, all exams are mostly in a multiple-choice format, but, the final exam will have two short essay questions. Questions are intended to test concepts, reasoning, and broad factual areas of biology. To give you an idea of the type of question we will ask, we provide web quizzes that are based on reading of the text, the lectures, and previous year’s exams. We recommend that students use questions from the 2006-07 academic year in preparation for this year’s exams, as the lectures were similar in subject and scope. EXAM DATESThe examinations are scheduled for the Spring of 2007 as follows: Exam 4: Thursday, 21 February 2008, 7:30-9:00 PM Exam 5: Tuesday, 1 April 2008, 7:30-9:00 PM Exam 6 (Final Exam): Thursdau, 8 May 2008, 2:30-4:00 PM Prior to each exam, a handout providing detailed information about the exam will be distributed in lecture (also available on the course website). Students must consult this handout to determine where they must go to take the exam. Following each examination, constructive comments on the exam questions are welcomed in written form; they can be handed in at the course office (Comstock 1140) or e-mailed to biology_101@cornell.edu. In addition, an oral comment session will also be scheduled after each exam. All comments are taken into account before exam grades are assigned. MAKE-UP EXAMINATIONSMake-up exams will be given only to those persons having legitimate excuses; the course Administrative Assistants (Comstock 1140) or Post-Doc Lecture Assistant, Dr. Kathryn Gardner must be contacted in advance of, and not after, the time of the regular exams. Refer to the handout distributed in lecture prior to each exam for the deadline to request a makeup exam. Do not simply skip an exam and assume that we will automatically accept your excuse. Persons having a prolonged illness who wish to take the make-up exam must obtain a note from their doctor or sign a release authorization form at Gannett Clinic and have copies of their “Office Notes” either mailed or hand-carried to our course office. The form Gannett Clinic gives patients, which says “This is not an excuse,” is not sufficient to document an illness. Other legitimate excuses are family emergencies, conflicts with other exams or Cornell-sponsored events. In all cases, appropriate documentation of your absence is absolutely required before you will be admitted to a make-up exam. This and a few other policies are necessary in order to be fair and equitable to all students. Make-up exams are like regular lecture exams in content and format; the grading of them is suitably adjusted so that numerical scores correspond to those on the regular exams. The makeup exam is scheduled 3-7 days after the regular exam. WEB QUIZZESWeb quizzes, similar in format to those given in BioG 101 in the fall, will begin in the second week of classes. Each two to four lectures will have associated with it a web quiz, which is required for all students. Web quizzes will be administered through a special page on the course website. Each quiz will consist of about 5 questions per lecture in the same multiple-choice format as those used in the exams (taking the quizzes is a good preparation for the exams). A schedule for the quizzes is attached to this handout and is posted on the web. Each quiz associated with a set of lectures will be available at 5 PM on Tuesdays. The end dates, except for the last one, will also be on Sunday. After the deadline for completion, the quiz will remain accessible on the website for study purposes only. For every question, each possible answer (correct or incorrect) will have a comment, which will help explain why the answer is correct or incorrect and provide pointers back to text for additional help. Only the first answer selected for each question will count towards the quiz grade, but after the first answer is selected, you may review all possible answers and comments if you desire - this may be an effective study technique for many students. Scores on each question will be reported to you when the question is completed. You may close an incompleted quiz and return to it anytime before the deadline. Like homework that is collected and graded, the primary intent of the quizzes is to encourage you to keep up with the assigned readings and review of lecture materials, as well as to provide a relevant means of self-evaluation for each lecture topic. We encourage you to use good study habits to prepare for and complete each quiz on time. You may use the text as a reference while taking a quiz, but the questions will usually require synthesis of an entire chapter, not simply looking up a definition or fact. You may wish to discuss questions and alternative answers with a study group with other students in this course, but you should be aware that students, who simply receive answers from others without understanding the concept or reasoning behind the question, would be unprepared for the course examinations. The average of your web quiz scores will count for 15% of the final grade in the course. CLICKERS AND IN-CLASS CLICKER QUESTIONSThe clickers you kept from BioG 101 are NO LONGER registered. ALL STUDENTS MUST REGISTER THEIR CLICKER by going to www.iclicker.com/registration. It is your responsibility to register your clicker. If you do not register properly, you will not receive credit for questions answered in class. There will be about 1 to 3 graded clicker questions for each lecture. Collectively these questions will account for 5% of your grade. Any questions regarding clickers should be directed to Kathryn Gardner (keg28@cornell.edu). EXPLORATIONSAll students must sign-up for and attend one Exploration each semester. The Explorations program is described in the Explorations booklet you received in the Fall semester (if you are new to the course you may pick this booklet up from the course office - 1140 Comstock Hall). An Exploration calendar and registration instructions will be handed out in class on Friday, 1 February. On-time registration for, attending, and submitting an acceptable evaluation form for your Exploration will contribute a total of 3% of the points in your final grade. We cannot emphasize how important it is for you to register for Explorations on time! You must register by 12:00 NOON on 8 February 2008 in order to be enrolled in this part of the course. Failure to do so will result in no credit for your Explorations program! You will be informed of your Exploration assignment in laboratory the week of 11 February 2008. POLICY CONCERNING S/U GRADES AND INCOMPLETESNo one for whom this course constitutes a Major requirement may opt for S/U grades. Students who wish to use this course to fulfill a College (but not a Major) requirement must consult their college Registrar's or Counseling and Advising Office to determine whether the S/U option can be used. By University policy, we cannot sign change slips for students wishing to change from one grading system to another after 7 March 2008 (or other college-designated date). For those who choose to be graded S/U, a course average equivalent to a letter grade of C- or higher will result in a grade of S. Averages equivalent to a letter grade of D+ or lower will result in U. Students should be forewarned that in Cornell's S/U system, point averages in the D range will result in the student receiving no credit for the course. Moreover, students with such an average may not change back to the letter grade system at the end of the semester in an effort to salvage credit. Similarly, students registered in the S/U system who discover late in the semester that they have an average grade that would have earned an A or B may not change in order to receive such a grade. An Incomplete grade (I) is ordinarily given only for persons having a prolonged illness, which prevents them from completing the course. According to University policy, an Incomplete is possible only when the student is in good academic standing. Any person desiring an incomplete for a grade must contact Dr. Walcott before 2 May. ACADEMIC INTEGRITYEach student in this course is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity. Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit must be the student’s own work. Violations of the Code of Academic Integrity are taken very seriously and can result in a failing grade in the course or worse. It is in direct violation of academic integrity to answer clicker questions using a clicker that is not your own. The Code of Academic Integrity and Acknowledging the Work of Others can be found at: http://web.cornell.edu/UniversityFaculty/docs/AI.Acknow.pdf LOST AND FOUNDAny personal belongings left behind after lecture will be taken to Uris Hall G-33 or to the Cornell Police Lost and Found (basement of Barton Hall) where they may be picked up. Personal belongings left in lab may be picked up at the Introductory Biology course office in Comstock 1140. GETTING HELPAs with BioG 101, for many students, BioG 102 will be a challenging class. Your success in this class depends upon your ability to understand the conceptual framework that integrates the materials presented in the lecture and text, not to memorize all of the details of modern biology. If you are having difficulty with any of the materials covered, or need assistance in improving your study skills, you are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the many opportunities for assistance provided by the Introductory Biology course staff. Regularly scheduled office hours are as follows:
We look forward to another exciting semester of exploring biology with you. Charlie Walcott and the BioG 102 Course Staff |
© Cornell University BioG101-104 Biological Science Comments on this web page should be directed to: Dr. Kathryn Gardner |
