BISC208010 INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY
  FALL 2010

Index
Class Activities
Course Schedule
Attendance
Grading
Accessing Notes
Laboratory:
    Guidelines and Rubrics for lab reports
        Short report Rubric (Results only): Guidelines
        Long report Rubric;  Guidelines 

COURSE INFORMATION

Please consult this on-line syllabus for the latest course information. Changes made throughout the semester will be shown on this syllaubus.

COURSE CONTENT

    The physiology of plants and animals will be the focus of this course, although evolutionary and ecological concepts will also be taught. Lecture is supplemented by labs which teach evolution, ecology, diversity and physiology of plants and animals.

CLASS ACTIVITIES
     Preparation:  At the beginning of each major topic,  you should always do the assigned reading before coming to listen to a lecture.  It will be VERY helpful for you to print out the Power Point notes, so you can more easily follow a lecture (more about that below).
     Exams:  There will be three "hourly" exams. They will consist of 40 to 50 multiple choice questions. See comments below about attendance at exams. All exams are given in the regular classroom during a regularly scheduled class; they will be returned in class or in laboratory. Grades are not posted on Sakai, nor may they be sent by email. If you are absent when an exam is returned, you must come to my office to receive your exam.  Anything that is done in class, or that's assigned for reading is fair game for exams. It's usually best to concentrate on what we do in class when you study for an exam. 
       You will be asked to use a scantron to take exams and for this you will need a #2 pencil. ONLY answers which are gridded in on your scantron will count toward your grade in an exam. If you had a different answer for a question circled on your test, or if you failed to grid in an answer, you will not receive credit for that question. Other extraneous marks on a scantron will not be considered to constitute an answer. Please be careful to grid in your answers when taking an exam.
       Lectures. Three class meetings will usually be required to cover a topic. In addition to lectures on a topic, problems or a practice quiz may also be done .

ACCESSING POWER POINT NOTES:  This course is not on Sakai, so you will need to follow directions to access notes. To access Power Point notes before class, you will need to use a computer linked to the campus network. Using one from off-campus will  not allow access, since these notes 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 direct link:
https://proxy.nss.udel.edu/login?qurl=http://www.udel.edu/biology/dion/208010syllabus_2010.html). This will connect you to the proxy server, which will then require that you log in. After logging in, you will get immediately back to the syllabus (now through the proxy server), so you should now be able to access any restricted files. To download the Power Point slides, you will need Power Point on your computer. (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). Power Point notes can be accessed through the link under "Class Schedule" for the respective date on this syllabus. Do NOT search in WebCT  or Sakai for lecture notes.

    I use email frequently to communicate with the class at-large, and with individuals. Often, announcements will be made by email. In addition, comments on exams may be put on the course web page, as well as the links to Power Point notes and lab information.  In laboratory, data may be shared and transmitted through email from your TA. Lab TAs will  expect all writing assignments to be typed and double-spaced; they will tell you whether graphs can be hand-done or done in Excel. As you can see, it will be necessary for you to have easy access to a computer..

CLASS SCHEDULE

ATTENDANCE POLICY

     Attendance in lecture is EXPECTED. Announcements will be made, and lecture or exam started, at the beginning of class so promptness is important. If you miss a lecture, notes must be obtained from another student, or Power Point notes can be consulted. However, I supplement the Power point notes in my lectures, so you will learn best by coming to lecture.  If you miss an exam, credit will not be received.
     Exceptions are the following:
          1. documented illness (Note: if H1N1 affects UD, I will be more lenient about requiring documentation for illness)
          2. documented personal tragedy
          3. documented official University business (this must be provided ahead of time, before the missed class)

     If you know you will miss an exam for reason 3, you must arrange with me to take the exam ahead of time (before the rest of the class takes it). Students who miss an exam for reason 1 or 2 must inform me before or on the day of the exam through phone or e-mail; otherwise, absence will be considered unexcused and a zero will be given. If you have informed me properly, you will be allowed to "make up" the exam, although it may be different from the exam given to your class.

     Attendance in laboratory is MANDATORY. We place high importance on the laboratory experience. Therefore unexcused laboratory absences will result in a grade reduction for the whole B208 course. One or two unexcused absences will result in no credit for work done that week (quiz, assignment, report) and three unexcused absences will result in a failure of BISC208. Excused absences fall into the categories listed above; they do NOT include such things as campus activities, sleeping in, car trouble, choice of a different lab for your own convenience. An excused absence must be made up by attending a lab at another time during the same week. Responsibility for arranging this lies with the student. However, you MUST first check with me to explain your excused absence. Make up during a later week cannot be accomodated. As in BISC 207, students who have 3 excused absences and are unable to make up those missed labs during the course, receive an automatice incomplete in the course. Missed labs and the lab final exam must be made up during the next semester. Additional laboratory policies will be explained in lab by your laboratory instructor, and they should also be read in your lab manual. Your lab instructor will also impose grade deductions for tardiness of lab reports or attendance in lab. For example, if a quiz is being given and you arrive late, you will not be able to take the quiz.

GRADING

     The final grade is a reflection of effort both in the classroom and in the laboratory. Lecture will constitute 75% of the final grade, lab 25%. Your laboratory grade will be explained during the first meeting of lab & is shown here. It consists of the items shown below.

Lecture Grade: Your grade in lecture will be based on three Hourly Exams which are equal in weight; each is worth 25% of your course grade

 
NOTE ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

     For lab and lecture, be familiar with the university policy on Academic Dishonesty. All work submitted for grading in lab and lecture, must be the original work of each individual. Although you will work as a group in lab, lab reports are to be written individually. This means that graphs or tables should also be done individually. Exceptions will be explained in lab.

The most common problems of academic dishonesty among students are plagiarism and cheating (both usually done unintentionally because of misunderstanding of what constitutes these infractions). Therefore, based on the Student Guide to University Policies  here are definitions of each. These definitions are not necessarily all-inclusive.   

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.