CHEM-342
INTRODUCTION TO BIOCHEMISTRY
Assignments
SPRING SEMESTER 2009

Every Class - Come on time and be prepared to contribute substantively to your group's discussion. This will benefit you and everyone in your group. It will also make the course more interesting and enjoyable. To do well in this class (and any other for that matter) you should spend at least three hours of quality time outside of class for each hour in class.
 
First week - Feb 11 to 13
 Pauling et al. (1949) -  April 10 - 17
Stokes - Feb 19 to Mar 2
 Ingram (1958/59) -  April 20 -  27
Zinoffsky - Mar 6  &  9
 Dintzis (1961) -  April 29 - May 6
Jigsaw Groups - Mar 13 to 20
 Allison (1954) -  May 8 - 13
Concept Map -  March 16 - 20
 Shemin and Hemin - May 20
Prep for Midterm Exam -  March 20 and 23

Hemoglobinopathy Assignment. Due May 15

Midterm Exam -  March 25 and March 27
 Register your evaluation of the course on line before May 20.

First Week
Before Wednesday, February 11

You are registered for CHEM-342, Introduction to Biochemistry, which meets for the first time at 8 AM Wednesday, February 11 in 205 Brown Lab. Please be on time. In order to get things going from the start, I would like you to do three things before the first class.

1. Fill out an on-line questionnaire that will provide me with information about you and about the class in general. The questionnaire is in two parts, one that is not anonymous and one that is anonymous.  It will take about 20 minutes to complete this questionnaire. Please complete it before Wednesday, February 8. Be part of a 100% response.

2. Read the course syllabus and tentative schedule that are posted on the course web-site. The problem-based learning (PBL) format of CHEM 342 may be a bit different from other science courses you have taken, so don't be surprised. See what students said about the course in course evaluations linked to the course home page.

3. Respond to this e-mail and tell me something about yourself. For example, what do you like to do in your spare time? Why/How did you select your major? What are your career aspirations? What apprehensions do you have about CHEM-342? Are there things I should know about you to better help you learn in this course? etc.

You can find out more about me on my web-site .

Wednesday, 11 February and Friday, 13 February - Buy the course reader at the University Bookstore. Come to class on time.
 
GROUP ASSIGNMENT:  As a group, do something together--the more fun, the better--take a hike in White Clay Creek State Park, go skating at the Ice Arena, build a snow sculpture (if there is snow), have dinner together at a new place, have a bowling party, play games, whatever. It has to be an activity everyone agrees to (and is legal). Then, write up a one page report from the group (not individual reports) telling me what you did as a group and what ground rules you have agreed upon. Report is due on or preferably before 27 February. If you have reservations about working in groups, please check out a web-site devoted to issues you probably have.
Stokes (1864)

Due Monday, 16 February- At the beginning of class, turn in a ~2 - 3 page paper on, "My career aspirations, the circumstances that got me to this point, and my plans for the rest of college." Please modify the title to suit your situation. Although this assignment will not be graded formally (except if the assignment is not handed in), it will be evaluated. I expect a serious, well-constructed, typed effort. Be honest and realistic. Your response will help me get to know you and help you this semester.

In class be prepared to apply what you have learned in chemistry classes to figure out what is going on chemically in the demonstration that will be presented.

Wednesday, 18 February - Initial Discussion of Stokes' Article. Before class, read the background information on Stokes' (1864) article. Then scan Stokes' article. To begin with, just focus on the first 10 numbered sections. Try to identify the major themes and write them down. What has Stokes done? What conclusions does he make? What parts of the article seem to be the most difficult for you? And then read the article more carefully and make a list of learning issues including every word or concept you do not understand. Using available resources (dictionaries, textbooks, the library, knowledgeable people) try to learn the meaning of or find answers to the items on your list. Note that some of the words or word usages are archaic. Spend about three hours of quality time on these activities before class and bring your list (and a copy to turn in) to class.

Friday, 20 February - Continued discussion of Stokes' Article. Before this period you should work 2 - 3 hours on your personal learning issues and those assigned in the group. This initiates a cycle of in-class and out-of-class activity in which all members of each group will learn more and more using research articles as a vehicle for that learning. Because this is a group activity and because part of your grade will come from group performance, you need to share in group responsibilities. You need to seek and offer help freely. Twice during the semester you will evaluate your own contributions and those of the other members of your group. Continue during this period to resolve your learning issues and to identify new learning issues that can be looked up and discussed in subsequent class periods.

In class demonstration and use of spectroscopes to see the oxygenation, deoxygenation, and oxidation of hemoglobin. (See PowerPoint presentation of the demonstration)

Monday, 23 February - Assignment due at the beginning of class. Grading will be done according to a set of rubrics. Bring learning issues associated with Stokes for discussion after the demonstration of the reactions Stokes' described in Section 11 of his paper.

Wednesday, 25 February - Continued discussion of Stokes' Article. 

Friday, 27 February - Continued discussion of learning issues. A list of instructor-generated learning issues will be distributed. 

Monday, 2 March - University of Delaware closed due to snow storm. Assignments for today deferred to Wednesday.

Wednesday, 4 March - Last day for in-class group discussion of the Stokes article.  Group Quiz at the Beginning of class.  Group ground rules due. Whole class wrap-up of the Stokes article. Bring your unresolved learning issues for whole class discussion after the quiz. Revised Stokes assignment due at beginning of class for those wishing to improve their grade on the assignment. Grade on the revision will be substituted the original grade for the assignment if it is better.

Due to the cancelling of class on Monday, March 2, the plans for the Zinoffsky article have been changed. We will spend two days on the article and there will be no quiz.

Zinoffsky (1886)
Friday, 6 March - Come to class having read the Zinoffsky (1886) article and the background material for it. Have a written list of at least 10 learning issues that you have tried to resolve and are ready to discuss. Turn in a copy of your list of learning issues at the beginning of class if you are interested in improving the grade you got on the previous learning issue assignment for the Stokes article.
Discuss individual and group Learning Issues.  Research your learning issues in some depth and come to class prepared to discuss what you have found. Continue to generate new learning issues as you become aware of things you don't understand or need to look up.

Monday, 9 March -  Last day for in-class discussion of the Zinoffsky article. Wrap-up of the Zinoffsky article with a POGIL exercise on vapor diffusion methods for protein crystallization.

Beginning Wednesday "Jigsaw" groups will be formed and each person in your current group will be working with students from other groups on a couple of articles. Each group member will be responsible for different articles. After about a week, your original group will reconvene and share what respective members have learned. See Course Schedule for articles and links.


Jigsaw Groups

Wednesday, 11 March - It is important that you read your assigned paper(s) and try to understand as much as you can before each class. Bring a written list of your learning issues to class on Wednesday, March 11. If you want this list graded to substitute for previous learning issues assignment, turn in a copy at the beginning of class. Because you will be the only one from your home group studying the article in detail, you will need to be very familiar with the article and its significance when you return to your home groups on Friday, 20  March.  You will be the "expert" for your group!

There will be a Jigsaw Group assignment due on Friday, March 20 (see below). 

If you have gotten into a pattern that you would like to change (e.g. getting to class on time, doing out-of-class research, participating in group discussion, etc.), this is the week to do that while working with different students and a different tutor.

Because my objective is your learning and I know that learning is facilitated by interactions between individuals and groups, groups studying the same articles will be located next to each other in 205 Brown Lab.

Jigsaw Groups 1 & 6. Bohr et al. (1904) and Peters (1912).
The Bohr et al. and Peters papers are in your reader. You need to read the background material for the Douglas et al. article which relates to the other articles in this set.         

Jigsaw Groups 2 & 5. Svedberg & Fåhraeus (1926)
The primary article is in your reader.  There are links from the course schedule. Read the background material for the Svedberg & Fåhraeus article in your reader or on line.          

Jigsaw Groups 3 & 4. Diggs et al. (1933) and Herrick (1910)
The articles and background information for the Diggs et al. article and the Herrick article are in your reader.    
       
Friday, 13 March - Continue discussion of the Jigsaw articles.  Lists of learning issues for various articles will be distributed at the end of class as will the details of the jigsaw group assignment to be due on Friday, 20 March.

Preparation for the Midterm Examination

Monday & Wednesday, 16 and 18 March - Groups work on asssignment due on Friday.

Friday and Monday, 20 and 23 March - Group assignment due. Students leave their Jigsaw Groups and return to their Home Groups to share what they have learned so that all group members are prepared for the Midterm examination that will include questions on all of the articles studied.
Midterm Examination
Wednesday, 25 March - This will be an "open book" examination after 8:15 AM. You may use your notes, handouts, and graded homework. Bring your course reader. The course library will not be available. Individual Part of the 2009 Midterm Examination.

Friday, 27 March - Group Part of the 2009 Midterm Examination. 
Graded Individual Part of the Midterm Examinations will be returned after the Group Part of the Examination on April 6. 

Spring Break - March 28 - April 5
Pauling, Itano, Singer, and Wells (1949)

Monday, 6 April - Tutor-facilitators begin their new assignments with different groups.  Review midterm examination and the course to date and preview the rest of the course. Review and Revise Group Guidelines/Groundrules. Introduction of the Hemoglobinopathy Assignment.

Wednesday, 8 April - Video on Linus Pauling.  Linus Pauling was one of the intellectual giants in science of the 20th century. It is worth your knowing a little about him above and beyond his contributions to our understanding of hemoglobin and sickle cell anemia.
Read the Pauling et al. (1949) article and its background material before class and come to class with a list of learning issues.  In groups, pursue personal and group learning issues. 

Friday, 10 April - A list of at least 10 learning issues is due at the beginning of class, if you wish them to be graded. Your learning issues now should display more sophistication than they did earlier in the semester. You may want to review the characteristics of good learning issues. 

Monday, 13 April -  Resolve any remaining learning issues.  [The Pauling et al. paper does not have an abstract.  Review the characteristics of a good scientific abstract. You can peruse as many abstracts as you want at PubMed. You might like to look at, How to Prepare the Abstract, from Robert Days' delightful book, "How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper" now in its fifth edition. Each student will write and turn in an abstract, due Friday, for the Pauling et al. (1949) article]

Wednesday 15 April - Resolve remaining learning issues associated with the Pauling et al. article. Prepare for quiz Friday.

Friday 17 April -  Abstracts for the Pauling et al. article due. Group Quiz on the Pauling et al. (1949) paper at the beginning of class. Look at 2008 Group Quiz
Ingram (1958 & 1959)

Monday, 20 April -Personal and Group Learning Issues. Read the Ingram articles and the background material before class and come to class with a list of learning issues. In groups, pursue personal and group learning issues. Because there are two articles by Ingram you will read and because there will be limited time, it is important that you do substantial work on your own before coming to class. Group discussion during class time is premium time and should be the occasion to address substantive unresolved personal learning issues. For example, you should have looked up definitions of words you don't know by class time. Dr. Ingram visited this class in 1995.

Wednesday, 22 April - Continued discussion of the Ingram articles.

Friday, 24 April - Research your learning issues in some depth and come to class prepared to discuss what you have found. Continue to generate new learning issues as you become aware of things you don't understand or need to look up. Many of the issues that are important for understanding the Ingram article will be helpful in researching your variant hemoglobin for your hemoglobinopathy assignment. 

Monday, 27 April - Each group will select at random a concept question to solve and present to the class. This exercise will serve as the primary wrap-up for the Ingram articles.
Dintzis (1961) and Naughton and Dintzis (1962)

 Wednesday, 29 April - Personal and Group Learning Issues. Read the article by Dintzis (1961) and the follow-up article by Naughton and Dintzis (1962). Bring your learning issues to class. POGIL work sheet on the experimental design decisions needed for Dintzis's experiment.

Friday, 1 May - Continue discussion of the Dintzis articles.

Monday, 4 May -  Movie on Protein Synthesis with people playing the roles of molecules. Check out these links with animation to consolidate your knowledge of Protein Synthesis. Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4. Generate questions to ask Dr. Howard Dintzis on Wednesday. Read retrospective article by Dintzis in BAMBED.

Wednesday, 6 May - Class interview with Dr. Howard Dintzis.

Allison (1954)
Friday, 8 May - Whole class discussion of Dintzis and transition to the Allison (1954) article.
Monday, 11 May - Initial Discussion of Allison (1954). Allison (1954) Learning issues due. As with the previous articles, spend about three hours reading and studying the Allison article and the background material for it. Generate a list of unfamiliar words and concepts that you can look up in other books. Review the characteristics of good learning issues and come to class prepared to discuss the article. Those who wish to have their list of learning issues graded should turn in a copy at the beginning of class.

Wednesday and Friday, 13 & 15 May - Discussion of the Allison article.  Read Allison's retrospective article in BAMBED.

Friday, 15 May - Hemoglobinopathy Assignments due. Guest - Dr. Carlton Cooper, University of Delaware, Derpartment of Biological Science, discussing Sickle Cell Disease in the African-American Community.

On-line Course Evaluations - Beginning May 15, on-line course evaluations are open. There are two different evaluations to complete. One is the anonymous evaluation of the instructor and the course. (I can only find out who completed the evaluation independent of responses which become available two weeks after the course ends.) The other is a peer/self/group/tutor evaluation. All students are expected to complete both evaluations. The incentive for completing them before the last day of class is to receive your graded hemoglobinopathy paper in class on Wednesday, May 20.  Please answer the questions honestly and thoughtfully when you have about 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to reflect.

Monday, 18 May - Discussion of Hemoglobinopathy papers.

Wednesday, 20 May - Last day of class. On-line course evaluations due. Shemin and Hemin Problem
Wednesday, May 27 - Review session in 205 Brown Lab 5-7 PM followed by ASBMB-UAN Study Night with food.
Tuesday, 28 May - Final Examination. The Individual Part will start at 7 PM in 206 Brown Lab. The first hour will be closed book. Thereafter until 8:45 PM you may use your notes, reader, and other course materials except books. The Group Part will continue at 9  PM in 205 Brown Laboratory.
Hal White's Home Page, Course Home Page, or Departmental Home Page.
Last updated: 3 May  2009 by Hal White [halwhite at udel.edu]
Copyright 2009, Harold B. White, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Delaware