SYLLABUS, BIO 20, BIOLOGY: A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE, SPRING 2016
Instructor
Office Hours
E-mail
TAs
Web
Texts
Brett Holland, Ph.D., Professor, Biological Sciences
Tues/Thurs. 5:45-7:00 PM (or by appointment), SQU 120C
holland@csus.edu Subject: include "Bio 20". Paste SacCT questions into your email.
Do not write to me through MySacState (It will delay a response).
James Walsh jwalsh1414@live.com
Ashita Mohandas ashitamohandas@csus.edu
SacCT (assessments). Google Docs (lecture slides and syllabus)
 Hamer and Copeland (1999). Living with our genes. Anchor. ISBN 9780385485845
(LOG). User Services Reserves, Library 1 NORTH
 Nesse, RM and Williams, GC. 1996. Why we get sick: the new science of Darwinian
medicine . New York: Vintage Books. ISBN-13: 9780679746744 (WWGS)
 Free textbook https://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/biology
Course description and learning outcomes
Catalog description: Introduction to the biological concepts with emphasis on their application to
humans. Topics include: Evidenced-based decision making with respect to food, nutritional supplements,
drugs, pathogens, and biotechnology. How heredity and evolution contribute to our understanding of
personality, sex, behavior, addiction, disease, and aging is also discussed.
GE B2 Learning outcomes and their attainment. By the end of the semester you will be able to:
A. Explain and apply core ideas and models concerning living systems and life forms, citing critical
observations, underlying assumptions and limitations. Attainment: Several core ideas of biology will
be discussed and applied: Most central are inheritance and the central unifying principle of biology -evolution by natural selection. Nucleic acid is information and the heritable material. Genetic, and
environmental sources of variation. Assumptions behind hypotheses that either genes or
environment are responsible for traits. Mutation and disease. Surface area/volume relationships
manifesting in cell structure, function, and the evolution of circulatory systems.
B. Describe how scientists create explanations of natural phenomena based on the systematic collection
of empirical evidence subjected to rigorous testing and/or experimentation. Attainment: The course
lecture and reading will explore the fundamental outline of the scientific method, classic and current
experiments, treatment and control groups, statistical significance, observation and correlation.
C. Access and evaluate scientific information, including interpreting tables, graphs, and equations.
Attainment: You will also perform internet-based searchers for information, compare and evaluate
the quality of various web-pages and internet sources, learn the characteristics of evidence-based
information, anecdote, and misinformation. Throughout the semester, lecture slides will include peerreviewed data in tabular and graphic form. We will discuss how systematically to approach these
summary forms of data, including the use logarithmic axes. We will also use arithmetic and basic
algebra to explore topics including: calories, body mass index, surface area-to-volume scaling, metricto-standard conversions.
D. Recognize evidence-based conclusions and form reasoned opinions about science-related matters of
personal, public, and ethical concern. Attainment: A central theme of this course is the application of
scientific evidence to issues of personal and public importance (e.g., immunizations, drugs, diet,
product claims, cancer, biological diversity, environmental change, biotechnology, and human
evolution). These topics are covered through lecture as well as assigned reading. Course material is
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chosen that seeks to instill a life-long interest in biology, as a means to understand ourselves more
deeply and to explore our values as our technical abilities grow. Self-education: A fundamental goal
of all university education is to develop the ability to extend one's own understanding. Finding,
evaluating, and drawing inferences from information will be a major component of this course.
Assessment: will consist of weekly lecture/discussion-based homework, twice-weekly reading
assignments and quizzes, and three in-class exams that cover all aspects of the course. Assessment will
include: written, short answer, and multiple answer questions.
How to Succeed
1. Recognize and commit to your obligation: Spend approximately 9 hr per week reading and thinking
outside of class (that does not include passively reading/highlighting, etc.)
2. Know this syllabus and re-read it as needed while working in SacCT.
3. Meet your SacCT deadlines (listed on the last page of the syllabus).
4. During lectures: think, take notes, and ask questions.
5. Actively read. After each paragraph, ask yourself, “What was the main point”? After every section:
“what were the main points”. If you can create questions and answer them you will succeed in any
intellectual environment?
6. Join a study group (connect through Discussion on SacCT).
Instructor Website (Google Docs)
 Syllabus (schedule and other information may be modified during the semester).
 Lecture slides: PDFs of most slides used in lecture.
 Access: SacCT or Google “holland csus” > Bio 20 link (be sure to choose the correct section).
Graded Work
Homework, Quizzes, and Essays are administered through SacCT. Each has a folder along the left
navigation bar.
 Homework (HW): Based on any aspect of the course, but will always emphasize recent lecture events:
assigned reading, lecture material and in-class discussion. Will consist of multiple answer questions.
Generally: You can take the homework up to three times prior to the due date. You are encouraged to
work with others. Your highest score will be used to calculate your course grade. You can see your
completed homework throughout the semester and use it to study for exams. There will be
approximately 1 homework assignment per week. They will be announced in class.
 Quizzes: Are based only on the independent reading. They are designed to encourage you to think as
you read the texts. You are encouraged to work with others. Otherwise, they have the same parameters
as Homework. Due dates are posted in the schedule.
 Preparing for exams: You can also take HW/Quizzes after the due date for study purposes (up to 3
attempts, total). After your first attempt you can access the results: click: My Grades > file name > the
score (see, also, the first lecture slides, “01.Evidenced….pptx”, for pictures). After the due date has
passed you will also be able to see the answers. If any attempt is submitted after the due date you will
be able to see results at My Grades > SUBMITTED > click on the exclamation mark.
 SacCT: When clicking on an assessment hyperlink you will see instructions and test information. When
finished with an assessment, you must also successfully hit the "submit" button to receive credit. If you
do no submit your work you cannot take your next attempt until it is auto-submitted (5 hours). A
window will appear acknowledging the successful submission of your assessment. Saved answers have
a check mark next to question number (in the right column). If there is a SacCT failure during your
assessment, close the assessment and reopen it. If it is working properly, you will be able to save new
answers. If that does not work, log out of SacCT and start again. If necessary, switch to a new browser,
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move to a new computer. At any time you may go to the IRT Service Desk:
http://www.csus.edu/irt/servicedesk/ AIRC, 2005 Phone: 916.278.7337.
Multiple Answer questions: If the answer choices have squares (
) for selecting, any number of
answers may be correct. Some questions will specify the number of correct answers (e.g., “Choose
two”). Grading: 100%/n for correct choices (n=the number of correct answer. Deductions for incorrect
answers vary (and are not revealed, but are usually 20%-30%). For example: there are six answer choices
and two are correct (100%/2= 50% each). If you chose both correct answers and one incorrect answer
your score would be 50% + 50% - 25% (for example) = 75%.
Essays: will be based on class topics and will require research. Assignments will be announced through
SacCT or in class. Your completed essay must be converted to a pdf and uploaded through the
assignment. Guidelines will be posted for each assignment. You must follow the guidelines to earn a
high score. Save your original essay in case there is a SacCT failure.
Late Work: Work submitted after the due date (even 1 second late) will be deleted (after the next exam)
and receive 0 points. When HW is released, an announcement is posted at SacCT (may not be pushed
to your phone). Quizzes are released at the beginning of the semester, so no announcements are
released. You have 4-7 days to complete homework, weeks to complete essays, and weeks or months
to complete reading quizzes. Learning to plan, use a personal calendar, etc., is a fundamental skill that
is required to function in a professional environment. Internet or SacCT failure is not an acceptable
excuse for missing deadlines. Personal illness is only acceptable with documentation and if it occurs
more than one day before the deadline. No event that occurs on a due date is an acceptable excuse for
late work. This is because due dates are not start dates. Prior to the relevant exam, you will see late
work listed under “SUMBITTED” at My Grades, with an exclamation mark instead of score. Work in the
“submitted” category is not included in any SacCT grade calculations. Soon after the relevant exam such
work will be manually graded (0 points). Your course score will then be accurate.
Exams will be similar to homework (based on lecture, reading, and discussion). Exams will be taken with
scantron 882 in class or, within computer labs, using SacCT (if class size permits). Questions will consist
of multiple choice, matching, and T/F. Preparation: Slides, HW, and Quizzes. Grading: If the mean is low
I may adjust the scores upward to 75% by awarding everyone the same number of points.
SacCT known issues: Mobile devices: Don’t use them to do assignments. SacCT has a bug that (rarely)
causes it to delete all traces of a submission. To avoid this, take screen shots at My Grades and save
them into a MS Word doc. Keep the document updated. Rounding: A perfect assessment may give, for
example, 0.99999/1. Notice this is trivial. You would have to lose this fraction 10,000 times to lose 1
point. Before the end of the semester, I will give everyone more than 1 point.
Course Grading
Evaluation
Homework and Essays
LOG and WWGS Quizzes
Exams
Course Total
%
≥ 93
90 – <93
87 – <90
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Grade
A
AB+
Details
Lecture/discussion/articles
One per chapter
3 x 500 points
%
83 – <87
80 – <83
77 – <80
Grade
B
BC+
%
73 – <77
70 – <73
67 – <70
BIO 20 Syllabus
Grade
C
CD+
Course Pts
200 (approx.)
225 (approx.)
1500
1925 (approx.)
%
63 – <67
60 – <63
<60
Grade
D
DF
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Miscellaneous Course Policies and Student Resources
 Adding – If you would like to add this course, you must print your full name and student ID on the add
sheet at the end of the first class meeting. It is your responsibility to drop this course (I may drop
students who do not turn in the first homework.
 If I have offered you a spot in the course but you cannot add the course this week (e.g., Open University
students), and do NOT have a SacLink ID, try to get a SacLink ID online or from the IRT help desk (see
bottom of syllabus). Email it to me. If you cannot get a Saclink ID, email your full name (exactly as it
appears on school records).
 Dropping: Until the end of the second week of instruction of the semester, students are expected to
drop courses by using "My Sac State" (http://www.my.csus.edu). During the third and fourth weeks of
instruction are processed in the academic department offering the course and (1) require approval of
the instructor and the Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, and (2) will be permitted only for
reasons deemed by the instructor and department chair to be "serious and compelling". Serious and
compelling reasons may include illness, change in work schedule, carrying an excessive course load.
 Students are responsible for using the information provided in this syllabus, lecture, and
announcements posted at SacCT or MySacState.
 Absences: you are responsible for what you miss.
 If you should have to miss an exam, make-ups will be allowed only for valid medical or educational
reasons, as determined by me (e.g., hospitalization). Please let me know immediately (by email) if you
will have to miss an exam. Make-up exams will be given at the testing center and are given Mondays at
9:00 a.m. and Fridays at 9:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. at a cost of $6.00 to you. You are responsible for making
an appointment with the testing center and informing me of the appointment time. Information is
available from the Testing Center's website.
 Class conduct: To learn we must strive to keep our attention on task. Be mindful of potential distractions
that you can prevent. Electronic devices should be off, or set to vibrate. If you arrive late or (may) need
to leave early please take a seat near a door. If you suffer from a texting compulsion please sit in the
back of the room.
 If you have a disability and require accommodations, you need to provide disability documentation to
SSWD, Lassen Hall 1008, 278-6955. Please discuss your accommodation needs with me early in the
semester. I need all forms at least 2 weeks before any exam.
 Academic dishonesty: in any form degrades the education of everyone. Plagiarism and other forms of
misconduct will be reported to the University Student Conduct Officer and may (at my discretion) result
in dismissal from the course with an F grade.
 Technology assistance: Academic Information Resource Center (AIRC), Room 2005, 278-7337
 IRT: http://www.csus.edu/irt/index.html
 Saclink: http://www.csus.edu/sacct/student/sacct-ready.stm#saclink
 SacCT: http://www.csus.edu/sacct/student/index.stm
 Student Tech Center: http://www.csus.edu/irt/stc/
 Software workshops, e.g., SacCT, See ‘workshops’
http://www.csus.edu/irt/stc/workshops/index.html
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Schedule
Dates may change. Changes are announced in class and/or SacCT. Lecture topic dates are approximate.
PDFs of slide files (1-5) are available at SacCT.
Week Date
1
2
3
4
5
6
26-Jan
28-Jan
2-Feb
4-Feb
9-Feb
11-Feb
16-Feb
18-Feb
23-Feb
25-Feb
1-Mar
3-Mar
8-Mar
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
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10-Mar
Meeting Notes
1. Introduction to course and syllabus
introduction to LOG
evidence based decision making
scientific methods
pseudoscience and products claims
vaccinations: pandemics, phobias, ethics
superstition and expertise
2. Introduction to biological molecules
carbohydrates and carbo-loading
fats and steroid abuse
Exam 1, (Lect/slides 1; HW 1- 4; LOG Intro-7)
(fats and steroid abuse HW given now b/c of test)
proteins, diabetes, body weight, nutrition, exercise
common drugs: toxicity, metabolism, effects: alcohol, caffeine,
cannabis, Ritalin, Tylenol
15-Mar
17-Mar
22-Mar
24-Mar
29-Mar
31-Mar
5-Apr
7-Apr
12-Apr
14-Apr
19-Apr
21-Apr
26-Apr
Spring Break
Spring Break
cells and circulatory systems - a matter of scale
C. Chavez day, campus closed
3. DNA
genes
mutations
cancer
4. Evolution, social behavior, sexual selection
Exam 2, (Lect/slides 2-3; HW 5-8; LOG 8-WWGS 6)
aging: a consequence of natural selection
28-Apr
3-May
5-May
10-May
12-May
19-May
5. Biotechnology & Environment
cloning, stem cells, disease testing,
agriculture, identity testing and justice
environmental change
Final Exam (Lect/slides 4-6; HW 9-13; WWGS 7-15)
See “Final Exam Announcement” at SacCT for time & location
BIO 20 Syllabus
Quiz*
LOG (Ch)
Intro
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
WWGS
(Ch) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
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