SYLLABUS
BIOLOGY 26-105-A09C - BIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS:UNITY
Instructor: Dr. Margaret Beard
E-mail: beard@uwosh.edu (Note: I do not answer e-mail in the evenings or over the weekend)
Office: Halsey 161
Office Hours: Monday - 5:00-6:00pm. Tuesday - noon to 1:00pm and 4:00-6:00pm.
Wednesday -5:00-6:00pm. Thursday - noon to 1:00pm. Or by appointment.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Biology 105 is the introductory course for all Biology courses on this campus, serving as a general education
course for many students, as the start on a biology major, or the first step towards the nursing or other health
professions program for others. It is assumed you are entering this course with no real background other than a
general familiarity of with Biology.
The main focus of the course is examining characteristics, both structural and functional, shared by all living
organisms. Thus the bulk of the course is an introductory cell biology course. We begin by studying basic
chemistry, then move on to biological molecules and how they interact, then onto cells and cell structure, how cells
make and use energy, how they reproduce, and finally how cells and organisms evolve.
Throughout the course I will be tying the material into real life examples about how Biology relates to your
everyday life (and it really, really does). I hope you leave the course with a better understanding of basic biology
that enables you to make informed decisions about your life, and current political issues such as genetically
modified organisms and stem cell research, drug interactions, effects of environmental pollutants (e.g. pesticides,
heavy metals), among others.
You will gain the most from this course by attending lecture, listening, taking notes, thinking about the lecture as
you copy over your notes, reading the assigned text pages and chapters and integrating the text material with the
material taught in lecture.
LECTURE INFORMATION
LECTURE TIME : 9:10-10:10 HALSEY 106 (I BEGIN LECTURE PROMPTLY; PLEASE BE ON TIME)
LECTURE TEXT: Campbell et al.: Biology: Concepts and Connections, Fifth Edition, Pearson Cummings Custom
Publishing, San Francisco, CA.
Lecture Format: Lectures will be presented using overheads of the figures from your text and with lecture notes
also being written on overhead or on the blackboard. The information in the figures is an important part of the
course. Your understanding these figures is an excellent way to understand the course. Many students have found
it very useful for to bring your text to class and even to make margin notes about the figures in the text.
If you miss a lecture for any reason it is YOUR responsibility to get the notes from a friend and use these
for your study. I DO NOT HAND OUT OR POST MY LECTURE NOTES.
LECTURE EXAMS: We will have four lecture exams on the scheduled dates (see lecture and laboratory schedule
below). Each exam will be worth 100 points, and consist of multiple-choice questions. There will be material
from roughly 8 lectures on each exam (resulting in roughly 6 exam questions per lecture). As you can see, missing
even one lecture could have significant impact on your exam performance. I use questions from various sources,
including from the end of the chapters of your book and from the CD that accompanies your text, as well as
questions that I and other instructors have written and questions from other introductory biology texts and teachers.
A missed exam will receive a grade of zero – unless you qualify for the make-up exam (see below)
MAKEUP EXAM: One makeup exam will be given during the regular class period on the last day of class, Friday
December15, 2006.
The make-up exam can be taken only by individuals who miss the regularly scheduled lecture or a lab exam for
an approved reason. Approved reasons for missing an exam are: (1) a documented university sponsored
event that conflicts with the exam date; (2) a family crisis (e.g. your illness documented by health
service notice or doctor’s note; a serious illness of a parent documented; a death in your immediate
family – parents or siblings or grandparents but not cousins etc that is documented by an obituary notice).
I do not allow your taking the make-up exam for reasons such as – I have purchased airline tickets
already or I am participating in a wedding. Read the class schedule carefully and make your
plans accordingly
The make-up exam will be comprehensive (covering material from any and all prior LECTURE AND LAB
exams). In order to be eligible to take this exam, a student must receive prior permission from Dr. Beard and
permission will be granted only for those who contacted Dr. Beard before the exam missed. Only one missed
exam score (EITHER LECTURE OR LAB) may be replaced with the makeup exam score-so if you miss more
than one exam, or you do not contact Dr. Beard before a missed exam, you will not be allowed to take the make-up
exam.
PRE-EXAM STUDY/REVIEW SESSIONS:
I will hold study/review sessions in the evening a either the night before or two nights before each lecture
exam. Since your lab exams fall on Monday, the review for these exams will be late afternoon the preceding
Friday. These will give you an opportunity to ask questions about material that you find confusing and to
ask questions pertaining to the study guide handouts that will be distributed through D2L the week prior to
each exam. Watch D2L for the dates of these review sessions.
EXAM REGRADE POLICY
Exams will be entirely multiple choice questions – thought provoking nevertheless.
Grading errors on exams do occur. These may be as simple as an addition error; or more encompassing,
such as my misinterpretation of how you understood a question, or your learning information from a source
other than class notes or the assigned text and thereby giving an answer different from the expected answer
to a question. No matter the reason for your requating a re-grade of the exam, such requests must be
submitted in writing within 48 hours of your having received the your exam score onD2L. In your written
request you MUST JUSTIFY WHY you believe that your answer is correct – i.e. provide the outside
source, explain your logic, etc. WHENEVER A REGRADE IS REQUESTED, I RESERVE THE RIGHT
TO REGRADE THE ENTIRE EXAM, NOT ONLY THE QUESTION(S) AT ISSUE.
LABORATORY INFORMATION
Laboratory meeting times: There are seven lab sections, A01-A07 that correspond to this lecture. You need to
attend the lab section you are signed into as space is limited. Labs will meet each week at the assigned time in
Room 211 and be two hours in length-assume; each lab will take the entire period. You will receive a lab syllabus
from your lab instructor with more details on how your lab section will be conducted. Labs cannot be made-up as
there is extensive preparation necessary by our staff for each lab.
LABORATORY TEXT: Holton and Charley-Johnson: BIO 105: Concepts in Biology: Unity: Laboratory Manual.
Bring it (along with lecture text) to every laboratory meeting.
LABORATORY EXAMS: Three laboratory exams (worth 100 pts each) will be administered during lecture periods
(see lecture and laboratory schedule). Lab exams will consist of multiple-choice questions based on the lab
experience, the concepts demonstrated in each lab exercise and on concepts covered in lecture that relate to the
laboratory experience. A missed exam will result in a score of zero for that exam, unless you qualify for the
makeup exam (see above).
LABORATORY GRADE: You will have 400 points from the lab. Of these 300 points will come from the lab exams
and 100 points that will be assigned by your lab instructor.
GRADING
COURSE GRADE: There will be a total of 800 points possible for the semester (400 points from lecture exams, 300
points from lab exams, and 100 points from lab). I will calculate your grade by dividing the total number of points
you earn over the semester by 800, which will yield a percentage. This percentage will be converted into a letter
grade using the scale below:
GRADING SCALE: (Note: I reserve the right to lower the scale slightly if class performance warrants such
a change.)
100-90% = A
89%-87% = AB
86-80% = B
79-77% = BC
76-70% = C
69-67% = CD
66-60% = D
<60% = F
CHEATING POLICY: Cheating of any kind will not be tolerated. Such will result in an F grade in
the class and possible expulsion from the University.
STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:
Any evidence of any form of academic dishonesty makes you subject to the Student Academic Disciplinary
Procedures, as outlined in the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Student Discipline Code, as detailed in
specific provisions of Chapter 14 of the State of Wisconsin Administrative Code.
(http://www/uwosh.edu/dean). Any student found in violation of any aspect of the above Code will receive a
sanction as detailed in UWS 14.005 & 14.06, ranging from a grade of zero on the assignment to expulsion
from the university. . Academic dishonesty is interpreted to include (but is not limited to) the following:
looking at another student’s exam and/or copying answers, talking to other students in exams; using notes or
other resources e.g. electronic devices during exams, when not permitted, using another’s work (obtained
from on campus or off campus sources) as a student’s own; not giving attribution to work either quoted or
paraphrased, failure to give sources for work referenced, etc. Students may appeal sanctions per UWS
14.06-14.08.
ATTENDANCE
I do not regularly take attendance in lecture. Attending lecture and developing good note-taking skills will
increase your doing well in the course. I will not repeat any lectures nor will I publish any of my notes.
Your attendance in laboratory is required. Note: I do give UNANNOUNCED quizzes at the beginning of
some lectures. Each quiz is worth 4 points. Simply by trying to answer the questions you will receive 1 extra
credit point.
You must attend lab section in which you are enrolled and which corresponds to the lecture section in which
you are enrolled. If you know that you will miss your regularly scheduled lab, you can TRY to arrange to
attend a different lab section that same week. To do this you contact the instructor for the lab you wish to
attend and confirm that you may participate in his/her lab section. You then must also notify your regular
lab instructor. Lab instructors are under no obligation to allow you into their lab.
TO HELP YOU IN YOUR PROCESS OF LEARNING:
1) SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION (SI) for Biology 105-A09C – BEARD
Your SI Leader – Molly Zeller –
zellem81@uwosh.edu
What is SI?
Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a series of weekly review sessions for students taking historically
difficult courses. SI is provided for all students who want to improve their understanding of course
material and improve their grades with an emphasis on learning how to study and how to learn.
Attendance at SI sessions is voluntary. For you the student, it’s a chance to get together with people
in your class to compare notes, to discuss important concepts, to develop strategies for studying the
subject, and to test yourselves before your professor does. At each session you will be guided
through this material by your SI leader, a competent student who has previously taken the course.
What is an SI leader?
Have you ever wished you could do something over, knowing what you know now? SI leaders are
students themselves and are prepared to share with you what they have learned over the years about
how to study. They know the course content and are anxious to help guide you through it. They’ll be
in class with you every day, hearing what you hear and reading what you read. What they won’t do
is lecture; their job is to help you think about the lectures you hear and the books you read, and then
put it altogether during the SI review sessions. SI can help you learn course material more efficiently.
When do SI review sessions start?
On the first day of class you will fill out a short survey to let the SI leader know your class schedule.
Each SI leader will set up two or three review sessions each week at times that are best for the
majority of students taking the class. You can attend one, two, or all three (the choice is yours) and
each one will be different because you’ll have new material to discuss. SI review sessions are
informal. Bring your notes; bring your textbook; bring your questions.
What’s in it for me?
If you attend SI sessions regularly, chances are you’ll earn a better grade. You’ll have developed a
better understanding of course content as well as more effective ways of studying. This will help you
in other classes also.
2) TIPS FOR SUCCESS IN BIOLOGY 105
What follows are some tried and true strategies for achieving the highest possible grade in biology (and
actually in almost any course.
1. Attend class and take notes!! Learning is a process that uses as many senses as possible –eyes,
ears and hand (touch). By the way – notes are not transcripts of everything that is said by the
lecturer. Instead “notes” are highlights of the lecture to jog your memory so that when you re-write
the “notes” you can fill in the details. If you spend all the time writing, you aren’t listening and
integrating.
2. Scan the assigned reading BEFORE coming to lecture (or lab) so that you have some familiarity
with the words and concepts to be discussed that day. You will be able to think about the information
being presented with less stress.
3. After lecture copy over your lecture notes, using you own words to describe a topic not my words
that you took down in class. You will forget my words very easily, your words less easily. It is a
documented fact that repetition and rehearsal are the means to memory.
4. Now also is the time to re-read the text, underlining specifically those words and phrases that
augment and amplify your notes. You might find it useful to insert ideas from the text into you
lecture notes.
5. Lecture exam question are based on material presented in the lecture period AND in the text. (Lab
exam question are based on material presented in the laboratory and relevant material presented in
lecture). When putting together an exam, I start by going back to my lecture notes and picking out
concepts that are important. If a concept is important enough to have been in a lecture it is important
enough to be on a test. Sometimes, a test question will come from a single sentence mentioned in
lecture. So – Pay Attention!! No test question will come solely from information in the text. While
most test question will be straightforward – Do you know a fact about something - others will ask
you to apply facts or to tie concepts together. You can memorize answers to questions in the first
style but not to the last styles. These require that you have thought about the topics studied.
6. It may be very useful for you to ask and answer the following questions about each of the topic
headings and bold-face words in your text.
What does the word or concept mean? (Define the word/concept)
Where is the word/concept found?
When is the word/concept used or operating
Why is the word/concept needed (i.e. what is it doing? why is it important)?
How is the word/concept regulated (turned on or off) in the biological world?
7. Ask questions – of me, of you lab instructors, of you SI leader, of the biology tutor and of you
fellow students.
8. Answer questions. Form study groups and talk to each other. The best indicator of whether you
understand information is if you can teach it to someone else!!
3) HINTS FOR STUDYING FOR EXAMS –
1. BE ABLE TO DISCUSS THE BOLD FACE WORDS AND THE TOPIC HEADINGS IN YOUR TEXT,
BY ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS “WHAT DOES THE WORD OR TOPIC MEAN TO BIOLOGY?; WHEN IS
THE WORD OR TOPIC IMPORTANT IN BIOLOGY I.E. HOW DOES IT FUNCTION OR WORK”.
2. USE THE CHAPTER REVIEW IN YOUR TEXT
3. STUDY THE THOUGHT QUESTIONS INTERSPERSED THROUGHT THE CHAPTERS
4. USE THE CD AND WEB SITE
5. WORK WITH A STUDY PARTNER – TALK ABOUT THE TOPICS. (IF YOU CAN TEACH A
CONCEPT OR THE MEANING OF A PHRASE OR WORD TO SOMEONE ELSE YOU KNOW IT.
6. LOOK AT THE EXAM THAT IS POSTED IN D2L FOR STYLE – YES YOU CAN STUDY THESE
QUESTIONS TOO; HOWEVER THERE IS NO ASSURANCE THAT THEY WILL APPEAR ON ANY EXAM.
7. STUDY THE KEY WORD AND CONCEPT STUDY GUIDE POSTED IN D2L
I will be available to answer questions and to review during an evening (generally 6:00-7:30pm)
before each of the 4 lecture exams and the late afternoon on the Friday before the e lab exams.