Micro 160 S20 Course Syllabus
Biology of Cancer and AIDS
Micro 160 section 01 Spring 2020
MWF 11:10-12:15
Mahar Auditorium 108
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Instructor
Heather Reed
Department of Microbiology
Room 337 Morrill 1 North
Email: hreed@umass.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays 1:30 – 2:45 pm in my office
Graduate TA’s
James Harberson: jharbison@umass.edu
Melissa Shinfuku: mshinfuku@umass.edu
(Help hours by appointment, contact TA directly)
Undergraduate TA’s
A list of this course’s undergraduate TA’s is posted on Moodle.
General Education
Welcome! This is a General Education course in the Biological Sciences (BS) category. The purpose
of General Education courses is to stretch minds, broaden experiences, sharpen critical thinking
skills and make connections through shared experiences. Consequently, we will all be better
prepared for scholarship and professional learning, community engagement and informed
citizenship in a diverse and rapidly changing world.
Course Description
This course will explore how cancer and AIDS begin and progress. We will discuss the roles of
individual cells, gene mutations, and the immune system in cancer development. In addition, we
will explore how various physical, genetic and environmental factors influence one's chances of
getting cancer. The class will cover specific cancers, treatment strategies, and how lifestyle
affects cancer risks and survival. We will also cover HIV biology, transmission, prevention
strategies, treatment, and why HIV presents special challenges in developing a cure. Overall, the
intention is to explore what cancer and AIDS can teach us about human nature, health, healing,
disease, living, and dying. These are big goals given there is so much interesting material to cover;
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Micro 160 S20 Course Syllabus
I hope to create space for you to recognize and follow some of your own curiosities and points
of interest. To achieve this, I expect you to possess the initiative to seek out, read, review, discuss
and study material related to the course, but I’ll be providing lots of thought provoking and
informative material to help support this process along the way. Summative assessments of your
understanding and ability to apply course concepts along with broader course objectives (e.g.
critical thinking, creating and analyzing, communicating, etc.) are based on quizzes, exams and
two creative group projects. However, an online forum, in class activities and discussions, and
peer-reviews will be opportunities for formative feedback and practice in applying course
concepts, problem solving and critical thinking skills, team-work, and communicating complex
ideas and concepts.
Course Rationale
Ideally, a well-educated person is able to make informed decisions regarding the health of
themselves and others. This ability requires a basic understanding of the biological processes
involved in disease development and progression, treatment options and our role in disease
prevention. Cancer and AIDS are two of the most important diseases of the 21st century,
affecting millions of people each year. Cancer accounts for 1 of every 4 deaths in the US. Almost
37 million people worldwide are currently living with HIV/AIDS. Future leaders must fully
understand the scientific, social and political issues associated with these diseases. More
importantly, these two diseases demonstrate basic principles of biology, disease, public health,
personal health, and how we might engage with others in need.
Course Learning Goals
1. Students will understand the basic causes and consequences of cancer such that students
will be able to ‘create’ a cancer as if they were creating a character in a play they are writing.
Students should accurately convey significance of its development (including cause) and past,
convey the current forces that motivate its growth, convey its relationship to its environment
(the body), and convey some of its weaknesses. Students should justify the lifespan of their
created cancer based on its characteristics and interactions with its environment (tissue,
immune system, and treatment regime).
2. Similar to learning goals regarding cancer, students will understand the basic causes and
consequences of HIV infections such that students will be able to create a creative, coherent
and compelling means to effectively communicate to peers how HIV emerged, its effect on the
human population, and how its biology relates to transmission and treatment.
3. Students will be able to discuss and inform others about how some everyday choices relate
to risk for both cancer and HIV. Students will also be able to describe how choice is not part of
the equation for why someone may have to battle cancer or HIV.
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Micro 160 S20 Course Syllabus
4. While the causative agents of cancer and HIV infections are very different, students will be
able to identify similarities between the states of disease, treatments, and social consequences
associated with HIV infections and cancers.
5. Students will recognize and discuss the issues these diseases may bring up in the personal
lives of those living with these diseases. We will use film clips, articles, podcasts, and scientific
studies to explore the experience of facing mortality, factors that influence decisions related to
treatment and extension of life, and the historical and contemporary inequitable burden among
different populations affected by these diseases.
Course Materials
Moodle Course Learning Management (free):
https://moodle.umass.edu/course/view.php?id=63163#section-0
I do not require a textbook for this course. Although, for those that feel best when a reliable
text is near, this course has traditionally used the two texts listed below. I think both are
excellent, and I will use figures from Principles of Cancer Biology often in my slides. I am going
to post relative links to informative sites, video clips, articles etc. But I expect you to seek
reliable information as needed to deepen and strengthen your understanding of content as well
as to fill in gaps in understanding. There are many great and reliable sources of animations,
infographics, and you tube sources (Khan Academy, HHMI, American Cancer Society, Cancer
Research UK). I also expect you to use each other as resources, the course TAs, and of course
myself. One precaution is the very many myths regarding cancer and HIV that exists. So, please
use information from sources that rely on multiple sources of peer-reviewed evidence. Always
bring up questionable information in class; many proposed relationships (e.g. sugar
consumption equals increased tumor growth) lack a robust body of evidence or are ‘interesting
ideas’ with no supporting body of evidence.
Packback - A web-based forum for posing and answering well developed questions related to
weekly content. E-mail from holla@packback.co. Access is $25. See
https://vimeo.com/packback/welcome-to-packback-questions.
Optional Materials
Online Polling Site
Mentimeter.com (This is a free online service where you type the given code and responses are
reported – requires phones, laptop, or iPad and internet connection – optional)
Textbooks (available on reserve at the library)
1. Principles of Cancer Biology (UMass Custom Edition) by Lewis J. Kleinsmith, 2008
2. The Biology of AIDS, 2nd Ed. by Wilmore Webley, 2009 – You may purchase this from the
publisher https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/biology-aids
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Micro 160 S20 Course Syllabus
Course Requirements and Grading
I am continually learning about what data-based evidence suggests how students learn best. I
often alter this course to reflect and experiment with what I learn. In doing so, I try to create a
combination of assessments that are motivating, move up and down Blooms Taxonomy of
Learning, and that do not completely determine your entire grade. This semester your graded
assessment of learning will come from exams, weekly on-line forum (Packback), in-class quizzes
(all retrieval practice), and two group projects (one on cancer and one on HIV). We will do our
best to determine your grades as objectively and fairly as possible, assessing your honest
efforts.
The course is based on 1000 points. Thus, a total of 950 points in the course equates to 95%.
You should be able to determine your current grade by determining the sum of points you have
acquired and dividing by the total possible points provided.
In-class Assessments:
40% of your grade will be attributed to points received from three out of four exams and five
out of six quizzes. These assessments will be a combination of multiple choice and open
response questions.
Exams: This course has three mid-term exams and a cumulative final. Of these exams, only the
three highest scores will be used to determine your grade. So, if you are happy with your grade
by the end of the semester, it is not necessary to take the cumulative final. You will only need
to take the final if you are unhappy with your mid-term scores.
Quizzes: We will administer six (or 7) in-class quizzes; the five quizzes with the highest grade
will contribute to your final grade. In total 400 points from multiple choice questions (either
quizzes or exams) will contribute to your final grade (40%).
• Exams are worth 100 pts each. Only 3 will count toward your final grade.
• Quizzes are worth 20 pts each. Only 5 will count toward your final grade.
Packback:
I value critical thinking and curiosity and wish that conventional education practices centered
on cultivating these two characteristics. However, in the end I this class seems to always move
toward me lecturing and assessing you on how well you took in my exuberant chatter. Packback
is a tool to help insert more agency and critical thinking into the course. We’ll be using the
Packback Questions platform for online discussion about class topics or tangential topics that
we might not get to explore in lecture. Packback Questions is an online forum that helps
cultivate and encourage curiosity within our community. The idea is to create a space to
practice asking well developed questions about how what we are studying relates to life and
the real world. See more details in the Packback section of Moodle.
• Your effective participation in Packback will account for 15% or 150 points of your final
grade. There will be 10 weeks in which you will need to post a question/comment and
respond to a posted question/comment.
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Micro 160 S20 Course Syllabus
•
The Life and Times of a Metastatic Cancer
One learning goal I struggle with is assessing whether students understand the ‘nature’ of
cancer. On Lexico.com (retrieved 08/11/19) the definition of ‘nature’ as I want to use it is: ‘The
basic or inherent features, character, or qualities of something.’ I would like you to construct a
first ‘person’ narrative of the origin, development, and fate of a metastatic cancer of your
creation. You should creatively convey in this narrative cancer’s basic inherent features and/or
qualities which in many cases make metastatic cancer rare, in some cases, inevitable, and
challenging to defeat. Importantly, this narrative is not from the patient’s perspective but from
an anthropomorphized cancer’s perspective.
Working on your own or in a group of 2 or 3, you will synthesize the concepts about the biology
of cancer to convey the more subtle nature of how healthy cells transform into extremely
dangerous and responsive cellular entities. This is not a time to research a specific cancer or
gene mutation so that you are feeding back information that never truly made sense to you.
This is a time to integrate what you or your group’s collective understanding about how cancer
develops and convey a deep and coherent understanding of the basic nature of cancer.
Ultimately, you will determine the fate of the cancer you or your group have created.
• 1rst Peer Review activity will consist of groups posting (on Moodle Forum) description of
transition from normal cell to genetic instability. Each student is responsible for
reviewing two posts. Posting your description and reviewing two posts is worth 20
points. Note this activity cannot be made up.
• 2nd Peer Review activity consists of groups posting FINAL project DRAFT on Moodle
Forum. Again, each student is responsible for reviewing two posts. Posting your
description and reviewing two posts is worth 20 points. Note this activity cannot be
made up.
• Metastatic Cancer final project will account for 200 points or 20% of your grade.
• A reflection on how well you were able to meet the goals of this project and how the
project affected your understanding of cancer is worth 10 points.
Our HIV Message
Again, working on your own or in a group of 1, 2,3, or 4, you will create either a video essay
(e.g. http://videoessays.tumblr.com), a short podcast episode, or an infographic about HIV. You
will need to present information you believe is new and exciting (or disturbing), is little
understood, is necessary to disseminate to decrease HIV’s prevalence, or is important for
deconstructing myths regarding HIV infections. This may be personal and requires great
sensitivity and trust among group members. Video essays should be limited to 5 minutes,
podcasts can be 15 minutes, and infographics should use efficient and original or (modified
images cited) to convey multiple types of information. Originality matters.
• ‘Our HIV Message’ project will account for 125 points.
• In addition, you will assess your group’s project based on the projects rubric but base
your grade out of 25 points. Note: Anyone working in a group must submit an account
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Micro 160 S20 Course Syllabus
of contribution and a reflection of what about working in a group worked well and what
you learned about how you may better work in a group for the future.
Final Reflection
A final reflection on the course will be worth 25% or 25 points of your final grade. This will be a
relatively short written reflection of what you have learned from your experience in this course
in relation to cancer, HIV, and human well-being. By the end of the semester, I hope you will
understand that I am not looking for a catalog of new concepts you were exposed to, but more
of how this course may resonate with you five years from now and whether you have gained
any insights into how you engage with your environment and others.
Grade Category
Exams
Quizzes
Cancer Autobiography
HIV Project
Packback Questions Participation
Total Points (% of grade)
300 (30%)
100 (10%)
250 (25%)
150 (15%)
150 (15%)
Grade Scale
Grades will be assigned as follows. If the median grade is less than 75%, the letter grades will be
adjusted so that the class average is in the middle ‘C’ rage of grades.
A = 93 - 100%
A- = 90 - 92.99%
B+ = 87 - 89.99%
B = 83 - 86.99%
B- = 80 - 82.99%
C+ = 77 -79.99%
C = 73 - 76.99%
C - = 70 - 72.99%
D+ = 67 - 69.99%
D = 60 - 66.99%
F = 0 - 59.99%
Class Communication
All class-related communication will be first and foremost through announcements IN CLASS.
I can use class time to announce modifications to assignments and their due dates, quiz
dates, etc. Also, all e-mails regarding assignments should be sent to the course e-mail:
microbio160.HR@gmail.com . The TA and I have access to this e-mail. Please feel free to e-mail
my personal account about personal issues when appropriate. The Moodle course site will also
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Micro 160 S20 Course Syllabus
be an important component of class communication. This includes grades, answer keys, PDF
copies of lecture slides, announcements and reading assignments. You will need an OIT account
to log into Moodle.
I recognize that a difference exists between intention and impact. I may say something that has
a negative impact on you. I would like you to feel comfortable approaching me with
constructive feedback. I welcome feedback to bring my attention to moments when the
personal impact of a statement or comment does not reflect my intention. I hope you
recognize the importance of your voice here at UMass.
Accommodations
Please see or email me if you require special accommodations due to learning disabilities,
religious practices, physical requirements, medical needs, or any other reasons. Students who
feel they require specific assistance should register with Disability Services. This is a valuable
resource, and I encourage anyone with a question of whether it would be valuable to please
talk to Disability Services. You can find more information at http://www.umass.edu/disability/.
Academic Honesty
Academic pursuits and intellectual integrity rely on honesty and transparency. It is expected to
be dependent on the original works and ideas of others as well pursue our own intellectual
growth, but care must be taken to not claim the original thoughts and ideas of others as our
own original thoughts and ideas. This is dishonest and destructive to us and others. There is no
shame in demonstrating the thought and insight it takes to recognize how someone else’s work
contributes to your own. Scholarship requires you to honestly convey your own level of
understanding and effort otherwise growth as a student and person is stunted. Academic
honesty is required of all students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Academic
dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and facilitating
dishonesty. Since students are expected to be familiar with this policy and commonly accepted
standards of academic integrity, ignorance of such standards is not sufficient evidence of lack of
intent.
https://www.umass.edu/honesty/
A note regarding sexual misconduct
UMass is committed to fostering a safe, productive learning environment. Title IX and UMass
policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Sexual misconduct — including harassment,
domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking — is also prohibited at our school.
UMass encourages anyone experiencing sexual misconduct to talk to someone about what
happened, so they can get the support they need and our school can respond appropriately.
If you wish to speak confidentially about an incident of sexual misconduct, want more
information about filing a report, or have questions about school policies and procedures,
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Micro 160 S20 Course Syllabus
please contact our Title IX Coordinator/Title IX Deputy Coordinators. Please note contacts that
maintain confidentiality. Contact information can be found here:
http://www.umass.edu/titleix/title-ix-team
Our school is legally obligated to investigate reports of sexual misconduct, and therefore it
cannot guarantee the confidentiality of a report, but it will consider a request for confidentiality
and respect it to the extent possible.
Importantly, in my specific role as an Undergraduate Program Director, I am also required by
UMass policy to report incidents of sexual misconduct and thus cannot guarantee
confidentiality. I must provide our Title IX coordinator with relevant details such as the names
of those involved in the incident. So, please do not divulge more with me than you are
comfortable sharing with the Title IX coordinator. This policy is to prioritize maintaining the
safety of everyone on campus and preventing other incidents from occurring. I can direct
anyone to important resources and to those who can keep confidentiality for anyone needing
support. First foremost, please do not think you are alone or should process an experience
alone. Many people on campus care about you and your particular experience.
A note regarding resources for basic needs
Any student who has difficulty accessing groceries and basic goods, or who lacks a safe and
stable place to live is urged to contact the Dean of Students ((413) 545-2684, 227 Whitmore) for
support. Please note, multiple Student Care Supply closets exist on campus (free basic toiletries
and household items available) please use the following link to find these locations and learn
more. https://www.umass.edu/dean_students/student-care-supply-closets.
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