BIOL 2107: Principles of Biology I
CRN 91241
TR 12:30 – 1:45 PM 500 Langdale
Instructor: Matthew Brewer
email: mbrewer@gsu.edu
Course Objectives: This is an introduction to biology at the university level. That doesn’t mean
it will be easy! In this class we’re going to be covering a lot of ground. The Principles of
Biology sequence (BIOL 2107 and 2108) is a preview of a wide range of topics in biology that
you will explore in much more depth in later classes. My job is to help you make sense of it all
and to help you learn the study skills that will allow you to succeed in this class and your other
biology courses to come. By the end of this semester I hope that you will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method as a way of forming and testing a
hypothesis.
2. Discuss and describe the origins and chemical nature of biological life, including cell
theory.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between form and function, particularly
at the cellular and subcellular level
4. Recognize the importance of cellular membranes for cellular life and communicate the
structure and function of cellular membranes.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of cellular structure and physiology for both prokaryotic
and eukaryotic cells.
6. Demonstrate an understanding
of energy and how organisms
acquire it, convert it, and
utilize it to maintain life.
7. Communicate the importance
and features of the central
dogma of molecular biology.
8. Demonstrate an understanding
of the mechanisms of genetics
and cellular division.
9. Describe the central
importance of evolutionary
theory and its mechanisms to
modern biology.
Mastery of these concepts is necessary
for success in Biology 2107 and in
other courses that form the core of the
biology major.
Do you need to attend classes in person
to get an A in this class?
No! Because of the rise of new COVID variants, the
lack of universal vaccination, and the lack of a
mandatory mask policy at GSU, I will not require
anyone to attend in person. I have committed to teach
in person, but I won’t require you to put yourselves at
risk. I do require that if you choose to attend class in
person you must wear a mask. I have three children
who are too young to be vaccinated and a family
member recovering from cancer. I don’t want to put
them at any greater risk, and I ask that you respect
that. If you will not wear a mask, please attend class
remotely.
Course Format: This course will be a blend of in-person and online instruction. I will share
with you many documents, videos, and weblinks to aid you in your preparation. I will also hold
weekly online synchronous office hours/question sessions. Most of the course material, including
class sessions, will be available through iCollege and Webex.
Contact and Communication: My email address is mbrewer@gsu.edu. I have also created a
BIOL 2107 group assistance account that can be used to ask and answer questions. Join using
this link https://groupme.com/join_group/69891851/tyChcFww
Please use your student.gsu e-mail account
when writing me. E-mail from other
accounts tends to be treated as junk by our
What’s the best way to reach me?
mail server and I may never see it. I will
only respond to e-mail that is properly
Post a message in Groupme and tag me by
written
and serves a useful purpose. Eadding @Dr Brewer
mails and direct messages with terse
demands tend to be ignored. Messages that
ask me to summarize what you missed in
class or that request a preview of what will
happen in a future class will likewise be ignored. I may go several hours without checking my
email. For a quicker response, I recommend posting your questions in Groupme, either in the
main chat or as a direct message to me.
Textbook: How Life Works (3rd edition); Morris, et al.
You will need access to Achieve, the online resource system associated with the text. Purchasing
Achieve will give you access to the ebook, but if you prefer a physical textbook you will need to
rent or purchase a package of the textbook plus Achieve either at the campus bookstore or
directly from the publisher via the Storefront for Morris, How Life Works, 3e.. There will be
many required assignments in Achieve so don’t try to take this class without it. You can access
Achieve for this class through iCollege. For more information, follow this link:
You don’t need a physical textbook, but you will need to have Achieve access to
complete your assignments. I recommend 18 month access so you will have it
for BIOL 2108 even if you skip (or retake) a semester.
https://macmillan.force.com/macmillanlearning/s/article/Students-Register-for-Achievecourses-via-your-school-s-LMS
Class Policies
This course is designed to prepare biology majors for the upper level classes to come. We will
be covering a lot of material every week. Your active participation is expected. You must read
the chapter to be covered before lecture sessions in order to be prepared. You cannot expect to
succeed if you don’t keep up with your reading and studying every week. Your studying should
include many frequent self-assessments; answer as many questions as you can, using your
textbook, online materials, and your classmates as study aids.
iCollege: iCollege is used for all announcements and class notes. Familiarize yourself with the
system and make sure that this class appears on your iCollege homepage. E-mail me with your
GSU email ID if you do not see this course listed.
Attendance: Most of the class materials (and all graded assignments) will be delivered
asynchronously. During the synchronous meetings I will ask and answer questions using the
iClicker app. Part of your participation grade will be based on your iClicker polling grade. To
get full credit for this part of the participation grade you must attend at least 80% of the sessions
in which the iClicker app is used.
Tests: There will be 7 quizzes throughout the semester and 1 cumulative final exam. Only he
best 6 quiz grades will be used regardless of how many quizzes are given. Therefore, there will
be no make-up quizzes. If you miss a quiz, then that will be one you drop. All quizzes and tests
will be delivered online through iCollege. You will be given at least a 24-hour window in which
to take any quiz or test. Each quiz or test will have a time limit once you begin, but you can
decide when to start taking the quiz or test.
Online assignments.
There will be many online assignments and assessments. All assignments MUST be submitted
on time or will have points deducted/be rejected (even if it’s just 1 minute late). Do not wait
until the last minute to begin an assignment. If you have problems with iCollege or Achieve that
prevent you from accessing material, you must send me a screen capture of the problem via
email. Internet/ computer problems are not acceptable excuses for assignments not completed on
time, but if the iCollege system or Achieve are “down” for an extended period of time I will
extend the deadline.
Participation: Class participation will be gauged by your involvement in iClicker polling,
discussion board assignments, and online activities via iCollege and Achieve.
You will need to activate an Achieve account to earn all the participation points available in this
class. The iClicker polling app comes bundled for free with Achieve. We will use iClicker
during the meetings to answer questions that will help you identify areas you need to work on.
These iClicker sessions will also allow you to earn participation points that will make up a
significant part of your overall class grade. These clicker sessions will not be graded for accuracy
and your responses are anonymous. Although I am not mandating attendance at every session, to
get the full participation credit you must complete the iClicker polling for at least 80% of the
sessions this semester. Because you don't need 100% attendance to get full credit there will be no
make-ups or excused absences for Clicker participation.
To earn participation points you must make discussion posts and answer online questions
yourself. If I find that one student has done the work for another, both students will receive
zeros and the incident will be reported as an instance of cheating. The online participation grade
will be divided up among multiple online activities; the total of all your online activities will be
recorded as a percentage of all possible points for those activities and multiplied by 200 to get
your total points.
Student behavior:
Disruptive, disrespectful, or dangerous behavior will not be tolerated in class meetings. If there
is a behavioral problem, the student will be asked to stop the behavior. If the behavior continues,
the student will be removed. If the student causes repeated disruptions the student may be
removed from the class permanently. This is in accordance with the university policy on
disruptive student behavior. For more information on this GSU policy, please visit:
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwdos/wordFilesEtc/disruptive.pdf
Class Academic Honesty Policy
In this class I will adhere to the University Academic Policy
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfhb/sec409.html with these following additions:
Graded Assessments: The student will receive a zero (0) grade on any quiz or test where there is
reasonable evidence for cheating. In addition, a report of academic dishonesty will be submitted
to the dean’s office. Using an online source such as Chegg, Course Hero, OneClass, Stuvia,
StuDocu and other similar sites to get answers for Quiz and Exam questions is not only
considered cheating, but also constitutes intellectual property theft. Despite what you may be led
to believe, it is possible to find exactly who has submitted questions to be answered via these
sites.
Papers/projects: The student will receive a zero (0) grade on the project if there is evidence of
plagiarism, or other violation of the university academic honesty policy (see website above). In
addition, a report of academic dishonesty will be submitted to the dean’s office.
-Plagiarism consists of: using another person’s words/statements/ideas without quoting,
referencing or citing; submitting work done by another person; copy/pasting
words/sentences/statements from the internet without quoting/referencing/citing. For more
information about what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, please visit: www.plagiarism.org or
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/ Even the most well-intentioned student can
plagiarize because of an incomplete understanding of how to quote or cite/reference.
Educate yourself and avoid this!
-Unauthorized Collaboration: Each student is to turn in their own original work. If it
is determined that the submission was written wholly, or in part, by someone other than the
student – it will be given a 0 grade and reported to the dean’s office. Exceptions include group
projects.
-Multiple Submission: Each submission in this class is to be a new work. The student
may not submit the same work in multiple classes (unless given explicit permission by the
instructor.
Intellectual Property
In academics, Intellectual Property is highly important. This is one reason students are held to
the tenets of academic honesty. But intellectual property goes beyond that when it comes to the
materials created by your instructor and the publisher of your textbook. Your instructor has
spent a great deal of time and energy developing materials for this course, and the publisher
holds a copyright to all materials associated with the textbook. Please be aware that the GSU
community takes this very seriously.
Therefore, the selling, sharing, publishing, presenting, or distributing of instructor-prepared
course lecture notes, videos, audio recordings, or any other instructor-produced materials from
any course for any commercial purpose is strictly
prohibited unless explicit written permission is
granted in advance by the course instructor. This
How Can You Get an A?
includes posting any materials on websites such as
Chegg, Course Hero, OneClass, Stuvia, StuDocu and
Come to class prepared! Check the
other similar sites. Unauthorized sale or commercial
schedule to see what we are working on.
distribution of such material is a violation of the
Go into the content module and
instructor’s intellectual property and the privacy
download the study guide. Try to answer
rights of students attending the class and is
the questions (write down your answers!)
prohibited. Sharing of any materials from the
while you read the chapter. Take the pretextbook, such as questions from publisher provided
class assignment in Achieve. Then come
quizzes, is likewise prohibited.
to class prepared to ask and answer
questions.
Any evidence that you have uploaded any of my
course materials to one of these sites will be treated
Stay involved! One-third of your grade is
as theft of intellectual property. I will give a zero for
participation. Make sure you do all the
any assignments that include even one uploaded
Achieve assignments, participate in at
question. I will also apply a 20% penalty to your
least 80% of the class sessions, and
Participation grade and submit the case to the Dean’s
submit all surveys and discussions. Those
office for disciplinary action.
should be 200 easy points.
Grades: Your final grade will be a combination of
the grades from the tests and quizzes, and in-class
activities and discussions based on lecture. There
will be no extra credit.
Quizzes
300 points: 50 pts per quiz
(Only 6 highest will be used)
Participation
200 points
100 points from
Achieve assignments
50 points from iClicker
participation (at least
80% of sessions for full
credit)
50 points from
Discussions, Surveys,
and other iCollege assignments
Final Exam
100 pts
Total
600 pts
Ask lots of questions! I am here to help
you learn. I don’t know what you’re
struggling with until you tell me. Ask
questions in class and come to my virtual
office hours to ask more questions. Bring
your study guide with you and ask me
about any questions you’re uncertain of.
Prepare for each quiz! Each quiz covers
the material from one content unit. Go
back into each module and review the
study guide, lecture notes, and
Don’t go it alone! Your classmates are in
the same situation you are. Connect via
Groupme to form study groups. Review
the study guides together (after you’ve
answered all the questions yourself).
Another perspective may make a difficult
question suddenly clearer.
A percentage grade will be calculated based upon a total of 600 possible points.
Final grades will be assigned according to the scale below:
A+
96.5-100%
A
90.5-96.49%
A89.0-90.49%
B+
86.5-88.99%
B
80.5-86.49%
B79.0 – 80.49%
C+
76.5 – 78.99%
C
70.5-76.49%
C69.0 – 70.49%
D
60-68.99%
F
below 60%
Do not ask me to add points or give you extra credit. The grade you receive will be based on the
points that you have earned over the course of the semester. There are plenty of “easy points”
available simply by participating and I’ve already factored in plenty of flexibility in case you
miss a class or two.
Student evaluations
Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at
Georgia State. Upon completing the course, please take time to fill out the online course
evaluation.
Students with Disabilities.
Students who wish to request accommodation for a disability may do so by registering with the
Office of Disability Services. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance by the Office
of Disability Services of a signed Accommodation Plan and are responsible for providing a copy
of that plan to instructors of all classes in which accommodations are sought.
The chapters listed on the schedule below refer to chapters from the Morris textbook. By
reading the provided study guides and paying attention in class you should be able to focus your
reading on those sections of the text that are most pertinent to this course.
This syllabus provides a plan for the course, deviations may be necessary.