SyllabusBSCI348JMedicalMicrobiology
MEDICALMICROBIOLOGY(BSCI348J)
SUMMER2015‐UNIVERSITYOFMARYLAND,COLLEGEPARK
Professor:Dr.VolkerBriken
OfficeHours:byappointmentonly‐tobeheldvirtually
E‐mail:vbriken@umd.edu
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COURSEDESCRIPTION
Introduction:ThisisanewclassthatIamofferingforstudentsinterestedin
careersinthemedicalfieldoringoingtograduateschoolwithafocusonresearch
oninfectiousdiseases.Incontrasttootherclassessuchas,forexample,BSCI424I
willteachaboutthemajorhumanpathogensmorefromtheperspectiveofamedical
professional.Consequently,thiscourseisorganizedbyanatomicalsitesandhow
differentmicrobescausepathologiesatthesesites.ThiscourseisNOTmeanttobea
comprehensivecoverageofpathogens,insteadIwillchosethemostimportantviral,
bacterial,fungalandprotozoalpathogensforeachanatomicalsiteinordertokeep
theworkloadreasonable.Nevertheless,thewinterclassisonly3weekslongand
henceitisaverycondensedscheduleandstudentswillneedtocommitalotoftheir
timeeverydayinordertobesuccessful.
Ihopethatthisclasswillprovideanenrichingcomplementtothematerialtaughtin
BSCI223,283,424,417andBSCI437.
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BSCI348Jistaughtasanasynchronous,onlineclass(Canvas).Nevertheless,there
willbefirmdeadlinesbywhichtosubmitassignments(usuallyattheendofeach
weekforthetwomodulescovered).Ifworkissubmittedlate,pointsmaybe
subtractedifnovalidexcuseisprovided(doctor’snote)andifmorethan7days
havepassedsincethedeadlinethegradewillbe0points.Duetothecondensed
schedulenoextensionsofdeadlineswillbegranted.
Material:Thecoursewillhavesixmodules(twoforeachweek)thateachcontains4
lectures,oneworksheet,oneassignmentandoneexamtobetakenonline.
Coursecontent:
Week
Topic
1
Introductiontoimportantconcepts/UrogenitalTractInfections
2
Respiratory‐/GastrointestinalTractInfections
3
CentralNervousSystem‐/SystemicInfections
Assignments(25%offinalgrade):Thisismostofthetimeacasestudyrelevant
tothematerialcoveredduringtheweek.Therewillbethreequestionsthatneedto
beansweredincompletesentencesandiffactualstatementsaremadetosupport
theargumentasourceneedstobecitedtosupportthestatedfact.Thatsourcecan
bethetextbook,lectureslidesand/orRELIABLEonlinesites.Asaruleofthumbifit
SyllabusBSCI348JMedicalMicrobiology
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isa“.org”siteithasabetterchanceofbeingunbiasedinformation.So,pleasebe
mindfulaboutthequalityofyoursource.
WorkSheet(25%offinalgrade):Theseareabout15fill‐inortrue/false
questionsbaseduponlecturematerialandchaptersinthetextbook.
Quiz/Exam(50%offinalgrade):Theseare30multiple‐choicequestions.Thereis
ONEattemptpossibleandthequizisuntimed!So,pleaseblockyourselfagood
amountoftimeforthequizsothatyoucanfindtheanswersinyourtextbookand
lectureslideswithouttoomuchstress.
Grades:
Worksheets 1‐6 25%offinalgrade Assignments 1‐6 25%offinalgrade
Quiz/Exam 1‐6 50%offinalgrade
A+
≥97%
A
96.5‐93.6%
A‐
93.5‐90.0%
B+
89.5‐86.6%
B
86.5‐83.6%
B‐
83.5‐80.0%
C+
79.5‐76.6%
C
76.5‐73.6%
C‐
73.5‐70.0%
D+
69.5‐66.6%
D
66.5‐63.6%
D‐
63.5‐60.0%
F
≤59.5%
Questions/Comments:Allquestions/commentsshouldbepostedonthe
discussionboardinCanvassothateverybodyinclasscanparticipateandalso
benefitfrommyanswers.Onlypersonalmattersshouldbeaddresseddirectlytome
viaemail.
ACADEMICINTEGRITY
AllUMDstudentsareheldaccountabletotheStudentCodeofAcademicIntegrity,
whichoutlinesexpectationspertainingtoacademichonesty(includingcheatingand
plagiarism).TheCodecanbefoundinfullat
http://www.president.umd.edu/policies/docs/III‐100A.pdf.Atmydiscretionand
basedontherecommendationofthehonorcouncil,sanctionsmayrangefroma
failinggradeontherelevantassignmenttodismissalfromtheclassandafailing
SyllabusBSCI348JMedicalMicrobiology
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grade.TheStudentAcademicGrievanceprocesscanbeusedifyoufeelyouhave
beentreatedunfairlybythispolicy.
COPYRIGHT
Allthematerialofthisonlineclassisforpersonaluseonlyandshouldnotbe
distributed.