General Biology Lecture and Lab: BIOL 111-90 and BIOL 112-90
Dual Credit - 5 credit hours through Pittsburg State University
Mrs. Donna Maus, instructor – SMC high school
Class description: Biology is the study of living things. It includes the study of the
scientific method, select chemicals, cells, metabolic processes, reproduction, genetics,
natural selection and evolution, classification and natural history of organisms, and
human organ systems. This is a general education life science lab elective, meaning it
will fulfill 5 hours of the lab science requirements of any bachelor’s degree at PSU and at
most institutions of higher learning. If your major will be Biology, please talk to me
about the applications for this course. If your major will be nursing or allied health, this
course is a requirement for your major.
Biology majors: A minimum grade of “B” in General Biology Lecture is required
for Biology Majors to move into Principles of Biology I, for certain ACT scores.
Nursing majors: A minimum grade of “C” is required for admission into the
nursing program.
Text: Biology – Concepts and Connections (7th edition), and the General Biology lab
manual written by instructors at PSU. These are available for purchase at the PSU
bookstores. They are not required by me, and I have copies of the 6th edition textbook for
your use if you choose not to purchase the textbook. Copies of the lab pages will be
provided to you throughout the year, so it is not necessary to buy a lab manual.
Instructional strategies:
This is a concurrent credit course, which means you will earn 1 science (non-honors)
high school credit at Colgan, and 5 hours of college credit through PSU. You must enroll
in this class at PSU as well as Colgan, which will be done here at SMC during the first
week of school. You must pay tuition for this course, due at the time of enrollment. This
is a full year course, not a semester course, and credit will be awarded in the spring
through PSU. It is actually 2 separate classes at PSU: General Biology Lecture (3 credit
hours) and General Biology Lab (2 credit hours), so it is possible that you may earn a
different grade for each course through the college. For Colgan’s grade, both lecture
grades and lab grades will be averaged together to determine your semester grades. In
Powerschool you will notice 2 categories: Gen Bio lecture and Gen Bio lab. These
categories will be weighted to determine your grade at Colgan: 60% for the lecture
grades and 40% for the lab grades, which is the percentage that represents their credit
hour values at PSU.
I have taught both of these classes on the PSU campus, and will teach the material to you
exactly as I have taught it on campus. We will be taking nearly the same tests and
quizzes and doing the same activities and labs as my college students in previous years,
and will have approximately the same number of quizzes and tests. We will also be using
Canvas, the web-based learning system that PSU uses, for document retrieval and
submission. I will be teaching skills that will enable you to be successful in college
overall.
Grades:
For both the SMC and the PSU grades, we will use the standard 90/80/70/60 scale.
Exams:
Lecture 1st semester – 4 regular tests
2nd semester – 3 regular tests and a comprehensive final exam in May.
Lab – The 1st semester’s final exam is a comprehensive lab practical exam.
Quizzes:
Lecture – intermittent “pop” quizzes at the end of the hour. These are open-note.
Lab – as announced, but as a general rule they will be daily, at the beginning of the hour,
when we are involved in lab activities over the course of a few days. In the lab class we
will also have lab reports and projects.
Extra Credit:
I will drop your lowest quiz score, either lecture or lab quiz, at the end of each semester.
There is no extra credit offered in this course.
Cheating:
If you cheat on an exam, you will receive a zero for that exam. Cheating on
anything will result in a grade of zero for that assignment/quiz/project.
PSU webtool – CANVAS: All powerpoints, assignments, study guides and data will be
posted on CANVAS, the internet tool that is used by PSU students and faculty. You may
email assignments and questions to me through CANVAS. I will teach you how to use it,
and it will be your responsibility to access it correctly throughout the school year.
Please know that my primary concern is YOU. I am committed to your
success in class and would be happy to visit with you about any
concerns you may have. My email address is mausd@ollsmc.com
Please email me and we will set up a time where we can visit together.
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I have read this syllabus and will contact you with any concerns I have
throughout the year.
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