Human Biology Online Course Syllabus, Summer, 2011
Kirkwood Community College
Catalog #
Section
Credits
Course Dates
Drop Date
Final Deadline
BIO-154-ATW52
160553
3
Mon, May 23, 2011 –
Fri, Aug 12, 2011
Wed, June 22
Fri, Aug 12, 2011
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Instructor: Ann M. Nalley
Phone number: 319-530-6014 (cell phone)
Email: Please use ANGEL email for all correspondence. Students can expect an email reply within 2 days. (If ANGEL system is
temporarily unavailable, use Kirkwood email: analley@kirkwood.edu.)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Course examines human form and function and the relationship of humans to other living things. Fundamental biological principles
as they apply to the human are explored. The course is intended for liberal arts students who do not currently plan to major in the
biological or health sciences.
This is an online course using Kirkwood’s Angel Learning Platform. You will use the Angel web site to access course
materials, take quizzes and exams, submit assignments, view your grades, and communicate with the instructor. Exams
are proctored and must be taken at a monitored testing site!
This is NOT a self-paced course, although the schedule is more flexible than a face-to-face course. There are deadlines for
assignments, quizzes, exams and projects. See the section in this syllabus entitled, ―COURSE ORGANIZATION & POLICIES‖ for
more information. Complete the Introductory Lesson Assignments during the first 7 days for financial aid attendance
purposes.
As an online student, you are responsible for frequently checking the ANGEL communication tools to keep abreast of
announcements, email messages, and other information provided by the instructor.
Course Objectives:
1. Human Biology attempts to provide students with a deeper appreciation of themselves as unique organisms
while recognizing the characteristics they share with other humans and living things.
2. The course encourages students to practice the scientific method and to think critically and creatively about
the biological concerns of humans as individuals, as products of the evolutionary process, and as members
of the biosphere.
3. Human Biology provides students with a knowledge base which can lead to informed decision making.
4. The course seeks to enable students to develop skills in acquiring reliable scientific information and thus
promote lifelong learning.
COURSE MATERIALS & REQUIREMENTS
Text: Human Biology by Colleen Belk and Virginia Borden, 2009
Computer with internet and printer: to access to the online Angel Learning Platform
Access to a Testing Center Location or alternate arrangement: for taking monitored exams
1
LEARNING OUTCOMES, OBJECTIVES, and ATTENDANCE
Objectives, directions, study guides and worksheets are posted in the lesson folders. Pay attention to these because these
documents indicate what I expect you to learn. Complete the worksheets to prepare for the quizzes and exams. (FYI: I’ve polled
students in the past and those that end up with A’s and B’s for this course complete their worksheets!)
Attendance: All materials for this course are available online so students need not come to a Kirkwood Center except to take the
exams. Participation will be verified using assignments and activity logs. Complete the Intro Assignments during the first 7
days for financial aid attendance purposes.
COURSE ORGANIZATION & POLICIES
Course Organization: There are 15 Lessons in this course which are grouped into 5 Units. You will end each lesson by taking a
Lesson Quiz and each Unit by taking a Unit Exam. Several of the lessons contain additional graded assignments. During the fall or
spring semester, you will complete one project – a personal nutrition assessment. This project is omitted during the summer
semester.
Monitored Exams: All exams are taken online via Angel at a Testing Center (or approved alternated location) and are
password-protected. Exam proctors are provided with exam instructions and exam passwords to log you onto exams.
Exams are open-book, i.e. you may bring your textbook. You may also bring one 8 ½ x 11 inch sheet of paper
filled with as many hand-written notes as you can fit on it, front and back. (No typed notes allowed.) If you need to
arrange an alternate testing location, go to the following internet address and fill out and submit the request form.
http://www.kirkwood.edu/site/index.php?d=134&p=1207&t=2 Do this right away so you can take your exams on time.
Studying for Exams:
Focus on your lecture notes and worksheets to study for exams. Exam questions are taken mostly from lecture
powerpoints, worksheets, and other activities. The textbook is used more as a reference book, albeit, a very important one
and some exam questions will come directly from the textbook readings.
Due dates: The due dates for all assessments and assignments are listed in the Course Schedule. Quizzes are due during
the period of a lesson, unless the lesson does not include a Sat. or Sun., in which case the due date is extended to include
the weekend. Exams have a slightly longer period during which they must be completed. (Only weekdays are counted
because many testing centers are not open on weekends.) You are responsible for knowing your testing center’s
hours and for making appointments for taking your exams. Assessments assigned the last week of class will have
shorter time periods for completion.
Make-ups: 20% point penalty. If a graded item is not completed within the time period discussed above, full credit can’t be
earned. Instead, the make-up version of the quiz or exam should be used during the subsequent seven days. A 20% point late
penalty will be applied to all make-up assessments. Make-ups can be found in the same folder as the original assessment. They
become visible after the original due date has elapsed, and then only to those who need them. Make-ups are provided to enable
students to salvage some credit for a missed assessment.
Working ahead: Lessons will become visible and available sequentially, in the order of the course schedule. All graded
items must be completed sequentially. Each new lesson will become available a couple of weeks ahead of the actual
lesson time period, for those who want to work ahead. This option is built in to help accommodate vacation plans, etc.
However, make sure to plan your vacation times within the confines of the course due dates.
2
EVALUATION AND GRADING SYSTEM:
Final grades will be based on 795 possible points and determined by the percentage of total points earned.
Number
of Items
3
15
6
5
3
Points
Each
5-10
20
10-20
80
Item Category
Introductory Lesson Assignments
Quizzes (drop lowest quiz score)
Regular Lesson Assignments
Exams
Total Regular Course Points Possible
Extra Credit Points Possible
15
Points
Per Type
20
280
95
400
795
45
Grading Scale
92-100% =A
88-89.9%=B+
78-79.9%=C+
68-69.9%=D+
90-91.9%=A-
82-87.9%=B
72-77.9%=C
62-67.9%=D
80-81.9%=B-
70-71.9%=C-
60-61.9%=D-
below 60%=F
COURSE POINTS WILL COME FROM COMPLETION OF THE FOLLOWING:
1. Regular Lesson Assignments: 1. Scientific Method Worksheet (Lesson 1), 2. Nutrition Label Assignment
(Lesson 6), 3. Body Story video (The Beast Within) worksheet/assessment (Lesson 7), 4. Immune System
Characters worksheet (Lesson 10), 5. Genetics Problems Assessments (Lesson 14), 6. Ecological Footprint
(Lesson 15). Complete these assignments on your own. (You may consult your instructor.)
2. Extra Credit Assessments: 1. Building Atoms Assessment and Tutorial (Lesson 2), 2. BirthControl/STD
Worksheet (Lesson 12), 3. ―Life’s Greatest Miracle‖ video worksheet/assessment (Lesson 13). These
assignments are to be completed on your own.
Note: Most lessons contain ungraded worksheets. Complete them prior to taking the lesson quiz but do not
submit them. Although you don’t earn points directly from these worksheets, they are important to your grade
because many quiz and exam questions will be taken from them. Students may help one another with
ungraded worksheets via the Student Discussion link. If you can’t find an answer to an ungraded worksheet
question, be sure to seek help from other students or the instructor before taking your quiz or exam.
3. Quizzes are timed and are completed online via the ANGEL Learning platform. They can be completed at home
or in a computer lab and are open-book, open-note. Quizzes are 20 points each and consist of multiple-choice,
matching, short answer, fill-in-the blank, true/false, and diagram-labeling questions. Most quizzes must be
completed within 30-60 minutes. Your lowest quiz score will be dropped. Students are expected to complete
the quiz without help from anyone else.
4. Exams are timed and monitored and must be completed at a Kirkwood testing center site (or other pre-approved
site). Exams are open-book, i.e. you may bring your textbook. You may also bring one 8 ½ x 11 inch
sheet of paper filled with as many hand-written notes as you can fit on it, front and back. (No typed notes
allowed.) They will cover material from lecture documents, worksheets, textbook readings, and occasionally,
online videos. Exams consist of the same mixture of question formats as the quizzes. Most exams must be
completed within 1 – 1 ½ hours.
5. Textbook readings and video assignments: Students are expected to read the assigned textbook readings
and view the assigned video clips to help explain the main points found in the lecture documents. Some exam
questions come directly from the text or video.
Note: Keep electronic copies of all your typed papers and assignments until your final grade is assigned.
3
IMPORTANT DATES:
Midterm Grades: A midterm grade will be calculated and posted on EagleNet as ―A‖ through ―F. The midterm grade is a gradein-progress, and will not affect your official GPA, nor will it impact financial aid. The midterm grade has three purposes: first, to
communicate your academic performance; second, to provide opportunities for you to discuss your progress with your instructor;
and third, to allow Kirkwood to design college-wide intervention programs that will improve your success. Midterm grades will be
available on Eaglenet after July 5th.
Drop date: If you stop attending class, you must fill out a drop form and return it to Enrollment Services or an ―F‖ or ―FW‖ will
appear on your transcript, with a negative effect on your GPA. A ―W‖ will appear on your transcript if you elect to drop the class.
Incompletes can only be given in extreme emergencies and require approval by the instructor and department chair. The drop
date for this semester is Wednesday, June 22.
Finals: All assignments, quizzes, and exams must be completed by 5 pm, Friday, Aug 12, 2011.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT:
Students with disabilities who need accommodations to achieve course objectives should file an accommodation application with
Learning Services, Cedar Hall 2055 and provide a written plan of accommodation to me prior to need for accommodation.
PLAGARISM:
According to Webster, to plagiarize is ―to steal or pass off the ideas or words of another as one’s own…to use created productions
without crediting the source…to commit literary theft…to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing
source.‖
1.
Kirkwood students are responsible for authenticating any assignment submitted to an instructor. If asked, you
must be able to produce proof that the assignment you submit is actually your own work. Therefore, we
recommend that you engage in a verifiable working process on assignments. Keep copies of all drafts of your
work, make photocopies of research materials, write summaries of research materials, hang onto Writing
Center receipts, keep logs or journals of your work on assignments and papers, learn to save drafts or versions
of assignments under individual file names on computer or diskette, etc.
2.
The inability to authenticate your work, should an instructor request it, is a sufficient ground for failing the
assignment.
3.
In addition to requiring a student to authenticate his/her work, Kirkwood Community College instructors may
employ various other means of ascertaining authenticity—such as engaging in Internet searches, creating
quizzes based on student work, requiring students to explain their work and/or process orally, etc.
4.
NOTE: Changing a few words in a sentence that you otherwise copy is still plagiarism!
4
ANGEL LOGIN and SUPPORT INFORMATION
ANGEL eLearning login page: http://elearning.kirkwood.edu or http://www.kirkwood.edu/angel
Username: Kirkwood k-number, Password: Kirkwood Eaglenet password
eLearning Support can assist students with questions on ANGEL Learning.
Hours of operation: M-Th 7am-7pm, F 7am-5pm
ANGEL Support Phone: 319-398-7621, 800-505-5221
ANGEL Support Email: elearning@kirkwood.edu
FACE-TO-FACE TUTORS: Available on main campus at Tutoring and Learning Services, Cedar Hall, Room 2063,
319-398-5574
TESTING CENTER LOCATIONS AND HOURS (Photo ID required)
Cedar Rapids Testing Center (Main campus), Cedar Hall, Room 2055, 319-398-5456
See testing center web site for hours of operation
http://www.kirkwood.edu/testcenter
Iowa City Campus Testing Center, ICCR, Room 243, 319-887-3642
See testing center web site for hours of operation
http://www.kirkwood.edu/site/index.php?p=2583
Other Kirkwood Testing Center locations, see http://www.kirkwood.edu/locations
SCHOOL CANCELATIONS –
School cancelations will not affect you unless it coincides with the day you intended to take an exam. If a cancelation occurs
on the last day to take an exam, you will be able to take it without penalty on the day school resumes.
You can receive Kirkwood Alerts about school cancelation on your cell phone or email account.
Sign up for Kirkwood ALERTs at
https://alert.kirkwood.edu/index.php?CCheck=1
Local radio and TV stations used to announce Kirkwood delays or cancellations are:
AM 600
WMT
FM 88.3
KCCK
FM 102.9
KZIA
TV 2
AM 800
KXIC
FM 91.7
KSUI
FM 104.5
KDAT
TV 7
AM 1450
KMRY
FM 94.1
KRNA
FM 105.7
KOKZ
TV 9
AM 1550
KCJJ
FM 98.1
KHAK
FM 107.9
KFMW
KGAN
KWWL
KCRG
5
KCC Online Human Biology, Unit & Lesson Schedule, Ann Nalley, Instructor
Summer 2011
Note: The Fall and Spring semesters consist of 16 weeks. Each lesson is completed in a week’s time. The
summer semester consists of only 12 weeks so each lesson must be completed in less than one week.
Lesson #
0
1
2
3
Lesson Name
Unit 1
Intro Lesson
Life & Science
Chemistry
DNA, RNA and Genes
Unit 1 Exam
4
5
6
Unit 2
Cells & Metabolism
Body Organization & Regulation
Digestive System
Unit 2 Exam
7
8
9
Unit 3
Circulatory System
Respiratory System
Urinary System
Unit 3 Exam
10
11
12
Unit 4
Body Defense
Body Control
Reproduction
Unit 4 Exam
13
14
15
Unit 5
Cell Division
Genetic Inheritance
Ecology and the Environment
Unit 5 Exam
6