Zoo/Bot 3333
Genetics
Spring 2013 Syllabus
Lecturer: David S. Durica
Office: 300A Richards Hall
Lab: 216 Richards Hall
Phone: 325-1528
email: ddurica@ou.edu
Office Hours:
Monday 11:30 AM –1:30 PM (Richards Hall)
Tuesday 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM (235 Wagner Hall)
Thursday 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM (235 Wagner Hall)
or by appointment...
For the Monday meeting time, I’ll available at the Biology Department at Richards Hall.
The Tuesday and Wednesday meeting times will correspond to the Genetics Action
Center sessions (see below) in room 235 Wagner Hall. If you can’t make these times,
don’t hesitate to contact me. If possible, though, I suggest that you phone ahead to make
an appointment (325-1528), or contact me via email so we can avoid time conflicts with
your classmates. Please do not hesitate to see me if you are encountering problems with
any aspect of this course.
Required Texts:
Hartwell, L.H., Hood, L., Goldberg, M.L., Reynolds, A.E., Silver, L.M., and Veres, R.C.
2011. Genetics: From Genes to Genomes, 4th ed. McGraw-Hill, New York, N.Y.
Thompson, J.N., Hellack, J.J., Braver, G., and Durica, D. S. 2007. Primer of Genetic
Analysis, 3rd ed. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, England.
Personal Response System:
iclicker Response System. Available at the OU Bookstore. These clickers will be
used for recording answers to in-class questions/quizzes. This response system is being
used by a large number of science courses at OU, and was the ‘consensus’ clicker picked
last semester by instructors trying to standardize to a common platform.
iClicker Registration:
You can register your iclicker on-line before the first class; you will need your 9 digit
OU student ID number (e.g. 112345678; 113456789) and the iclicker ID, which is found
‘bar-coded’ in an 8-character alphanumeric on the back of the clicker, right above the
battery compartment. You will also have a chance to register the iclickers after the first
day of class, but we will use them that first day, so please sign up on this web site as early
as you can.
Tentative Hourly Exam Dates and Final:
Exam #1 – Friday, 8 February
Exam #2 – Friday, 8 March
Exam #3 – Friday, 5 April
Exam #4 – Friday, 26 April
Final Exam: Monday, 8 May, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM. For final exam schedule, click here:
Last day to withdraw with automatic grade of W: 29 March (Any student wishing to
withdraw on or before 29 March can do so with a W. Grades recorded for withdrawals
after 29 March will be based on all examinations taken. Please note: there will be no
exceptions to this policy, so keep this date in mind.)
Grading:
4 one-hour examinations at 75 points each: 300
comprehensive final examination:
150
total points:
450
Normally, 90-100% = A; 80-89% = B, and so forth, though I reserve the option of
lowering these breakpoints (that is, curving the distribution in your favor). Your
individual performance on the final examination will be especially important in those
instances in which your grade is near a borderline; marked improvement will encourage
me to award you the higher grade in such cases.
The keys to each examination will be posted by the afternoon of the exam day in the
glass case beside room 300A in Richards Hall. I will also post the answer keys to the
scantron-graded portion of the exams on the Internet at the Genetics Home Page (see
below). Copies of practice tests, with answers, as well as copies of previous quizzes, with
answers, are also available on the Genetics Home Page.
Unless special arrangements are made in advance, examinations missed for legitimate
reasons will be prorated, based upon the average of your other examinations, at the end of
the semester. As usual for missed examinations in this department, a note from a doctor
or some other appropriate written excuse will be needed for the grade file.
If any student has a disability or needs special assistance, please inform me as soon as
possible, so that any accommodations that are necessary can be arranged with the
minimum amount of inconvenience. Students with disabilities who require
accommodations must register with the Office of Disability Services, which is located in
Goddard Health Center, Suite 166, phone 405/325-3852 or TDD only 405/325-4173.
Each student should be aware of the University regulations in regard to cheating on class
examinations or other work. Any instance of cheating will be dealt with seriously, under
the guidelines set out by the University. I sincerely trust that this will not be necessary.
Grades throughout the course will be posted on D2L, using your University ID number,
unless you specifically request that your grade not be posted. I am usually able to post
the final grades on D2L before they are available through the registrar.
The following chapters in the Primer of Genetic Analysis will be useful aids to your
studying for examinations. In addition, each chapter is associated with a practice test at
the end of the manual, and the glossary gives brief definitions of terms you might be
asked to use or identify on examinations. This complements the problems given at the
end of every chapter and the glossary of terms in the Hartwell textbook.
For examination 1:
For examination 2:
For examination 3:
For examination 4:
Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Chapters 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16.
Chapters 16, 13, 3, 17.
Chapters 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.
Quizzes and In-Class Questions (Extra Credit Points):
Quizzes and in-class questions will be periodically given throughout the course of the
semester. The quizzes and in-class questions are designed to aid you in evaluating how
well you are keeping up with the subject matter, and test your ability to use what you
have learned. They can earn you extra credit points. Here's how:
Any individual with a cumulative quiz average equal or above the class average will earn
10 extra credit points, added to your final point total. This is usually equivalent to raising
you a letter grade on one in-class examination.
During regular lectures, I will also ask questions in class, and your individual answers
will be tallied using a personal response system (clicker). My object here is to allow both
you and me to assess the level of understanding of lecture material. During class sessions,
one point will be assigned for session participation, and then one point for every correct
question answered. To earn additional extra credit points, your individual responses over
the course of the semester will also be scored relative to the overall class average for the
semester. All students that score at or above the class semester average will receive 10
extra credit points towards their final point total.
You are on the honor system to work out the quiz problems yourself. Obviously, for
clicker responses, you should also be answering only for yourself, not your buddy who
decided to sleep in.
Extra help:
Review Sessions
Review sessions will be scheduled weekly throughout the semester on Tuesdays and
Thursdays (4:30 PM) at the Genetics Action Center, room 235, Wagner Hall. These
sessions are a particularly good time to meet with me (and undergraduate TAs who have
previously taken the course) to clarify lecture topics that may be unclear to you, go over
end-of-chapter problems from the assigned texts, specific practice problem sets covering
lecture material, etc. Although these reviews will be totally optional, I urge you to take
advantage of these sessions- they are for enrichment as well as review. Prior to the
monthly exams, a review session will be scheduled and the questions on the practice
exam will be covered. These exam review sessions will be on the class day preceding the
hourly exams (i.e. 6 February, 6 March, 3 April, 24 April) at 6:00 PM in Dale 211.
Genetics Web Page
The Genetics Web Page can be found at http://www.ou.edu/cas/zoology/Courses/3333/
(please note capitalization of "Courses"). This site can also be accessed from D2L. The
Genetics Web Page is meant to supplement D2L and contains material not available on
D2L. I do this because D2L is a closed server only available to enrolled students- if
someone wants to learn about the course, they can therefore go to the Genetics Web Page
prior to enrolling. I may be moving the site this semester off of the biology home page,
because it takes up to much space! If and when a new URL is assigned, I will let you
know and make this site accessible from D2L. The web site will continue to develop as
the semester progresses. I hope to provide you with hyperlinks that will allow you to
explore some of the broader implications of the topics we are studying; topics which
emphasize how the science of genetics increasingly impacts many aspects of our personal
lives and our society.
Personal Appointments
Again, if you are having difficulties with the course, please do not hesitate to schedule a
personal appointment. If my office hours conflict with your schedule, email me or call me
at 325-1528 to set up a convenient meeting time. Don't fall behind! I'm here to help.