BIOLOGY 102 - FOUNDATIONS OF BIOLOGY

Course Policies and links to syllabi


Instructors:

Name Prof. John Cooley Prof. Adam Fry Prof. Carl Schlichting Prof. Kurt Schwenk
Office & Phone Biol/Pharm 500A, 486-6650 TLS 308, 486-4689 TLS 366, 486-4056 Biol/Pharm 600, 486-0351
Office Hours To be announced To be announced To be announced To be announced
E-mail - - - -

TEXT AND LAB MANUAL

The textbook for the lectures is: Biology: Concepts and Applications (Sixth Edition) by Cecie Starr available at the UConn Co-op. This text comes with a CD-ROM tutorial provided at no extra cost, along with free, unlimited access to an internet autotutorial website. The required lab manual is custom-published by the UConn Co-op, and is entitled Laboratory Manual for Biology 102: Foundations of Biology, Spring 2006 Edition. Be sure to bring your lab manual to every lab and read the assigned material before starting lab.

LECTURE SCHEDULE

There are two parallel courses of Biology 102, with lectures at 10:00 and 11:00 AM on MWF. These two sections are separate; students registered for lab sections 01-11 should attend the 10 AM lecture, those registered for lab sections 12-22 should attend the 11AM lecture. Although the textbooks and organization of the two sections are the same, the lecturers may emphasize different examples or perhaps emphasize different points, which may be reflected in differences in the exams.

Please read the Lecture schedule and Lecture policies.

PERSONAL RESPONSE SYSTEM

We will be using a Personal Response System (PRS) in lecture for quizzes and extra credit points.

LABORATORY

All lab sections meet in TLS 303. See separate page for complete Laboratory schedule, Lab grading policies, and Lab meeting times.

GRADING

Four lecture exams are scheduled for this course, collectively worth 2/3 of your final grade. As indicated on the lecture syllabus, exams 1 is scheduled for Friday February 10, exam 2 is scheduled for Wednesday March 15, exam 3 is scheduled for Friday April 7, and the fourth (final) exam is scheduled during the Final Examination period. These exams cover the lecture material indicated on the syllabus. Each of the exams will consist of 50 multiple choice questions worth two points each for a total of 100 points per exam. Exaqms cover the assigned reading and the lecture material unless otherwise indicated by your instructor. The remaini9ng 1/3 of your final grade will be based on your performance in the laboratory portion of the course.

In addition, there will be an optional comprehensive lecture examination to be administered after the fourth (final) exam which you may take in order to improve your grade in the class. This optional exam will include material from the first 3/4 of the course (lectures 1-29) and the score can be used to help boost your average in the lecture part of the course. Please note that the optional final will not replace a missing score or a low score but will be factored into the average of all your lecture exams to help boost your average. This option is intended to allow a student who did poorly on one of the first three exams to improve their situation in the course. However, you should be aware that if you do opt to take the optional comprehensive exam, it will count toward your final grade even if it is your lowest exam score. In other words, once you commit to taking the optional comprehensive exam, prepare well, because a low score will hurt, not help, your standing in the class.

As above, there will also be an optional comprehensive laboratory quiz given during the last week of labs. This optional quize will be worth 15 points and can be used to replace your lowest lab grade (that is, the lowest lab grade for a lab that you actually attended and did the work). This optional comprehensive laboratory quiz cannot be used to replace a lab grade of zero because you missed lab due to an unexcused absence. Unexcused absences count as a zero and cannot be replaced. Therefore, make sure you come to lab every week and do the required assignments.

STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

If you have special needs because of a learning disability or other kind of disability, please feel free to come and discuss this with the instructor. Also, if English is not your native language and you wish to discuss the possibility of extra time for exams, please see the instructor before the first exam. All information discussed with the instructors is kept confidential.

MAKE-UP POLICY FOR MISSED LECTURE EXAMS

Make-up exams are given at the discretion of the instructor and are available only to students who have a legitimate excuse for missing an exam, such as illness, representing the University at sanctioned events, or death in the immediate family (not including pets). If you know in advance that you must miss an exam, see the instructor before the scheduled exam and bring documentation to support your anticipated absence. If you miss an exam unexpectedly because of last-minute illness or accident, contact the instructor as soon as possible with documentation of your situtation. There is no excuse for waiting several days or a week to contact the instructor about a missed exam. Make-up exams will not be given to those students who do not make every effort to notify their instructor as soon as possible. Make-up exams usually consist of Essay, Short Answer, and some Multiple Choice questions---the final format is usually not decided upon until the day of the exam. Many students find the make-up exams to be more difficult than the regular exams so make every effort to take the exam at the scheduled time. You must receive permission from your instructor to take a make-up exam and the exam must be completed within 1 week of the scheduled exam.

Please note that we do not give make-up exams before the regularly scheduled exam time.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN THIS COURSE

In order to succeed in this course, you must Attend All Lectures, take notes of important points, and allow ample time to read and study assigned material. You will get more out of lectures if you can skim the assigned chapter before the lecture, then read relevant material carefully as soon after the lecture as convenient. We would especially encourage you to study the figures and illustrations in your textbook to expand your understanding of the material. The textbook has many terrific graphic images that can help you learn--be sure to make use of them. You should plan on spending at least two hours of study time for each hour of lecture. If you begin to fall behind, make every effort to catchup quickly; otherwise you may find yourself swamped with too much material to assimilate before an exam.

Some of you may find that attending lectures and reading the text is all the support you need. Others will have problems with some of the material. We offer several forms of support to help you with difficulties you may experience. Different students have different optimum learning stratagems; we urge you to experiment with the options listed, and find what best helps you.
  1. Class Web Site. We will occasionally be posting materials for your use on the course web site. Course information and material on this Web site can be accessed by clicking on the "Courses" button on the EEB website: www.eeb.uconn.edu. These materials may include practice exams, study guides, and review questions to help you prepare for exams. Using the web is easy; you just "point and click" to access different screens with different topics. Note: Class notes will not be available on the course website except in rare circumstances. Therefore, you must attend the course lectures.
  2. Handouts. Handouts may be given from time to time in lecture; these may include suggestions for specific material and/or study problems. Spend some time with these materials as soon as you can review them -- don't just put them aside and wait until the night before an exam to look at them.
  3. E-mail. Every student is provided with a free e-mail account upon enrolling at the University of Connecticut. Your instructors use e-mail daily, and can often reply to individual questions more efficiently than by phone or office visits.
  4. Review Sessions. Your instructors may choose to offer review sessions shortly before exams. These sessions offer you an opportunity to ask questions about any of the material you wish to have explained. Don't count on all of your professors to offer last minute review sessions. Sometimes room scheduling conflicts or conflicts with your instructor's schedule will prevent your instructor from offering a review session.
  5. Office visits or e-mail questions. Your instructors are available for individual consultation regarding any aspect of the course, either in person, by phone, or by e-mail. If you have unanswered questions or concerns, or are in serious academic trouble, contact us! Immediately after lecture is a good time to approach us; if personal visits are needed at other times, call us at the phone numbers listed above to discuss your question and/or schedule an appointment, or e-mail us with your concerns. We try to answer promptly.
  6. Resource Room. The Bio 102 resource room is located in TLS 306. Your TA's as well as undergraduate mentors will be required to hold office hours in the Resource Room there . The schedule for the Resource Room will be posted after the first week of classes on the door of TLS 306 and onb the Bio 102 webpage. Your instructors may choose to make course notes available in the Resource Room. These notes cannot be removed from the Resource Room, but can be hand copied. You will find that this is an inefficient and time-intensive way to get the course notes so make sure you attend lecture or obtain lecture notes from someone else in the class. If you don't know anyone in the class, introcude yourself to someone and ask if you can get a copy of the missed notes. Furthermore, the Resource Room is generally quite busy before exam time and is shared with Bio 108 so please make sure you get what you need in a timely manner.