Office: 2080 Science

Phone: 320-589-6319

e-mail: colect@morris.umn.edu

SYLLABUS

Workload Expectations
How Do You Succeed?
Assistance Available
Outline
Text
Grading
Students with Disabilities
Classroom Conduct
Academic Integrity
Sexual Harassment
Use of Class Notes for Commercial Purposes

Figures from Lectures

Figures are large image files used in lecture, so they will be slow to download. They are in the same order as the course outline. Click on the link to get the list, which is near the bottom of this page. The links connect to the Powerpoint files used in class (you will need Microsoft Powerpoint to view them). Here is a link to the powerpoint viewer (the link is so long you will probably have to copy it piecemeal into a browser):

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=428d5727-43ab-4f24-90b7-a94784af71a4&DisplayLang=en

SYLLABUS

Instructor: Christopher T. Cole
Office: 2080 Science Bldg. Lab: 2060 Science Bldg.
Phone: 589-6319 e-mail: colect@morris.umn.edu Fax 320-589-6371 (e-mail is often the best way to reach me).
Course website: www.morris.umn.edu/~colect; click on Bio 1111 Fundamentals of Genetics, Evolution, and Development. The website includes this syllabus information and hundreds of digital illustrations from the course. WARNING I will attempt to keep the website up-to-date during the semester, but tasks for the lecture and lab take first priority.
Lecture: T Th 10:00 - 11:40 in Science 1020.

Course content summary:

The content is summarized further in the “Course Outline” and “Topic Schedule” below.

Course Goals: This course is the first required course for biology majors. It introduces what distinguishes science as a way of knowing about the natural world and summarizes the development of key ideas and information in biology, particularly in the inter-related fields of evolution, genetics, and development. In addition to presenting classical foundations of these fields, recent research is also presented.

Workload Expectations

Bio 1111 is a 3 credit course.

Sometimes students take courses with the idea that they are interested in the big picture, the general principles, and are not going to bother with the details. If you have similar intentions you are welcome to audit the course but my intentions and expectations for enrolled students are different and you are likely to be frustrated.

I expect at least two hours of study for each hour of class. This is in accordance with university credit hour policy for the level of effort to achieve an average grade in the course. How you work is at least as important as how much you work. Moreover it will be important that you do not fall behind. Over the years, the most important factor determining how well students do in this course is how well they keep up with the course– work on a daily basis is best.

University of Minnesota Senate Policy on Academic Credit Hours:

One semester credit is normally to represent, for the average University of Minnesota undergraduate student, three hours of academic work per week (including lectures, laboratories, recitations, field work, and study) averaged over the term in order to complete the work of the course. It is expected that the academic work required of graduate and professional students will exceed three hours per credit per week. Professional norms and the nature of course activity (e.g., clinical experiences, some laboratory work, and some studio activities) may require more than three hours of work per week per credit hour, with college approval and appropriate notification to the students. These “workload” expectations relate only to completion of the course work; greater effort is likely required to earn high grades.

How do you succeed as a student?

Most students taking this course are freshmen, who sailed through high school with relatively little effort. As a result, they tend to underestimate the amount of work that university courses require.

Assistance Available

Just ask. Besides the rich store of material available online, I am always eager to help you understand the course material; if I am not able to meet with you when you stop by, we will schedule a time when we can meet. If desired, we can also schedule review/help sessions with class T.A.’s (students who have taken the course in the past and done well). Sometimes another perspective can help clarify information.

Outline

Part 1: Introduction to History & Philosophy of Science

Part 2: Evolution
Charles Darwin & The voyage of the Beagle
Darwin’s Origin: arguments & evidences
Evidence since Darwin
Ideology vs. science

Part 3: Genetics
Pangenesis, variation, and hybridism
Transmission genetics
Mendel & peas: background, method, conclusions
Particulate factors, dominance, segregation
Morgan, Sturtevant, & Drosophila
Chromosomes & cell division
Linkage & mapping
Functional genetics
Metabolic genetics
Molecular genetics
DNA, structural & regulatory genes

Part 4: Development
Background
Vertebrate embryology
Roux, Driesch, Haeckel, Spemann, von Baer, et al.
Fate maps
Developmental regulation & induction

Part 5: Recapitulation & Syntheses
“The Modern Synthesis”
Molecular Evolution
Evo-Devo

Text

The first two books, available in paperback, are required texts for the course.

Carroll, S.B. 2006. The Making of the Fittest. W.W. Norton.
Moore, J.A. 1996. Science as a Way of Knowing: The Foundations of Modern Biology. Harvard.

The following comprehensive introductory textbook is optional and highly recommended, especially since it is also the required text for the next two courses in the biology major’s sequence (Bio 2111 Cell Biology and Bio 2101 Evolution of Biodiversity). Copies of this book are also available in the reference section of the library. The 7th edition is also suitable for the course.

Sadava, D.H., H.C. Heller, G.H. Orians, W.K. Purves, D.M. Hillis. 2008. Life: The Science of Biology. Sinauer Associates.

Grading

                                      "Chance favors the prepared mind."

Extra Credit is available by attending several other presentations during the semester. Each of these is worth 5 points (if you sign an attendance sheet there). These include “Café Scientifique” presentations (usually held third Tuesday of the month at the Common Cup Coffeehouse; limit is 15 points for Café Scientifique), or a biology Senior Seminar (Tuesday at 12:00 or Thursday at 5:00 in Science 1020; you’re limited to 10 points for the Senior Seminar, though we urge you to attend more). There may be additional seminars during the semester for which extra credit will be granted. So there is at least 25 points of extra credit available.

Letter grades will be based on percent of the total possible: A = 92% or better, B = 82-88%, C = 72 - 78%, D = 50 - 68%, N = 50 % or less. “+” or “-“ extensions get added based on where scores fall between these grades, whether grades show improvement during the term, peer evaluations, etc. For example, if you have a 92% at the end of the quarter, you will get an A; if you have an 89.2%, you might get an A- or a B+.

Here is the University of Minnesota policy on grading standards (definition of grades):

A: Represents achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements.
B: Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements.
C: Represents achievement that meets the course requirements in every respect.
D: Represents achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements.
S: Represents achievement that is satisfactory, which is equivalent to a C- or better.
F (or N): Represents failure (or no credit) and signifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a level of achievement that is not worthy of credit, or (2) was not completed and there was no agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an I (see also “I” below).
I (Incomplete): Assigned at the discretion of the instructor when, due to extraordinary circumstances, e.g. hospitalization, a student is prevented from completing the work of the course on time. Requires a written agreement between the instructor and student.

Make-up exam policy: “Make-up” exams are available only when a student has a good reason for missing the regular test and arrangements have been made before the missed test (or, in the event of calamity immediately preceding the test, as quickly as possible afterwards).

Students with disabilities

It is my practice as well as University policy to provide reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. Course materials are available in alternative formats to people with disabilities upon request. Please contact the Disability Services office, 589-6163, Room 362 Briggs Library, to discuss accommodation needs.

Classroom Conduct

A classroom is a forum founded on respect and courtesy among all participants; individuals who are not willing to conduct themselves accordingly will be dismissed; those whose behavior violates the University Student Conduct Code will be subject to disciplinary action.

Recording equipment is allowed provided that you let me know that you will be using it. Cell phones and hats should both be off in the classroom.

Academic Integrity

Exams are designed to evaluate your knowledge and abilities as an individual; you may use (and I encourage) any collaboration with others in preparation for tests, but absolutely no assistance from others during the test. The UMM Biology program has a strong tradition of academic integrity (I have never had a problem with this on biology exams at UMM), and any infringement on this would be grounds for immediate dismissal from and failure in the course.

Plagiarism of any sort or source will result in penalties that may range from no credit on the report or test to failing the course.

This has happened. Though rarely a problem in the past, students have been dismayed to find that this rule is real.

University Statement:

Scholastic dishonesty means plagiarizing; cheating on assignments or examinations; engaging in unauthorized collaboration on academic work; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty permission; submitting false or incomplete records of academic achievement; acting alone or in cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades, honors, awards, or professional endorsement; altering forging, or misusing a University academic record; or fabricating or falsifying data, research procedures, or data analysis. In this course, a student responsible for scholastic dishonesty can be assigned a penalty up to and including an "F" or "N" for the course. If you have any questions regarding the expectations for a specific assignment or exam, ask.

These descriptions of plagiarism are taken from Pechenik (2004: A Short Guide to Writing about Biology; the emphasis is in the original): “Submitting anyone else’s work under your own name is plagiarism, even if you alter some words. Presenting someone else’s ideas as your own is also plagiarism.... Plagiarism is theft. It is one of the most serious offenses that can be committed in academia, where original thought is the major product of one’s work – often months, sometimes years of physical and mental work.” Pechenik follows this with suggestions of how to take notes that will prevent unintentional plagiarism.

Sexual Harassment

University policy prohibits sexual harassment as defined by the University of Minnesota Regents' policy: http://134.84.237.31/PDF%20Pages/SexHarassment.pdf

Use of Class Notes for Commercial Purposes

University Policy on Use of Class Notes for Commercial Purposes:

Materials presented in class represent the intellectual effort of the instructor and should be protected to assure the accuracy of any public representations of those materials. Class notes taken or class materials collected by students cannot be distributed for commercial purposes without instructor permission. For enforcement purposes, instructors are encouraged to include in their syllabi a statement notifying students of this policy.

Figures from Lectures

These are links to the sets of Powerpoint slides used in lectures.

1. Introduction to Science: Bacon
2. Darwin
3. Origin of Species
4. Origin continued
5. Origin concluded
7. Ever Since Darwin
8. Speciation
9. New Methods of Knowledge
10. Returnn to Paley's Eye
11. Untitled
12. Ideology & Biology
13. Mendel & the Origin of Genetics
14 - 15 The Dance of the Chromosomes
15 - 16 Morgan: Linkage & Mapping
17. Mendelian to Functional Genetics
18. Developmental Embryology
19. Genes & Development: Hox
20. Four Changes: Global Change
21. Ecological Genetics
22. Genetics & Conservation