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GENERAL BIOLOGY 101-102General Biology 101 and 102 are courses which may be taken to satisfy
the 8 hours of a laboratory science required by the General Studies Program
at Shepherd. It is important to note that one may not combine one
semester of General Biology with any other science class in order to meet
this requirement. It is also generally true that one must take both
semesters of General Biology at Shepherd College. This two-semester
survey of the principles and concepts of biological science is designed
primarily for the non-science major. A student may begin this two-semester
sequence with either 101 or 102. Each 4 hour semester course consists
of both a lecture and laboratory section component and it is essential
that each student be enrolled in a lecture and a lab section taught by the
same instructor. The major topics covered in 101 are those of ecology or environmental
biology together with principle concepts relating to the anatomy and
physiology of multicellular animal and plant organisms with emphasis upon
circulation, gas exchange, nutrition, homeostasis, regulation and control
systems. The principle topics of 102 are reproduction, genetics, evolution
and cellular structure and function. The current text for both semesters is BIOLOGY -
Life on Earth - 7th Edition by Audesirk and Audesirk. This is a new text
and is a useful reference that all students should have available to them.
The bookstore has new copies of the text. The Study Guide for this text is
completely optional. There are also laboratory manuals for each semester’s
course which are available in the bookstore. At the beginning of the lab
manual is a schedule of topics and reading assignments for the semester. Your grade in the course will be determined by your performance on
major exams and pop quizzes. At roughly 4-week intervals, you will write a
100 point, mostly objective examination. The dates of these four, major exams
will be announced well in advance, usually before the end of the first week
of the semester. Each of these 4 exams will cover only the course material
taken up in the 3-4 weeks prior to that exam. The last of these 4, 100 point
exams will be scheduled during final examination week at the time set aside
for a “final” for classes meeting at our scheduled time. Along with this
exam, you will also write a 50 point departmental, comprehensive final exam,
which will consist of multiple-choice questions covering the entire
semester’s work. Thus there will be 450 points possible on these major exams. In addition, your course grade will be influenced by at least seven(7),
20 points each, pop-quizzes given during the semester. Such quizzes may be
given at any time during either a lecture or a lab period, and will be unannounced.
Only the highest 5 quiz grades will be considered in calculating your overall
grade in the course, i.e. and additional 100 points possible for a grand
total of 550 points. At the end of the semester, the total points scored on
the 4, 100 point exams, the 50 point departmental final and the 5 highest, 20
point quizzes will be calculated for each student and a letter grade assigned
according to the following scale:
All students are expected to attend each and every lecture and
laboratory period, to pay attention, to participate and to take comprehensive
notes. There is no substitute for your attendance and participation in lecture
and lab. There is really no way to “make-up” for missing this experience. I
will not know if it was “alright” for a student to miss a class until the
next exam or quiz is taken which covers the material that was missed. If a
student misses a class or lab for any reason, the only thing that can
be done is to seek notes from other students in the class, usually a very
poor substitute. I WILL NOT REQUIRE ANY STUDENT IN MY CLASS TO MISS ANY OF THEIR OTHER
CLASSES AND I EXPECT THAT NO STUDENT WILL BE REQUIRED TO MISS THIS CLASS BY
ANY OTHER COURSE INSTRUCTOR, ESPECIALLY ON A SCHEDULED EXAM DATE.
ALTERNATIVELY, YOU MAY ASK ANY OTHER INSTRUCTOR TO EXCUSE YOU FROM ANY
ACTIVITY WHICH CONFLICTS WITH THE SCHEDULED CLASS MEETINGS OF THIS COURSE. Obviously, there may be rare occasions when a class is missed. I
will answer specific questions about the missed work. I will provide any
handout material that was given out to the class. I will try to arrange for a
student to sit-in with another lab section, if possible. If an exam is missed
for a valid, documented emergency relating to serious health or safety
reasons, a make-up exam will be provided, likely in the form of an essay
exam. I would expect to be notified in a timely and appropriate fashion about
any such emergency. Pop quizzes that are missed may not be made up for any
reason. Remember, only the five highest quiz grades will count toward
your final grade. NOTE: During the early part of the Spring semester,
inclement weather (snow and/or ice) may create special concerns. Review the
College “snow” policy. Expect me to be on campus, prepared for
class...Always. Commuter students are expected to use common sense with
regard to travel during periods of difficult weather. Commuter students may
expect a “liberal” interpretation of the “snow” policy with regard to making
up major exams and lab work. Cheating will not be tolerated. Each student is expected to do his/her
own work without giving or receiving assistance with regard to other students
or unauthorized references during an exam or quiz. A grade of zero will be
assigned to any quiz or exam that involves cheating. For safety and other reasons eating and drinking are forbidden in lab. The
use of any tobacco products is strictly forbidden at any time in any campus academic
building. Turn off all cell phones or pagers during lecture and lab sessions. Shortly after the beginning of the semester, my office hours will be
posted next to my office door, Rm. 214 in the BYRD Science Center addition.
Remember, we are scheduled to meet with each other formally several times
during each week of the semester, so there should be ample opportunity for
you to arrange an appointment to see me if regular office hours are
inconvenient for you. There are times that I may be engaged in lab set-up or
research activities near my office during office hours, so look around
closely if I am not actually sitting at my desk. My e-mail address is: jlandolt@shepherd.edu. |
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