Course Syllabus

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Biol&160, General Biology 5 credits

Instructor: Barcin Acar

E-mail: bacar@rtc.edu  – I will get back to you within 24 hours on weekdays and 48h on weekends

Office: J306, office hours by appointment

Meeting Times: 

Mondays 8AM-10:50 AM in J312

Wednesdays 8AM-10:50AM in room F101, plus 1-2 hours of online work/study daily

Please see the Canvas calendar and schedule of assignments below for due dates, holidays and non-contact days

 

Course Description

Students are expected to have daily access to a computer with a high-speed internet connection, and a basic knowledge of how to use e-mail and navigate the internet. Introductory biology is a difficult class. To be successful, you should be reading and studying every day. Please ensure that you check the Canvas calendar frequently so that you don't miss any due dates. 


In this course, we will explore the basic biological principles that describe and explain the nature of life. Topics include cell biology, molecular biology (including basic biochemistry and DNA structure and function), metabolism, and genetics. Students will practice skills on computers and in the laboratory through formats such as laboratory activities, homework assignments, quizzes and exams.

 

COURSE OUTCOMES  – At the end of this course you should be able to:

  1. Use (follow, understand and apply) the scientific method,
    1. by performing experiments to test formulated hypotheses and understanding the basic components of the design of those experiments
    2. by solving problems with the correct use of appropriate scientific notation and equipment
    3. by quantifying (observing, describing and measuring) various empirical phenomena
    4. by logically reaching valid conclusions based on these data through critical analysis and interpretation
  2. Describe each step of the scientific method. Practice the method by making observations and developing experiments.
  3. List the four kinds of organic molecules and explain the general structure and function of each.
  4. Explain the major parts of a cell and what their functions are.
  5. Explain how materials move into and out of cells, across membranes.
  6. Explain the first and second laws of thermodynamics and apply them to examples in the body.
  7. Describe the structure of an enzyme, the importance of enzymes and explain how an enzymes functions.
  8. Describe what cellular respiration is and why it is important.
  9. Describe each of the three steps of cellular respiration in detail including the reactants, products and pathways.
  10. Describe what photosynthesis is and why it is important.
  11. Describe each step of photosynthesis. What are the reactants, products and pathways?
  12. Compare and contrast cellular respiration and photosynthesis.
  13. Describe how cell division occurs. Explain why it is important.
  14. Describe the way that gametes are made, meiosis.
  15. Analyze mono and di-hybrid genetic crosses, sex-linked crosses, and crosses where complete dominance, incomplete dominance and co-dominance are involved.
  16. Describe how DNA copies itself (DNA replication).
  17. Describe how a protein is made (transcription and translation).

 

Required Materials

OpenStax Biology – this is an open source textbook that you can download for free at https://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/biology. You can also buy a print copy if you wish.

  • A lab notebook. This can be a composition book or regular notebook used exclusively for lab.
  • Daily access to a computer with high speed internet
  • Access to a printer

 

Grading

Percent Grade Point Percent Grade Point Percent Grade Point Percent Grade Point
93-100 4.0 84 3.1 75 2.2 66 1.3
92 3.9 83 3.0 74 2.1. 65 1.2
91 3.8 82 2.9 73 2.0 64 1.1
90 3.7 81 2.8 72 1.9 63 1.0
89 3.6 80 2.7 71 1.8 62 0.9
88 3.5 79 2.6 70 1.7 61 0.8
87 3.4 78 2.5 69 1.6 60 0.7
86 3.3 77 2.4 68 1.5 < 60 0.0
85 3.2 76 2.3 67 1.4    


Assignments and Exams:

Grade Distribution:

Exams: 35%

Lab Assignments and Participation: 30%

Homework Assignments and Topic Quizzes: 35%

 

Your final grade in this course is based on your performance in the following areas:

1) Module exams: Four open book quizzes and one closed book midterm will be given. All exam scores count toward the final grade. There are no re-takes or make-ups of exams or quizzes. Questions could be multiple choice, short answer, true/false, matching or fill in the blanks. Each quiz is timed, approximately 40-45 minutes will be allocated. The questions submitted into the weekly discussions and lecture outcomes can be used for exam reviews, in addition to the study questions. These quizzes are taken online on Canvas.

The midterm is closed book and has 40-50 questions. The midterm is taken on Canvas and uses Respondus Lockdown Browser and webcam.

In case a student misses one module exam due to extraordinary situations such as, hospitalization, car accident, death in the immediate family etc. (Technical issues such as computer compatibility problems or missing the exam due to forgetting to check the calendar are not valid excuses), student may request a make-up exam. We need documentation, i.e. police report for car accident, doctor's note from the hospital or a verification from the power company about the power outage during the exam.

A makeup midterm exam can be scheduled one week before the final's week. The make up test covers the same topics as the missed test and may have 6-10 short answer questions.

2) Comprehensive Final Exam:  The final exam is comprehensive and will cover all material presented during the semester. If you cannot take the final exam at the scheduled time, see the instructor before the end of regular classes to arrange another time. However, there are no guarantees that another time can be arranged. The final exam is the end of the course! You must receive 50% or above from the final exam to receive a passing grade in the course regardless of points accumulated. This means, students who get a score below 50% from the final exam will receive less than 2.0 decimal grade.

3) Lab reports: Lab reports are assigned weekly starting the second week of the course. Students will write a prelab and post lab report in their lab notebooks. Lab notebooks will be collected and inspected periodically. Attendance points will be awarded based on performance in each lab.  There will also be short write-ups, graphs etc. that will affect your participation point.

4) Problem Sets and Topic Quizzes: We will hold frequent quizzes related to your reading assignments and the topics covered in previous classes, including lab topics. These quizzes may include multiple choice, fill in the blank, ordering, matching, and/or short response (a few sentences answer) questions. Quizzes will be taken on Canvas and will not last more than 30 - 40 minutes. Please make sure you have a strong internet connection before you begin a quiz, as there are no makeups. You are not allowed to get help from books, notes, the internet, or other people during a quiz.

The day before each quiz, you will have an online problem set due. The problem set will cover the same topics as the quiz, but the questions will be different. You can take as much time as you want on the problem set as long as you submit it by the due date. You can also redo the problem set up to 3 times and the computer will only save your highest score. Once the due date has passed, you will not be able to make up the problem sets. In case of computer or internet issues, please do not wait until the last minute to do your problem sets.

 

Make Up/Late Policy:

Since your quizzes, problem sets and exams are available for multiple days, and all homework assignments are small 1 pt extra credit items, I do not allow makeups or accept late work in this class. The only exception would be if you are in the hospital for multiple days and have documentation.

Reading assignments:

Prior to each week’s lesson, please check the reading assignment document and learning objectives. In addition to readings from the text book, I may also assign readings from journal articles related to subject matter. Reading materials are a major part of the background information.

Weekly lessons:

Each week I will post a new lesson. In these lessons, you will find lecture material, links to animations and/or other web activities, discussion forum, homework assignments. Each week may not have all of the listed material above.

Muddiest Point Forum:

 Each module will have a muddiest point forum. This is the place to ask questions related to the subject matter that you want your instructors to clarify. This forum is not graded.

"Water cooler" Forum:

There is a discussion forum where students can ask questions to each other and to the instructors about course structure, upcoming assignments, exam material etc. I highly encourage students to read the entries before asking repeat questions directly to the instructor.

E-mail and discussion list correspondence:

I will try to respond to your e-mail or discussion list inquires within 24 hours during weekdays, and 48 hours on weekends. While writing e-mails, please use the professional e-mail format.

Participation:

I expect each student to participate fully in the class. Students should login at least three times a week. To fully prepare for this class, students should read all assigned reading and review the information required for the week. Students should submit assignments and exams on time, read other's posts and comment on their peer's postings.

 

Classroom Rules of Conduct

I expect you to act professionally in the classroom. This includes showing up on time, silencing your cell phone, muting the sound on any laptops or other devices you bring to class, not playing games or facebooking during class, etc. Food and drinks are not allowed in class or lab rooms, but you may bring a water bottle with a lid. If your behavior is disruptive to those around you, I may ask you to leave and you will not be allowed to make up class work for that day. When you are at home working in the online classroom, you can make your own rules (as long as you don’t cheat or plagiarize).

Suggestions for Successfully Completing this Course

1.  Active and attentive participation in each and every class meeting is expected from every student.

2.  Take responsibility!  Higher education means taking your commitment to learning to a much higher level.  You decide what level of commitment you’re willing to make.

3. Exploit the resources provided—me, the textbook, the library, etc.  If you have a weak background in the sciences, you may need to spend time reviewing material (e.g., basic chemistry, math) from other sources. 

Academic integrity means being honest about your intellectual work:

In the context of Microbiology &260 this means that you assert that written work you submit for the course is a product of your intellectual effort and not the work of someone else. The written materials you prepare for this class are a method of demonstrating your knowledge of the facts and your understanding of the concepts of the field of microbiology. The student will receive a zero grade on any plagiarized work, and he/she cannot redo the assignment for a grade and potentially receive an F in the course. RTC's student handbook code of conduct explains the rules regarding cheating, plagiarism and cyber-bullying on social media. www.rtc.edu/StudentServices/StudentHandbook/files/RTC_handbook_22-23.pdf

Academic dishonesty, is an intentional act of deception in one of the following areas:

  • Cheating – use or attempted use of unauthorized materials, information, or study aids.
  • Fabrication – falsification or invention of any information.
  • Assisting – helping another commit an act of academic dishonesty.
  • Tampering – altering or interfering with evaluation instruments and documents.
  • Plagiarism – representing the works of ideas of another person as one’s own.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is a special kind of cheating that involves using other peoples’ ideas or information without saying where you found that information. This means that if you write about an idea that someone else had, you must give that person or organization credit for having the idea in the first place. Writing about that idea without citing a reference implies that you came up with that idea all on your own, and is referred to as plagiarism. Plagiarism can involve copying sentences or paragraphs from websites or books and putting them in your assignment without quotes, even if the source is cited at the end of the paper. It can also involve copying sentences or paragraphs and putting them in quotes, but not citing the source the quote came from, or even paraphrasing ideas from another source in the same order without citing your source.

Plagiarism is not tolerated at this institution. To help you better understand plagiarism and see examples of what is acceptable and not acceptable, visit the following website: http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml

If you have questions about what constitutes cheating or plagiarism, please talk to me. If you think something might be cheating or plagiarism, don’t do it. A first offense will earn you a zero on the assignment; if I catch you cheating or plagiarizing a second time you will fail the course.

Appendix A: Examples of plagiarism

Let’s say I’m writing a paper about cells, and I want to include some information that I found in this internet article from Wikipedia:

“The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life.[1] Organisms can be classified as unicellular (consisting of a single cell; including most bacteria) or multicellular (including plants and animals). Humans contain about 100 trillion cells; a typical cell size is 10 µm and a typical cell mass is 1 nanogram. The human cell extrema are: largest - anterior horn in the spinal cord (135 μ vs. 120 μ for the ovum), longest - pseudounipolar cells which reach from extremities, including the toes to the lower brain stem, and smallest - granule cells in the cerebellum, at 4 µ.[2]“

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(biology)).

Here are a few ways I could write my paper. Some of them are plagiarism, and some are not.

Paper #1:

All living things are made of cells. A single cell is the smallest unit that can be classified as being alive. Cells are the building blocks of life. A living thing can be made of one cell (like most bacteria) or many cells (like most plants and animals). Human beings have about 100 trillion cells each! The largest human cells are in the spinal cord, and the smallest are in the cerebellum, which is part of the brain.

Grade: 0. This paper is plagiarized. Even though I used all my own words, I used the same facts in the same order as the Wikipedia article, and I didn’t say in my paper that those facts were from Wikipedia.

 

Paper #2: 
“The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life.[1] Organisms can be classified as unicellular (consisting of a single cell; including most bacteria) or multicellular (including plants and animals). Humans contain about 100 trillion cells; a typical cell size 
is 10 µm and a typical cell mass is 1 nanogram. The human cell extrema are: largest - anterior horn in the spinal cord (135 μ vs. 120 μ for the ovum), longest - pseudounipolar cells which reach from extremities, including the toes to the lower brain stem, and smallest - granule cells in the cerebellum, at 4 µ.[2]“ 
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(biology)).

Grade: F. This paper is not plagiarized, because I said where I got my information. However, I didn’t do any work to write it – I took the whole paper off of a website and didn’t write any of it myself, so I got a very bad grade. In general, you should not use long quotes in your papers. A few short quotes can be useful and give evidence to back up the things you write about. Using long quotes or a lot of quotes can make it look like you were too lazy to write your own paper.

 

Paper #3: 
All living things are made of cells, from the smallest bacteria to the largest redwood trees. Some things, such as viruses, may act a little bit like living things, but they are not made of cells so they are not classified as alive. Some cells are larger than others – in humans, the largest cells are in the spinal cord, and the smallest cells are in the cerebellum, a part of the brain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(biology). Bacteria and archaea have cells that are smaller than any human cells, and do not contain a nucleus or mitochondria.

Grade: A. This paper is not plagiarized. It contains some information from the Wikipedia article, but says where that information comes from at the end of the sentence. The paper is written in my own words, and I used my own organization, mixing facts that I already knew with facts that I researched from other sources. I didn’t just paraphrase one source and use all the same information and order that they used.

 

School closure due to inclement weather:

Want to find out if RTC is closed due to inclement weather? Information will be posted by 5:15am on RTC website.  Evening class decisions will be posted by 3:15 pm on RTC website. For more information, click http://rtc.edu/inclement-weather

Campus Services:

RTC provides many services for the students. Some of the services are:

  

Non-discrimination Policy

Renton Technical College provides equal opportunity in education and employment and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color national origin, age, perceived or actual physical or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, creed, religion, honorably discharged veterans or military status, or use of a trained guide dog or service animal, as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act and ADA Amendment Act, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act and Washington State Law Against Discrimination, Chapter 49.60 RCW and their implementing regulations.

Title IX and Sexual Misconduct

Our school is committed to fostering a safe, productive learning and working environment. Title IX and our school policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.  Sexual misconduct — including harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking — is also prohibited at our school.  Our school encourages anyone experiencing sexual misconduct to talk to someone about what happened, so they can get the support they need and Renton Technical College can respond appropriately. All employees of our institution must report concerns of sexual misconduct immediately to the Title IX Coordinator. 

If you wish to report sexual misconduct or have questions about school policies and procedures regarding sexual misconduct or discrimination, please contact our school’s Title IX Coordinator and EEO Officer Lesley Hogan, Executive Director of Human Resources in J-202, 425-235-7873 or titleix@rtc.edu.

Disability Resource Services

A student with a documented disability who would like to request accommodations (i.e. ergonomic chair or extended time on tests), needs to meet with Disability Resource Services (DRS) to make this request.  A student may request an accommodation at any time, including many weeks before the quarter begins and/or during the quarter.

A student who is experiencing learning and/or testing difficulties is also encouraged to make an appointment with DRS to request services (learning and/or testing strategies, information with regard to other services available both on and off campus).  This would include (but is not limited to) any student who is new to the process of requesting an accommodation, or who is experiencing difficulty obtaining documentation of a disability.

To schedule with DRS please

  • send an email to drs@rtc.edu,
  • call (425) 235-5840 or
  • come in person to
    • the Student Success Center (I bldg.) or
    • the Educational Support Center (J-218).

Further information is available at www.rtc.edu/disability-resource-services

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due