Cell Biology for Health Occupations – BI 112 (Hybrid Course)
LBCC, Winter 2009
Instructor: Diana Wheat CRN: 34062
Office: ST 218 Section: 02
Phone: (541) 917-4772 Credits: 4 credits
Email: Prerequisite: None
Office Hours:
See Staff Profile in the Blackboard Course area for most recent information. You may also contact me via email to make a special appointment outside of these office hours. I have no scheduled classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays, and I’m available in the afternoons on those days, advance appointments encouraged.
Introduction:
Cell Biology for Health Occupations introduces the Health Occupations student to the generalized human cell, including its structure, function, basic genetics and reproduction. The chemical and physical processes that affect the cell and its components will be examined throughout the course. This course covers the basic principles and vocabulary to prepare students for the study of human organ systems that occurs in Anatomy and Physiology BI 231, BI 232, and BI 233. Course activities include lecture, discussions, homework, collaborative activities, developing models and explaining those models to classmates. The form of assessment is based on written, objective examinations.
Schedule:
Lectures are administered on-line via Blackboard.
Wednesday recitation or examination period in ST 130 W 1-1:50 pm
Texts:
Required:
Textbook: Foundations of Anatomy & Physiology, Martini and Karleskint. A Custom Publication for Linn-Benton Community College – Requires custom edition, prior editions cannot be used.
Study Packet: Ketchum, Lebsack, Skarda, BI 112 Cell Biology for Health Occupations, the revised 8/08 edition will be used this term, which is new and differently numbered than prior editions.
Recommended supplements:
Textbook: An Introduction to Chemistry for Biology Students. G.I. Sackheim 9th ed.
Benjamin Cummings (Recommended)
The Facts on File Dictionary of Biology, Hine, R. 4th edition, 2005 by Checkmark books. This book is not available in the college bookstore but you may wish to purchase it from an independent source or local library.
Grading: Final grades for the course will be determined by each student’s cumulative point total by the end of the term. This is an approximation of points for each category, and it is subject to changed, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.
Assessments: Grading Scheme:
Exams: 4 @ 45 pts each = 180 A = 90 – 100%
Homework: 9@ 3 pts each = 24 (lowest score dropped) B = 80 – 89%
In class activities: 5@ 2 pts = 10 C = 70 – 79%
Group Project: 11 pts = 11 D = 60 – 69%
Final Exam = 75 F = 59% or below
Total Points = 300
Policies
Attendance: You are required and expected to open and read all lectures presented in the course area. I advise also making a print out of each lecture via the included pdf files, which will allow you a quick print, reference set to compare to the presentation mode of the lecture. The lectures correspond to and allow you to fill in the outlined pages of the course packet and are designed to work in conjunction with the course packet.
The Wednesday session is a required course period, and is typically when we will take the in-class exams or carry out collaborative activities. Exams are not administered online, only in the classroom environment. On non-test days i.e. every other week, our class session will have discussions, films or some activit(ies) planned to help you better learn the material. These sessions are also important for learning “collaboration and communication” skills necessary for success in the health professions. On non-test days, I will send around a sign-up roster to monitor participation, or you will have a written team “product” that will require you to place your name on the item for credit. These activities cannot be made up outside of the weekly Wednesday session. These sessions are also when tests and homework will be returned and debriefing of the exams will take place.
Lecture Availability: All lectures & handouts for the week will be opened and available by Saturday prior to the start of the week at 12:05 pm to help accommodate those with heavy work or class schedules – realize this is designed to give you a bit of a head start, for those that want to fill out their course packets early. The assignments however will not be given until Monday at noon. It is considered the student’s responsibility to open, read, and print off all lecture material (pdf quick print files), but the pace of when you do the lectures is entirely up to you. Lecture folders open on Saturday, noon, but do not become removed until the last day of the quarter. All lectures are given in Microsoft Powerpoint, so if your system at home does not have this capability you may need to come to campus to open the files and print off the lectures or obtain the necessary software to accommodate this delivery method. Each week, I will place an “expanded” version of each lecture as well as a pdf file of each lecture, this way, you have access to the original presentation with the transitions and text formatting, but the “pdf” is smaller if you are storing it on your home computer, realize that the pdf’s are more limiting in terms of their manipulation. It is recommended that you print the pdf lecture format and maintain this document in a course notebook.
Weekly assignments: In addition to readings and lectures there are weekly assignments, designed to encourage you to “practice” the art of good scholarship and the discipline of time management. Assignments are due in a Microsoft word compatible document on Fridays at noon. Do not send multiple documents – send only one version, with only the clearly numbered answers, not the original questions. The questions from the text and study guide do not need to be submitted as well, which would increase the word processing time considerably on your part. Your instructor will print out and grade your submissions over the weekend. Assignments will be returned to the student the following Wednesday in the campus session. I do not keep grades on the blackboard for security and practicality reasons. Assignments are sent to the instructor via dropbox within the blackboard area. If for any reason you are unable to submit to the dropbox, due to technical difficulties, you must still submit your assignment by noon Friday via an email attachment. No late assignments will be accepted without a document showing why you were unable to meet the deadline e.g. hospitalization, traffic accident report, airline ticket itinerary etc. Papers will NOT be accepted when slipped under the door. Be responsible for your own grade and turn your work in directly, do not rely upon third party individuals to turn work in for you; this can create verification problems and you deserve the credit that you worked so hard on for your grade.
Assignment Format:
I. Course packet pages – should be filled out as you see read through the online lectures in the course information area for a given week. Typically there are 3 lectures / week.
II. Recommended textbook pages & course packet exercise sets. These are not graded for credit, but will allow you to better understand the material. Keys to this information are posted by Thursdays at 5 for you to verify your understanding. Do NOT send this set to the instructor.
III. Graded assignment – A set of problems or questions consisting of generally short answers that reflect comprehension of the week’s unit. This is due on Fridays at noon and is worth 3 points. The instructor will use partial credit e.g. 2.5 pts if answers are not complete.
Digital Dropbox: In the course area, on the left hand side of the screen, choose “Tools” and in this area you will find the choice of Digital Dropbox. Click on this choice, and attach your file using the “Add File” header. It is VITAL that after your file attaches in this area that you hit the “Send File” header. If you only attach and then exit the blackboard area before sending your material will not be sent to the instructor. As soon as you hit “Send File” the file is “Stamped” with the day and time of submission, so be sure to leave yourself plenty of breathing room to accomplish this task. I advise not sending it at 11:59 am, invariably; there could be a server problem or other technical difficulty that would prevent your successful submission.
Very important – when sending items via dropbox avoid using symbols in your title header as this creates sending errors on the server and your assignment will not be received by your instructor e.g. do not use the following type notation – Assignment #1, the # symbol will not pass through the server’s technical criteria and you will have a delay in your submission. Other items to avoid are $, brackets, quotes etc. Keep it simple e.g. dwheat assignment 1.
Keys: In a file labeled “keys” under course documents, you will find the answers to all non-graded homework problems/questions which will be posted on Thursdays at 5 pm. within the week for which an assignment set was due. It is a good idea to check your own work before submitting the assigned “for credit” portion on Friday to repair any inconsistencies or errors in understanding.
Exams: Objective tests consisting of entirely multiple choice questions. Scantrons will be provided and will be graded by the instructor and returned the following Wednesday.
You may also pick up your exam scantron portion the Monday following an exam if you are on campus during my office hours.
Make up exams:
There will be NO make-up exams unless I am informed, in writing, PRIOR to the exam that you will need to miss it for a “documentable” reason. You need to talk with me directly for approval to make up an exam, exceptions are rare, but I do understand complications that can make it impossible to meet an exam date. Approved late takes must be made up by the end of the week they were given in class, but only with a document. If you are unable to take the exam by the last office session on Friday of that week, then that exam will be a zero. On the exam day if you have an unavoidable life situation come up you must call me and leave a message on my voice mail or send me an immediate email, and only then with your instructor’s approval will you be eligible to take an exam. You will then need to come into the next scheduled office hour period to take that exam. Early exams will not be allowed for any reason (including purchase of plane tickets) – so please plan accordingly.
Incomplete Policy: An incomplete (INC) will only be issued when a student is unable to complete the last exam by the end of the term, and each incomplete grade will be accompanied by a signed contract specifying the conditions necessary to complete the course. This contract will be signed by the student and the instructor and placed on file in the Division office. The Y grade can only be issued if the student has attended no more than 25% of class time and less than 25% of the course work was submitted. The deadline to drop the course is the end of the 7th week.
Special Accommodations: As required by federal and state laws, I will be happy to make accommodations for students with disabilities or those with special needs. It is the student’s responsibility to make any needs known to me within the first week of the term, in writing, so that I can give appropriate accommodation. This includes but is not limited to disabilities of visual, hearing, learning, dates needed for religious holidays, court dates etc. Lack of compatible software or hardware does not hamper student success in this course, as long as the student can attend a computer lab on-site to obtain documents and assignments, please see the instructor or the staff of Media Services if you have difficulties accessing the course or material in the course.
Note: Office of Disabilities requires that the student needing special accommodation meet with the instructor and make such needs known within the first week of classes.
Academic Misconduct: This will not be tolerated and includes any form of cheating. The student is encouraged to read the student code of conduct policies on the LBCC homepage for further details. If a student is found to have cheated on an exam, after due process the resulting grade may be a zero on the given exam or homework assignment. Academic misconduct includes submitting other individual’s documents or copying from another student. All group work should still be written in the students own handwriting and language. You must turn in your own interpretation and work even if doing team work projects.
Withdrawing from Classes (Dropping a Class After the Refund Deadline)
To drop a class or withdraw from school, you may turn in a Schedule Change form at the Registration Counter or at an community center or use the SIS system. (For classes that meet four to seven weeks, you must process the withdrawal by 5 p.m. on the Friday before the last week of the class. For example, if the class is scheduled to meet four weeks, the deadline to withdraw is 5 p.m. on the Friday of the third week of the class.) If you withdraw from a course after the refund deadline, you will receive a "W" grade in the class, you will forfeit all claims to refunds, and you will be financially responsible for any tuition and fees. Failure to drop a class may impact your grade point average and financial aid eligibility. Note: For classes meeting eight or more weeks, the deadline to withdraw from the class is 5 p.m. on Friday of the seventh week.