RULES AND REGULATIONS

OF THE GENERAL BIOLOGY COURSE

(SUMMER SEMESTER)

Credit for Seminars

The following are the requirements to obtain a credit from seminars/practical exercises:

1)  acceptation of theoretical exercises made in the textbook (Medical Biology (A. Buczek, Ed.), Koliber, Lublin 2007); exercises are placed after each chapter; ATTENTION: the textbook is copyrighted, x-copies and computer transcribes are prohibited);

2)  acceptation of practical exercises. Notes and drawings (schemes and descriptions of analysed microscopic slides) should be made in a separate plain exercise-book, with a soft pencil or in patterns of work-cards when indicated (schemes and descriptions of analyzed microscopic slides are available at the website: http://biolmolgen2.sum.edu.pl)

3)  delivering all required small lectures/presentations; the presentation topics are allocated individually based on the list of students; each presentation will be discussed, reasonable participation in the discussion will be also graded;

4)  requirements for passing an individual small test (1 – Microscopic structure of the living organism, 2 – Animal structure and function, 3 – Biology of development, 4 – Biological hazards of natural environment); the following are the grades: 27-30 correct answers out 30 questions = A (5 points), 23-26/30 = B (4 points), 19-22/30 = C (3 points), 18/30 or less = F (2 points, a test is failed).

5)  The test questions are based on the theoretical material comprised in a) textbooks recommended in the syllabus, b) seminar abstracts when indicated

6)  Each small test may be retaken ONLY ONE TIME; to retake a small test a student should make an individual appointment with the teacher; all failed tests have to be retaken until the end of the semester.

7)  The dates of presentations and tests are fixed and it is not possible to make any changes by students.

Final credit for the course

The final grade will be calculated according to the formula: (Xwinter/spring+2Y)/3, where: Y – the final test grade, Xwinter/spring – the arithmetic mean of both semester averages (Xwinter/spring=(Xwinter+Xspring)/2), each semester average (Xwinter, Xspring) is based on: (a) the average grade for delivered presentations and activity (participation in discussion on presentations, small quizzes), (b) the small test average; the formula is (a+2b)/3).

To successfully complete the course a student is required to pass the final exam which is divided equally for the winter and spring semesters (50 + 50 questions); the grades are as follow: 46-50 correct answers/50 questions = A (5 points), 40-45/50 = B (4 points), 35-39/50 = C (3 points), 34 or less (F, the test is failed). The final test grade will be calculated according to the formula: (bw+bs)/2, where bw and bs are the final grades for winter and spring semester exams respectively, based on the assumption that both exams were passed. The exam will be conducted after the spring semester.

BOOKS

Medical Biology (A. Buczek, Ed.), Vol. 1-2. Koliber, Lublin.

Campbell, N.A., Reece, J.B., Mitchell, L.G. : Biology. Benjamin/Cummings, Menlo Park.

Course manager in the winter semester:

Anna Sitkowska Ph.D.