BI103H 2010 COURSE SYLLABUS
BI101H, 102H, 103H, also called General Biology or BI10xH, are introductory courses intended to develop knowledge and skills that can support lifetime learning of biology. BI101H emphasizes diversity, ecology, and environmental science. BI102H introduces genetics, evolution, and behavior. BI103H covers human anatomy, physiology, and disease. Each course is worth four credits and can fulfill the baccalaureate core requirement for a life science course with a laboratory component. BI103H is worth four credits and can fulfill the baccalaureate core requirement for a life science course with a laboratory component. There are no prerequisites for this course.
BI103H Course Goals
Upon successful completion of this course, each student will develop:
1. Conceptual understandings, or basic knowledge, of science and the living world, and
2. Skills, or basic procedures, necessary to learn biology and apply that biological knowledge in daily life.
These two goals are intended to match Oregon State University’s goals for baccalaureate science education, as well as the Biology Program goals for biology education. Within these two general BI103H goals, there are specific outcomes.
BI103H Student Outcomes
Outcomes indicate what students are expected to learn while participating in BI103H. Outcomes are organized to match the course goals of developing conceptual understandings and skills.
Conceptual Understanding Outcomes
Students will understand
fundamental concepts that characterize biology, including key vocabulary, concepts, and theories from various life science fields, as well as concepts that link to other disciplines.
how knowledge of biology has developed, including the historical development of scientific knowledge, the interrelationships between biology and other disciplines, and the impacts of society and technology on the acquisition of new knowledge.
how science works, including science process (how to do science) and the tentative and creative nature of scientific inquiry.
Skill Outcomes
Students will be able to
conduct background research on life science topics in order to make informed decisions, including understanding basic concepts and processes necessary to investigate topics, applying skills for critiquing information, drawing on personal observations, and formulating decisions on topics.
function successfully within laboratory and field settings, including use of basic equipment (microscopes, measurement devices, and computer technologies), and utilizing appropriate safety protocols, that can be put into practice in home and community settings.
utilize a variety of learning skills, including critical thinking and decision-making skills, and communication skills for analyzing learning, and sharing information with others.
BI103H Course Objectives
Course objectives are specific indicators of what students will be doing and learning in BI103H. The course objectives are directly derived from the student outcomes listed above, and assessments match these objectives. The list of weekly course objectives is available in Appendix A. It can be helpful to use these objectives while studying within the course.
BI103H Course Structure
BI103H is structured to maximize the opportunity for students to master conceptual and skill outcomes. To enable this, a variety of forms of teaching are used to address the broad range of learning styles.
BI103H consists of four parts: lectures, laboratories, recitations, and textbook readings. These parts are related, but not completely overlapping.
Lectures
Lectures meet twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday morning at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. in Milam Auditorium (room 26) for 50 minutes. Lectures stress concepts, such as biology history and terminology, with occasional course announcements and three extra credit puzzles.
Laboratories & Recitations
Laboratories & recitations are combined into back to back activities meeting Mondays from 2pm to 4:50pm. BI103H will typically begin in room 127 Weniger Hall. Laboratories involve detailed exploration of the human body, with emphasis on students developing both concepts and skills. Recitations are similar to laboratories, but the shorter time is used to study more specific concepts and skills.
Textbook Readings
Each week readings are assigned in the course textbook: Human Body (available in the OSU Bookstore and many other bookstores). The readings introduce new material and also provide more detailed coverage of some of the concepts introduced in other parts of the course.
BI103H Student Assessment
In order to determine the extent of conceptual understanding and skill mastery an individual has learned in BI103H, exams and projects are used to assess conceptual understandings and skills. In Appendix A of the activity manual, assessments are matched with specific objectives, so it is possible to determine what will be covered on specific projects and exams.
Projects
Projects are primarily used to assess skill outcomes. There are three projects due during the term. The dates and times are:
Project / Date / TimeLearning Project / Monday, April 12, 2010 / Due by 2:00 p.m.
Research Project / Monday, May 3, 2010 / Due by 2:00 p.m.
Reflection Project / Monday, May 24, 2010 / Due by 2:00 p.m.
Projects are submitted through the mail-slot in the door of 127A Weniger Hall (the room between lab and recitation). Instructions for submitting late projects are discussed later in this syllabus. Each project should have a cover. Projects are to be typed and submitted within a document folder (clear cover, three-hole binding, any color), available for under a dollar at the OSU bookstore and many other retailers). The same folder can be reused for all three projects if desired. No other folders or binders are acceptable due to their bulk and need for clear covers for grading and totaling.
Exams
Exams are primarily used to assess conceptual outcomes. There are three exams, two during the term, and a final exam during finals week.
Exam / Date / TimeExam #1 / Monday, April 19, 2010 / 2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.
Exam #2 / Monday, May 10, 2010 / 2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.
Final Exam / Thursday, June 10, 2010 / 6:00 p.m. to 7:50 p.m.
Exam locations will be announced in laboratory and recitation. Exams are not given in the lecture hall (Milam Auditorium) due to excessive disruption as students finish at different times. Exams are short answer format.
Grading
BI103H grades are a reflection of what has someone knows (conceptual understandings) and can do (skills). The total number of points possible in BI103H are:
Assessment / Possible Points / Your ScoresLearning Project / 15
Research Project / 20
Reflection Project / 25
Exam #1 / 40
Exam #2 / 40
Final Exam / 60
Total / 200
All BI10X courses are criterion graded, meaning that if you earn the following number of point out of the 200 total points, you are guaranteed the indicated grade (barring any extreme circumstances, such as university closures, etc). We do not curve, so if a large number of students master the course material, a large number can earn high grades. Students are not competing with each other for grades. The point cut-offs could be lowered if class data indicates that a particular exam question or project assignment was too difficult or poorly detailed. This does not occur frequently, due to thorough proofing of exams and assignments.
Points / 186 / 180 / 174 / 166 / 160 / 154 / 146 / 140 / 134 / 126 / 120 / <120Grade / A / A- / B+ / B / B- / C+ / C / C- / D+ / D / D- / F
Grade points / 4.0 / 3.7 / 3.3 / 3.0 / 2.7 / 2.3 / 2.0 / 1.7 / 1.3 / 1.0 / 0.7 / 0.0
Only points round up, not percentages, and points only round up once. For example, 139.50 points (or higher) would round up to 140 points, a grade of C-, 139.49 points would be a D+.
S/U Grading (OSU Academic Regulation 18 “Alternative Grading”)
At least 140 points have to be earned to get a C- in BI103H. If you are not sure whether you should choose the S/U option, consult your advisor. Typically it is most critical to choose the S/U option if a lower grade point average will impact a scholarship or financial aid in some manner. If there is a possibility of getting the unsatisfactory grade, it may be important to weigh the impact of a low grade (D+, D, D-, F) without the S/U option, versus possibly having to re-take a science lab course if a “U” is earned. It may be inadvisable to select the S/U option if you are close to graduation and you need to pass the class to graduate. Consult your advisor.
Extra Credit Lecture Puzzles
There are three extra credit puzzles given throughout the term in lecture, each worth one point (three points total). These puzzles must be completed and turned in during the lecture in which they are administered to receive credit. There are two purposes for these puzzles. First, the extra credit puzzles provide an opportunity for exploring a lecture topic in more depth. Second, these extra credit points may help students who are “stuck” between grades move up to the next grade. For instance, consider two students with a total number of 158 points (a grade of C+), one student with one extra credit point, the other with three extra credit points. The student with one extra credit point will receive the C+ (total of 159 points), the student with three extra credit points will receive a B- (total of 161 points). These are the only extra credit points offered in the course. On Blackboard, your total earned points appear (including any of the three potential lecture extra credit points that are earned), so you have a potential of 203 points, and the final course grade is calculated on a possible scale of 200 points (see above).
Grade Changes
The same grading criteria and cut-offs are used for all students taking BI103H. No additional work or grading opportunities are given to specific students, ensuring every student has an equal opportunity to a fair grade. In other words, students who request additional work or other special grading considerations before or after the course is completed are always denied these requests. OSU grade changes are intended to be used only for clerical or computational errors. In BI103H, these errors could occur if the exam scantron was filled in improperly, or a project was graded incorrectly. These errors are rare, but if you think one may have occurred, contact the Course Coordinator immediately. For a possible exam scantron error, e-mail your name, lab section number, and concern to the Course Coordinator. For the project, write a note explaining the concern, attach it to the entire project including the coversheet (you can staple all the pages together and keep the project cover if desired), and drop the project and note into the mail slot in the door of 127A Weniger.
Exam conflicts
If you have scheduled a conflicting class or have a conflicting exam at the same time as a BI103H exam, you may be able to take the BI103H exam slightly earlier on the same day, or a different format exam later in the week. No exam will be given on a date earlier than the scheduled date.
Requests for Early Final Exams (Academic Regulation 16 “Finals Week”)
Students frequently request early exams due to travel plans or other considerations. The exam dates and times listed in the schedule of classes will be followed. The final exam will be given according to the "Schedule of Group Examinations.” There will be no final exams given prior to the scheduled date/time.
Missed Exams
If you are ill, contact the Course Coordinator before the scheduled exam. There are no make-up exams, except for students with serious, unavoidable conflicts (such as military commitments, hospitalization, or death of an immediate family member). Makeup exams, in essay format, are given for students with these reasons for missing the standard exam, later the same week as the scheduled exam. Unfortunately there are many emergencies each term, and since grading make-up exams takes approximately one hour each exam, this is only an option for serious, unavoidable conflicts. Arrangements should be made with the Course Coordinator as soon as possible.
Missed Lectures
One of the skills stressed in this course is note-taking: the ability to listen, record, and learn. In BI10X courses, student exam scores are higher if they attend lectures and generate their own notes. The lecturer will not provide notes, but is available if you would like assistance with note-taking skills (also see section on note-taking in this syllabus). If you miss a lecture, it is recommended that you get notes from classmates, read through them carefully, and ask the teaching team if you have any questions over the material.
Missed Laboratories and Recitations
Lab and recitation activities are important sources of material for the exams and projects. If you missed an activity and would like to learn what was missed, you can attend any Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) office hour (posted outside 133 Weniger and at the course website) that week or the following week to go over the activity. You are not able to attend another BI103 lab/recitation section, utilize office hours instead. It is recommended that you read over the missed activity before attending office hours, to maximize the time available with the GTA. If you know you will miss lab or recitation at the end of a week before an exam or project due date, it is recommended that you attend office hours earlier in the week, prior to missing the activity.