Department of Biological Sciences

Course Description, Fall '08

Course title: First-Year Biology Laboratory, aka "Boot Camp for Biology Laboratories"

Offered: Fall and Spring semesters, Credit 2

Instructor: Laurie Iten, Associate Professor (office LILY G-307; office hours Tues. 2:30-3:30 PM and Wed. 11-12 Noon, or by emailing bootcamp@purdue.edu to make an appointment)

Pre- Co-requisites: CHEM 115 and BIOL 121 or 131

Brief course description: Laboratory exercises emphasizing student mastery of basic laboratory skills needed to succeed in the biological sciences; intended for beginning (first-year) biology majors.

Scheduled lab meetings and exams:

There are 13 scheduled lab meetings, a lab practical final given during your lab meeting the last week of classes of the semester, and a written lab final given during final exam week. Your lab meeting the first week of classes of the semester is not what we call a "scheduled lab meeting," but it is an important meeting where we cover all course information and policies, and where you receive a "Calendar of Labs" that is specific for your division. Depending on your division, you are assigned to either the Black or Gold group. We assign students to different groups for logistical reasons; however, you need to know your group, especially with regards to our attendance policies.

Here are the division, meeting day and time, room number, and group for our labs for Fall 2008.

Sec		Day and Time	Room	Group
001		M 1:30-4:20pm	LILY 1-406*	Black
002		M 1:30-4:20pm	LILY 1-408*	Gold
003		Tu 1:30-4:20pm	LILY 1-406*	Black
004		Tu 1:30-4:20pm	LILY 1-408*	Gold
005		W 8:30-11:20am	LILY 1-406*	Black
006		W 8:30-11:20am	LILY 1-408*	Gold
007		W1:30-4:20pm	LILY 1-406*	Black
008		W1:30-4:20pm	LILY 1-408*	Gold
009		Th 1:30-4:20pm	LILY 1-406*	Black
010		Th 1:30-4:20pm	LILY 1-408*	Gold

*August 25 through October 21, then switch rooms.

Required Materials:

• Iten, Laurie, Boot Camp for Biology Laboratories, Third Version, 2008. Only sold at University Book Store (and only at their State and Grant Street store). When you go to University Bookstore to buy this manual, you will get a voucher proving that you purchased it. You exchange your voucher for a manual when you come to your first lab meeting.
• TI-83 Plus graphing calculator (or TI-84 Plus, TI-84 Plus Silver Edition, or TI-86 calculator). If you have a TI-89 calculator, you will have to "translate" the calculator instructions in the manual because calculator instructions are only given for the TI-83 (-84 or-86) calculator.
• Any color other than black Sharpie pen(s)
• Purves, W.K., et al., Life--The Science of Biology, 7th Edition, Sinauer Associates, Inc., and W.H. Freeman, 2004. As you may, or may not realize, this textbook is the one required for your BIOL 121 and 131 (co-requisite courses, along with CHEM 115 for BIOL 195T), so we use the fact that you are enrolled in BIOL 121 or 131, and we utilize this general biology textbook.

It is your responsibility to bring your manual, graphing calculator, and any color other than black Sharpie pen(s) to every lab.

Front material of third version of lab manual (pdf file)

Online pre-lab lectures

There are online pre-lab lectures for each of the 13 scheduled lab meetings, and you will find them in our class Blackboard Vista site (see below). The online pre-lab lectures come in two forms: one with interspersed questions, and one without questions. The questions scattered throughout a pre-lab lecture test your understanding of what's being covered in that lecture, and you get three attempts to answer each question correctly, plus you get two attempts at each pre-lab lecture with questions (highest score of two attempts gets recorded). You have one week before your scheduled lab meets to go through that lab's pre-lab lecture with questions. This means the two attempts of an online pre-lab lecture with questions will no longer be available to you after the start of your scheduled lab meeting. Pre-lab lectures without questions are available for reference and review for the entire semester. There are no makeup pre-lab lectures with questions unless you have an excused absence (see Attendance policy).

Online pre-lab homework

You complete online homework assignments hopefully (strongly recommended) before each of your 13 scheduled lab meetings, and you will find a link to these online homework problems in our class Blackboard Vista site. You get credit (points) for correctly answering/solving homework problems. You would be wise to complete your homework problems for a lab before your scheduled lab meets because problems similar to that lab's homework problems could appear on that in-lab's quiz (see below). You want to solve each lab's homework problem set according to the schedule on your Calendar of Labs. The ultimate deadline/due date for all homework problems is shown in LON-CAPA, i.e., 5 PM Thursday 11 December 2008, the next to the last day of Fall '08 classes. Remember, pay attention to your Calendar of Labs for your Division to know when homework problems should be completed because we use the Calendar of Labs schedule for when we calculate your weekly "running" total course points and percentile. Please be aware that homework problems can be on material in preceding labs.

In-lab quizzes

There is an in-lab quiz given at the beginning of each of the 13 scheduled lab meetings. These quizzes have questions and problems like online pre-lab lecture questions and online homework questions/problems, but they require a written response from you, i.e., they are not multiple-choice or true-false questions, nor multiple attempts to get the correct answer or solution. Again, please be aware that quiz questions/problems can be on material from preceding labs. To give you an idea of the type of quiz questions we ask in this class, there are sample quiz questions (from quizzes given last year) posted on our class Blackboard Vista site.

In-lab assessments

There are in-lab assessments of what you do for each of the 13 scheduled lab meetings. You accrue points for correctly accomplishing each assessed lab activity.

Grades and Grading Policy

We base your grade in this course on the points you accumulate for online pre-lab lectures with questions, online homework assignments, in-lab quizzes, in-lab assessments, final lab practical exam, and final written exam. Here are the approximate points apportionments for each component that make up your grade in BIOL 195T.

Online pre-lab lectures with questions = ~15% of total possible points.

Online pre-lab homework assignments = ~15% of total possible points.

In-lab quizzes = ~23% of total possible points.

In-lab assessments = ~35% of total possible points.

Final lab practical exam given the last week of the semester = ~6% of total possible points (questions asked are like in-lab assessments).

Final written exam given during final exam week = ~6% of total possible points (questions and problems asked are like in-lab quizzes and homework assignments).

If you have ≥ 93.00000% of the total possible course points after you take the final practical exam, then you do not have to take the final written exam. For students in this category, the percentile ≥ 93.00000% of course points you have will be what we use for your final written exam score.

Grades will be determined with the following percentages of total possible course points. There are a total of 854 possible course points.

≥ 93.00000% = A

≥ 90.00000 < 93.00000% = A-

≥ 87.00000 < 90.00000% = B+

≥ 83.00000 < 87.00000% = B

≥ 80.00000 < 83.00000% = B-

≥ 77.00000 < 80.00000% = C+

≥ 73.00000 < 77.00000% = C

≥ 70.00000 < 73.00000% = C-

≥ 67.00000 < 70.00000% = D+

≥ 63.00000 < 67.00000% = D

≥ 60.00000 < 63.00000% = D-

< 60.00000% = F

Help sessions

One or both of the TAs will stay up to an hour after the end of their lab Division to help any of their students who want help. There is also a weekly help session Sundays 4:00-5:00 p.m. in LILY 1-406 (except before a holiday, or during a university break).

BRC (Biology Resource Center)

The BRC has student tutors to serve the academic needs of students in biology's first and second-year courses. The BRC is located in LILY G-414C, and its hours are Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The tutors in the BRC know what is going on in BIOL 195T because many of them attend our weekly BIOL 195T staff meetings.

IT information

Class email address

While we post the email addresses of all of our TAs on our course Blackboard Vista site, you will be better served if you send a message with your question or concern to our class email address. This email address is
bootcamp@purdue.edu
Sending a message to bootcamp@purdue.edu will get your message answered quickly, or routed to the correct person who can help you. The secretary who monitors the bootcamp@purdue.edu messages knows our course policies and procedures, and she knows all the teaching staff for this course, and each of their roles. Please be aware that the bootcamp@purdue.edu email address is always monitored Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays.

Class web site

• Our class web site with all our online materials is within the university's Blackboard Vista Course Management System, http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/blackboard
• If you are officially enrolled in BIOL 195T, then you will automatically be added to our class web site.
• Do Not Use Internet Explorer (Mac or PC) with Blackboard Vista or LON-CAPA, because Internet Explorer often does not work correctly with Blackboard Vista or LON-CAPA. Use Firefox instead. See the Blackboard Vista login page for information on how to download this free browser, and how to do a browser check.

Email communication with you

We almost exclusively use email to communicate with you outside of class, and we only send messages to your "purdue.edu" email address when we communicate with you. Be sure to check your Purdue email account for messages at least once a day. For more information about your purdue.edu email account, go to http://www.itap.purdue.edu/email/.

If you have IT questions or problems, go to the ITaP Customer Service Center, Stewart Center G68 (Ground Floor), email itap@purdue.edu, or call 494-4000.

Attendance policy

Our attendance policy has aspects the same as, or similar to, those for your first-year chemistry labs, and to those for your second-year biology labs (BIOL 271 & 281).

Attendance at all scheduled lab meetings is mandatory.

If you know ahead of time that you will have to miss one of your scheduled lab meetings, you can attend another Division meeting the same week; however, the other Division you want to attend, must be the same group (Black or Gold) as you are assigned, and you must get permission from a TA teaching another Division you want to attend instead of the one you're enrolled (see schedule of when divisions meet, and the TAs teaching each Division with their email addresses posted on our class Blackboard Vista site). If they give you permission to attend their Division, then email one of your TAs to let them know that you will be attending another Division. Be sure to make these arrangements several days in advance of when you know you must miss your own scheduled lab. Due to enrollment limitations, it is up to the TAs teaching the Division you want to attend (instead of your own) to determine if you can attend their Division.

We realize students may miss a lab meeting due to major illness, accident, or some other unavoidable circumstance (this does not include needing to complete an assignment for another course, studying for an exam, forgetting to come to class, etc.). It is your responsibility to inform your TA why you were absent as soon as possible. In order to obtain an excused absence, we require documentation (physician's note, coach's letter, Dean of Students form, etc.) explaining the reason for your absence. There is a copy of a sample form on our class Blackboard Vista site that you need to use to document your absence, especially if you go to PUSH. If you have a documented excuse, then we will schedule a make-up lab for you to do on a Friday or Saturday, as close to the lab meeting you missed as possible. If you have an unexcused absence, you will receive no points assigned during the lab meeting you missed (lab quiz and lab assessment points).

Policy regarding academic dishonesty

This lab course requires you to demonstrate that you can perform practical skills biologists use. You are evaluated individually, therefore, what you do in this course must be yours alone. Based on the activities you do in this class, we highlight four types of academic dishonesty you will be punished for committing.

1. Copying assignments or data. While we encourage you to discuss assignments freely with other students in the course, or with the teaching staff, we do not allow collaboration when you complete work in this course. Both copying someone else's work (or parts of their work), or allowing someone else to copy all or parts of your work, will be considered cheating. Similarity in wording of any part of an assignment, or our knowledge of any collaboration on work done or turned in by two or more students will be considered evidence of copying.
2. Cheating on in-lab quizzes, final lab practical exam, or final written exam. For all in-lab quizzes, Final lab practical, and Final written exam, we expect you to answer all questions on your own, with no input from any other student.
3. Making up data. The fabrication of data when you were asked to show the data you collected is dishonest, and unethical.
4. Plagiarism. Copying or paraphrasing material from books, articles, lab manuals, internet sources, etc., without properly citing the author, and source of information is considered plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in BIOL 195T. If you commit academic dishonesty, you (and all parties involved) will receive a grade of zero on the exam, quiz, assignment, or activity you are caught committing academic dishonesty. The second time you commit academic dishonesty in BIOL 195T, means that you will receive an "F" for the course, and your case of academic dishonesty will be sent to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action. The teaching staff of this course follow the guidelines of the Office of the Dean of Students when handling cases of apparent academic dishonesty.