GRADES: Your grade in this course will be based on your performance on exams, laboratory, an oral presentation, written assignments (discussion board) and in-class participation. All work submitted for a grade must be your own. Work will be weighted as follows: midterm exam, 20%; final exam, 25%; oral presentation of journal article, 10%; lab reports, 10% each; lab report presentations, 5%; written assignments (discussion board), 10%; class participation, 10%. All graded work will be given a point value, with the total number of points during the semester equaling 500.
Grades in this course will likely be assigned as follows:
TEXTBOOK: The following text will be used in the course: Watson, Myers, Caudy and Witkowski, 2008, Recombinant DNA - Genes and Genomes - A Short Course, New York, NY, W.H. Freeman & Co. This textbook contains more information than we will cover during the semester. To direct you towards information that will be useful to you, I will communicate the relevant page numbers during class. I encourage you to use the textbook as a resource to supplement material that is covered in lectures. Be aware that lecture material may not be covered in the text; therefore, your book can not replace class attendance. In addition to the assigned text, supplemental readings from other sources will be posted on Blackboard.
PARTICIPATION: Regular participation accounts for 10% of your final grade in this course. Participation requires you to interact with the instructors and your classmates. Generally, 50% of the participation points are awarded based on attendance, while the remaining 50% are earned based on your contribution to the conversation: asking questions, answering questions, commenting on the material, etc. All students are strongly encouraged to speak up in class. If you find it challenging to speak up in class, attending office hours will allow you to earn participation points.
EXAMS: There will be one closed book take-home exam during the semester as well as a self-scheduled final exam. There will be no make-up exams.
PRIMARY LITERATURE: In order to cover historical research and recent developments in the field of molecular biology, we will be reading primary literature throughout the course of the semester. These papers will be available via Blackboard. You must access this material and read it prior to the day it is discussed in class so you will be able to participate in class discussions; you will also be required to post comments about the article on a discussion board (see below). Your participation in these class discussions will be reflected in your grade in this course.
ORAL PRESENTATION: Students, working in groups of 2-3, will present one of the assigned articles from the primary literature. Through this exercise, you will learn to research background information and critically evaluate the experimental data in a scientific paper. You will have 25 minutes to present the article and 20 minutes to lead a class discussion on the topic.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS/DISCUSSION BOARD: Students who are not presenting the weeks article will engage in an evaluation of the article via a discussion board. A question or talking point will be provided to start the discussion. All student posts will be due by 9 am the day the article is presented to the class.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DIFFERENCES: Students with learning differences who need accommodations should speak with Stephanie Bell, the Accessibility Coordinator, to arrange for and complete the necessary documentation. Ms. Bell's telephone number is x7351, and her office is in Canwyll House. Requests for accommodations for examinations or for other course work should be made at least one week prior to the scheduled date so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
OFFICE HOURS: Dr. Davis' office is located in the Park Science Center, room 222. Scheduled office hours will be announced in class. You are encouraged to attend office hours to address any questions you have concerning the course. If you are unable to attend office hours, please contact me via e-mail (tdavis@brynmawr.edu) to schedule an appointment. Do not hesitate to talk to me about any concerns or questions you have!