Courses

Genetics Site

I. General information:

a. Program affiliation: Biology

b. Course number and title: BIO 3024: Genetics

c. Meeting times: MWF 11:00-11:50 & T 1:00-4:00

d. Rooms: S-127 & S-118

e. Prerequisites: BIO 1104, BIO 1324; Recommended Bio 2014 or Bio 2124

f. Professor: Dr. Sean T. Coleman Office: S-224 Phone: 979-1364 Email: scolema@ozarks.edu

g. Office Hrs: MWF: 10:00-11:00 MWF 1:00- 3:00 R: 11:00-12:00

h. Last day to drop: March 28^th

i. Course web-site: http://departments.ozarks.edu/msc/Biology/courses.htm

II. Textbook and Lab Manual:

a. Brooker, James. 1999. Genetics: Analysis and Principles. Benjamin Cummings Publishers, San Francisco, CA.

b. Lab Notebook: Preferably a three ring binder with paper.

III. Catalog Description: The principles of inheritance in plants and animals are presented with special attention devoted to the specific aspects of human heredity. The goal of this course is to give the student a broad background in the science of heredity. The course includes the general topics of history of genetics, Mendelian genetics, molecular genetics and population genetics.

IV. Intended Student Outcomes:

V. Students will communicate effectively

b. use effective strategies to organize thoughts, develop a message and document sources for article reviews and the discussion web

c. learn to present a message skillfully when reviewing genetics articles

d. clearly and effectively express ideas and actively listen to the ideas of others during discussions

2. Students will think critically

a. read genetics articles and text with comprehension

d. evaluate and analyze arguments from more than one perspective in order to prepare for debates and discussions

e. recognize and form interpretations, generalizations, or causal explanations appropriate to the study of genetics

3. Students will have knowledge of human culture

a. identify, describe and use the salient methods, skills or ways of knowing in the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and natural sciences

i. Specifically genetic principles and applications

e. use available technologies to gather and process genetics information effectively

4. Students will be aware of their responsibilities to themselves, to humanity, to their planet and to their creator

a. examine personal lifestyle, ethics, integrity, values and priorities

b. respect individuals with beliefs, backgrounds or abilities different from their own

c. contribute to the welfare of their community and ecosystem

VI. Attendance: You will be expected to attend every lecture. Exam questions are taken primarily from the material covered in lecture. In addition you will be expected to be prepared for and participate in discussions. Attendance and participation will be the determining factors for assigning the final grade to a student whose total points fall near a borderline. All students are required to participate in the laboratory portion of the course. You are expected to attend on time, be prepared for and participate in the entire lab. Three unexcused absences in the lab will result in a failing grade for the entire course. Excused absences will require either prior approval or written verification.

Three absences for ANY reason will result in an incomplete for the course. Make-up lecture exams are given at the discretion of the professor and may include a penalty (of up to 10% per day). In case of illness, emergency or other excusable absence contact the professor as soon as possible. Please leave a message on the answering machine at the phone number listed above. Written verification may be required to take the make-up exam. If you know you will miss the exam before hand please contact the professor, as make-up exams are generally more difficult than the regular exam and this may help you avoid losing points (as above).

The student is responsible for all assignments, late assignments will be docked a minimum of 10% per day late. The student must complete all assignments. If an assignment is not turned in by the final day of class the professor can dock the student’s overall grade one full grade for each missed assignment or exam. This is on top of the zero points received for that assignment.

VII. Academic Honesty: Cheating will not be tolerated! The minimum penalty for cheating will be a zero (0) for that assignment, exam or quiz. Other penalties can include but are not limited to failing the course, academic probation and/or suspension from the University. Plagiarism is also a form of cheating and will be dealt with accordingly. Verbatim use of words from sources without proper notation will result in a minimum of a single grade deduction and/or see above. Furthermore, when working in groups each person must complete and hand in their own work in their own words. Finally, assignments completed for this class must not be used in another class without the consent of both professors.

VIII. Evaluation: Assignments, Exams, Labs and Quizzes.

IX. Lecture:

X. Assignments: There will be assignments associated with many of the chapters (10-50 points each). Any written assignment must be typed, double-spaced and are to be turned in immediately following the class period on the date they are due. Late assignments will be penalized 10% per class day they are late. Any assignment turned in more than two weeks late will receive a zero (0).

XI. Quizzes: A quiz will be given at the start of nearly every new chapter (~ 10 points). This will require the student to have, at the minimum, read the chapter before coming to class. Unscheduled quizzes (10 points maximum) may be given randomly throughout the semester due to lack of preparedness or participation by the students.

XII. Lecture exams: There will be four exams given on the days indicated. They will be composed of mostly short and long answer essay questions. However, multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching and label the figure questions could also make an appearance. The majority of the exam will come from lecture, some questions based on lab material will also make up a portion of the exam. Exams will be 100 points except for the final, which will be worth 100-200 points. The final will be mostly from the last unit with a few cumulative questions (approximately 75%/25%).

XIII. Extra credit: Will not be given unless it is announced in class and everyone has an opportunity to receive it.

i. World wide web-based discussion boards: Students are expected to participate in a web-based discussion on topics from biology including but not limited to cell biology, genetics and ethics. This will be part of your participation grade and could be worth up to one exam grade (100 pts.).

XIV. Lab:

i. Lab Notebook: Ten Points per lab will be awarded for keeping a laboratory notebook in a clean and concise manner with good descriptions of materials used, what was done, observations made, results and a discussion of those results. Exams will also test knowledge gained in lab (approximately 10-20%).

ii. Quizzes: Unscheduled quizzes (approximately 10 points) may be given randomly throughout the semester in lab due to lack of preparedness or participation by students.

iii. Lab Points: 50 points (approximately one-half of an exam grade) is available to students based on their attendance, participation and preparedness for lab. All students will start with zero points and will be awarded points based on performance in the lab setting.

iv. Presentations: Presentations of your work in lab will be required. These presentations will be graded on your ability to discuss your subject, materials, methods and results (10-50 points per presentation).

v. Pedigrees: In association with the lab on pedigrees each student will be required to do a pedigree of their family using the standards discussed in class (50 points).

vi. Scientific Journal Articles: Reading and discussion of scientific research articles will be done in lab. Grades will be assigned based on the student’s ability to discuss the material.

b. Final grades: The final grades will be based on a scale of the total points earned in the class. The most stringent scale will be 90-100% an A, 80-89% a B, 70-79% a C, 60-69% a D and 59% and less an F. Any grade near the borderline may be raised at the professor’s discretion (please see article V. Attendance). Letter grades announced for individual exams are purely estimates of your general ranking for that exam. Your final point total (or percentage) will be considered in assigning your final grade.

XV. ADA Statement: If any member of the class has a documented disability and needs special accommodations, the instructor will work with the student and the office of Student Support Services or the Jones Learning Center to provide reasonable accommodation to ensure the student a fair opportunity to perform in this class. Please advise the instructor of the disability and the desired accommodations within the first week of class

XVI. This Syllabus is Subject to Change at the Discretion of the Professor.

XVII. Most Importantly Ask Questions: If you have any questions about this syllabus, the material, exams or assignments ask the professor.

Date	Lab	Lecture
Week of: Jan. 13	No Lab	Intro
Jan. 20 20^th No Class	Karyotype	General Properties of Gene Structure and Function
Jan. 27	Pedigrees	Mendelian Inheritance
Feb. 3	Chromosome Squash	Mendelian Inheritance
Feb. 10	Drosophila Cross: Vestigial X Ebony	Reproduction and Chrom. Transmission Exam I
Feb. 17	Drosophila Cross: Vestigial X Ebony	Reproduction and Chromosomal Transmission
Feb. 24	Drosophila Cross: Vestigial X Ebony	Extensions of Mendelian Inheritance
Mar. 3	Drosophila Cross: Vestigial X Ebony Scientific Journal Discussion	Extensions of Mendelian Inheritance
Mar. 10	VNTR PCR	Genetic Mapping and Linkage Exam II
Mar. 17	Spring Break: No Class	Spring Break: No Class
Mar. 24	VNTR PCR	Genetic Mapping and Linkage
Mar. 31	Drosophila Papers and Presentations	Bacterial Genetic Transfer
Apr. 7	Yeast Genetics: LYS Mutational Analysis	Non Mendelian Inheritance Exam III
Apr. 14	Yeast Genetics: LYS Mutational Analysis	Molecular Genetics
Apr. 21 18^th No Class	Yeast Genetics: LYS Mutational Analysis	Molecular Genetics
Apr. 28	Yeast Genetics: LYS Mutational Analysis	Population Genetics
May. 6 T 2:00-4:30 PM	Final Exam