Microbiology Spring 2004

Dr. Kirkconnell Course policies, grade determination, etc

Measurement % of final grade

Biweekly quizzes 40

Final exam 20

Practicals and unknowns 10

Lab notebook 10

Daily essays 10

Internet quizzes (available until 8 a.m. each class day) 10

Grades will be calculated as 90, 80, 70, 60 for A, B, C, D, or F. There will be no make-up quizzes, exams, or labs.  If you know ahead of time that you will miss a lab, see your lab teacher in advance. Cheating will result in a grade of zero for the component of the course (40% of grade for biweekly quizzes) for the first offense and a letter written to the chairman for administrative actions. Examples of cheating include things like copying from notes, the text, or other students' tests or quizzes during tests; copying labs, blackboard, and other assignments and presenting them as your own work; falsely claiming illness or computer malfunction(s); etc. Maintenance of academic integrity is the shared responsibility of both teachers and students, so, if you observe anyone cheating, it is your responsibility to report the behavior and to be willing to repeat your report to responsible administrators. All students should attend all classes. You will be dropped from the course if you accumulate 2 absences and absences include failure to complete assignments such as Blackboard work. Tardiness or leaving early is rude and disruptive. Chronic tardiness is academic misconduct, and 3 tardies equal one absence in this course.

Lab notebooks: Throughout the semester, you will be required to maintain a legible, handwritten (in ink) notebook describing techniques you learn, experiments you perform, and including a table of contents. Answers for unknowns should be "boxed" in red. For each experiment, your notebook entries should include the following sections:

1. Rationale - Why you ran the experiment; 2. Materials - What you used to run the experiment;

3. Methods - What you did; 4. Results - What happened; 5. Conclusions - What you conclude.

Lab practicals: Techniques employed in microbiology are difficult for the beginner, yet relatively simple once mastered. Dr. Kirkconnell and Mr. Goodwin will administer pass/fail lab practicals using one-on-one observation to test abilities to perform certain procedures. To pass a practical, you must perform the technique perfectly. Any error, no matter how slight, will result in failure on the practical, and the effort will have to be repeated some other day. The methods learned for the lab practicals are essential components of your knowledge that you will often not learn in other courses! If you are observed performing a technique incorrectly after passing the practical, you may be required to retake the practical

Textbook/lab manual: The required text is a widely used reference for undergraduate microbiology instruction. Many of the test questions will be taken from the text. Purchase the inexpensive lab manual and read over the appropriate sections (see lab schedule handout) and assignments from Ingraham and Ingraham before coming to lab each day.

"Professional commitment" opportunities include things such as donating blood, taking notes over an assigned lecture or pertinent PBS special, or presenting other evidence of volunteerism and good citizenship, and may affect borderline grades. Otherwise, 89.999% = B. This is an important course, especially for students planning medically-related careers. This course requires very significant commitments of time and effort.