COURSE DESCRIPTION

• Credit Hours: 4
• Lecture Contact Hours per week: 3
• Laboratory Contact Hours per week: 3

The General Biology course is designed for science majors and students with a strong science background who desire an in-depth approach to biological topics including an introduction to the diversity, anatomy, physiology, reproduction, development, behavior, and evolution of living organisms.  The focus of the course includes prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants, and animals. BIOL 1407 and BIOL 1409 may not both be counted toward graduation. 

SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

Reading, writing, and mathematics proficiency as determined by the COMPASS or ASSET test, or by the statewide THEA test, or by providing an official transcript from another college.

COURSE RATIONALE

This course serves students who plan to become biology and related science majors (e.g. biochemistry), as well as students who wish to enter the health professions (e.g. those in premedical and pre-pharmacy programs). To help prepare these students for future coursework and careers, BIOL 1407 will (1) expose students to the amazing diversity of organisms in what may be the only chance for many of these students to study this material, and (2) emphasize basic biological principles as well as science process and critical thinking skills that will be invaluable to them in the future. 

PREREQUISITES

BIOL 1406 with a minimum grade of C. 

REQUIRED TEXTS/MATERIALS/SOFTWARE

1. Required: Biology by Campbell and Reece (12th Edition) is the required text. There is a lot of information in this textbook that will be essential to your learning in this course.
   • You can utilize a new or old textbook or an older edition.
2. Recommended: Photography Equipment. You will be utilizing photographic images throughout the course in the lab, during the iNaturalist project and in the undergraduate research. While your cell phone camera will be adequate in most cases it may not capture the image detail you want for a given task.
3. All students will be required to utilize computers during this course.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY: LECTURE AND LAB

This course will blend lecture and laboratory work with computer-based management and instruction. Do not think that simply reading the textbook will “cover” material for exams. 

Lectures: Lectures will be delivered online.  Full lectures are available in Blackboard as videos hosted on YouTube. Lectures will cover chapters in the Campbell textbook as outlined in the schedule (see at the end of this syllabus).

Lab: Laboratory work comprises a considerable portion of this class. While the lab for this course is also online it will be delivered slightly differently than the lecture. A series of labs with lab stations will contain information for you to review and master before taking a lab quiz.

Blackboard:  All material for this course can be found on and is delivered through the learning management system, Blackboard. You will be submitting assignments, taking quizzes and exams, and posting discussions on blackboard. You will be expected to use blackboard for all work and submissions with one exception, iNaturalist.

iNaturalist: iNaturalist is a citizen science project funded by the California Academy of Sciences (CAAS) and the National Geographic Society.  A large part of this course will center around iNaturalist (iNaturalist.org) because of how it integrates what we will learn in class with what you experience in your environment.  The use of this program is extensive and as a result also qualifies this as a service-learning course because you will be providing a valuable service in the form of data to an international community while encountering and learning about the organisms around you.  You will be required to make an account in iNaturalist.  You will get guidance on how to do this in the first lab of the semester.

GRADING SYSTEM

Grading criteria: The course is graded on a weighted system. Below is a breakout of the various graded materials and their percent of the grade. The average of each activity type is multiplied by their % of grade and then added together to calculate the final grade.

3 Grading Options

Students don’t all have the same strengths and in an attempt to cater to your strengths there will be three different weighting systems that emphasize either the exams, the iNaturalist project, or both. In Blackboard there will be 3 different course grades based on the following exam/iNaturalist grade options

• Option 1: Exams+Final (45%); iNaturalist Project (25%)
• Option 2: Exams+Final (25%); iNaturalist Project (45%)
• Option 3: Exams+Final (35%); iNaturalist Project (35%)

Your final grade will use the highest of the grade options but it will give you a chance ahead of time to decide where you will focus your efforts in this course.

*Extra Credit may be offered at the discretion of the instructor and is not to exceed 5% of the course grade.

This grading system is a weighted system with different weights (as a percent of the grade) applied to the materials to represent their importance to your overall grade. For instance, the exams and final are worth a total of 45% of your grade.

Grading Scale: The grading scale is a standard percent scale.

• 0-59% F
• 60-69% D
• 70-79% C
• 80-89% B
• 90-100% A

Grades will be available through the “My Grades” link in Blackboard. Click on the icon and you will be able to see your grades as they become available.

Missed Exams/Late Assignments

Work (including exams) will be accepted for up to 7 days after the due date but will be penalized 20% off of the total possible points for lateness. Work will NOT be accepted after this one-week grace period.  

Exam and Quiz format

• Unit Lecture Exams will be administered in Blackboard using Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor. These are timed exams.
• Lecture Exams will contain a variety of question types including multiple choice, true/false, ordering and essay.
• All assignments and projects will be submitted through Blackboard.
• All chapter quizzes will be taken in blackboard and will consist of true/false and multiple choice questions
• All Lab Quizzes will be administered in Blackboard and are also open book/notes. The quizzes will consist of multiple choice, ordering, matching and hot spot questions.

Due dates: Due dates for quizzes, exams, assignments, and projects can be found in the schedule and online in blackboard. All materials that are turned in on blackboard are due by midnight (11:59 pm) of the due date. 

The due dates for each assignment within each unit are listed at the end of the syllabus and in the calendar on blackboard. Please make every effort to stay up-to-date on your work!

Submit all work through the blackboard system, as per the instructions. DO NOT email your work to me, as I will not accept/grade emailed assignments (This is a matter of keeping the grades organized within Blackboard and allowing me to know what still needs to be graded).

All underlined text within the ‘Course Content’ area is a link to another part of the course. Click on these links to submit assignments, access websites and readings, etc. All assignments must be submitted electronically, and all documents must be saved in .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx, .rtf, .txt or .pdf formats. Please do not submit anything in a .pages format (this is a standard apple format).

**All assignments must be turned in and quizzes/exams taken by July 23, 2023.

Due to ACC policies concerning the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), instructors cannot post grades or call or email students with information about their grades. You can post grades on their Blackboard site for the class. In Blackboard, a student can only see his/her own grade.

LEARNING ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTIONS

Below is a description of each of the learning assessments that are used in the course.

• Start Here Materials: As part of a course orientation during the first week of class you will complete a discussion where you introduce yourself to the class and complete a syllabus quiz to make sure you have looked at some of the major aspects of the course that you should be aware of. 
• Lecture Chapter Quizzes: Each module has a set of chapter quizzes that you can use as practice for your exams.  You can take these chapter quizzes as many times as you want and each time you take it you will get a different set of questions.  The grade for each quiz will be recorded from the highest attempt. These quizzes will also give you access to the next chapter in the unit. You must score at least a 70% on the quiz for the next chapter to be opened.
• Lecture Exams + Final: Each module of information will be followed with an exam that will be taken in Blackboard.  The final is a comprehensive exam covering the materials in each of the 5 modules and is NOT optional.
• Lab Quizzes: Each lab will require an open quiz to be filled out. It can be filled out during or after the lab. There is no time limit for the quiz but it is due on the due date listed in the syllabus.
• iNaturalist Project Assignments: Each module you will have a set of observations that you will be required to make to meet the requirements of the assignment. At the end of the semester there will be a summary and reflection to fill out as well. These assignments center on the iNaturalist platform online.
• Extra Credit: Extra Credit is limited in this course and is at the discretion of the instructor.

REQUIRED TEXTS/MATERIALS/SOFTWARE

1. Required: Biology by Campbell and Reece (12th Edition) is the required text. There is a lot of information in this textbook that will be essential to your learning in this course.
   • You can utilize a new or old textbook or an older edition.
2. Recommended: Vandegraaff’s Photo Atlas. This is also a highly recommended lab book and will help you with identifications and anatomy of the various organisms you will be examining in the lab Material.
3. All students will be required to utilize computers during this course.
4. All students will be required to utilize digital photography during this course (cell phone camera is adequate).

COURSE OUTLINE/CALENDAR - Summer 2023

• All deadlines for quizzes, assignments and projects are at the end of the day (11:59pm) of the due date.
• The last day to turn in all work is July 23. No work will be accepted after this date.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Course-Level

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the scientific method and apply it in a biological context
• Describe the process of evolution, including a basic understanding of the evidence for evolution, natural selection as a mechanism, and the basic patterns of the evolutionary process.
• Describe the major patterns of life on Earth, including abiogenesis, the origin of eukaryotes, the origin of multicellularity, and the major changes to the Earth’s ecosystems over geologic time.
•  Identify and differentiate the taxonomic membership of the major groups of organisms, including viruses, prokaryotes, protists, plants, and animals.
• Describe the important structure/function relationships of plants and animals, and explain the concepts of homeostasis, and cellular exchange both within the organism and between the organism and its environment.

Program-Level

As a required course for an Associates of Science in Biology, students completing this course will be able to:

• Describe and explain the processes of evolution, taxonomy, and systematics.
• Describe and explain the history of life on Earth and the diversity of organisms present today and through time.
• Describe and explain the structure and function relationships that exist within plants and animals

General Education

As a Core Curriculum course, students completing this course will demonstrate competence in:

• Critical Thinking - Gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and applying information. 
• Interpersonal Skills - Interacting collaboratively to achieve common goals.
• Quantitative and Empirical Reasoning - Applying mathematical, logical and scientific principles and methods.
• Written, Oral and Visual Communication - Communicating effectively, adapting to purpose, structure, audience, and medium.

Departmental Common Course Objectives

The ACC Biology Department has specified the content of this course in the departmental common course objectives. The departmental objectives are located at http://sites.austincc.edu/biology/common-course-objectives/.