Grade Components: 

Syllabus Quiz 

• Students must complete the Syllabus quiz posted on Blackboard by 5/29/24. Because this quiz acknowledges your understanding of the syllabus, which acts as a contract between you and I, failure to complete the quiz with a score of 100% by 8/30/24 at 12:00 PM will result in the student being withdrawn from the course.  

Lecture Exams 

• Five lecture exams will be posted and administered on Blackboard; the lowest exam grade may be replaced with the optional final exam. In other words, you can replace lecture exam 1 – 3 or 5 with your final exam grade OR if you are happy with your grade after the five lecture exams, you do not have to take the final exam. The only lecture exam that cannot be dropped is exam 4. 

• Students will be required to download and use Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor (webcam on) on their computer to video record students while testing, OR ACC’s DE proctoring Students must do an environment scan that shows the testing area is free of notes, resources, other people, etc. A more detailed list of testing rules will be provided on Blackboard. If a student takes an exam without Respondus or DE proctoring it will not be scored. If the webcam is not on for the entire exam, it will not be scored. 

• Exams may include multiple choice, T/F, jumbled sentence, matching, multiselect, short answer, hotspot, and fill in the blank questions. 

• Exams may be released early and must be submitted by the date and time specified on Blackboard. Once the exam closes it will not be reopened.  

• All exams are timed and auto-submitted once the time limit has expired. You must press submit by the specified due date and time – any questions saved after the due date will not be scored. 

• No exams may be taken late. Any conflict with the exam schedule must be communicated at least 48 hours prior to exam day.  

• Exams are not curved and there are no make-up exams.  

Knowledge Checks 

• Knowledge checks are assigned via Connect and are designed to help you determine what content you are familiar with and what you need to study more. Knowledge checks are not timed and may be worked on throughout the week. 

• Knowledge Check questions are released after the due date, but not the answer choices. You may meet with me to review your submission. 

• You must submit the assignment by the specified date and time, or it will be considered late and there will be a 50% late penalty. Late assignments are accepted prior to the unit exam deadline. See late policy for more information. 

• You may use your notes, PPT, textbook and brain when completing a knowledge check. 

• Knowledge checks may consist of multiple choice, jumbled sentence, matching, true/false, short answer, multi-select, hotspot, and fill-in-the-blank questions. Spelling and grammar must be correct to earn points on fill-in-the-blank questions. 

Unit Quizzes 

• There is a cumulative unit quiz for each unit posted on Blackboard.  

• The unit quiz is timed and will auto-submit when time expires. Unit Quiz questions are released after the due date, but not the answer choices. You may meet with me to review your submission. 

• The format of the unit quiz will resemble what you will see on exams: multiple choice, matching, jumbled sentence, true/false, multi-select, hotspot, short answer, and fill-in-the-blank questions. Spelling and grammar must be correct to earn points on fill-in-the-blank questions. 

Discussions 

• A discussion prompt will be posted at the start of each week on Blackboard. Your initial post is due each Wednesday night by 11:59 PM. You will need to respond to two of your peers with a thoughtful and informative response by Saturday night at 11:59 PM. Your responses must be submitted on two different days. 

• Your response to a peer must contribute to the conversation. Only saying “I agree,” or “Good question” will not earn you any points. Since we do not meet in person, these discussions replace some of the conversations we would be having in class, so it’s important that you approach your posts from an interactive perspective. 

Lab Exams 

• Three lab exams will be administered online via Blackboard. Students will be required to either download and use Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor (webcam on)  OR use DE proctoring services. Students must do an environment scan that shows the testing area is free of notes, resources, other people, etc. A more detailed list of testing rules will be provided on Blackboard.  If the webcam is not on for the entire exam, it will not be scored. 

• Exam dates are on the course calendars on Blackboard. Lab Exams may be released early and must be submitted by the date and time specified on Blackboard. 

• Format: multiple choice, T/F, matching, multiselect, short answer, and fill in the blank.  

• All exams are timed. You must submit the exam before time runs out or it is auto submitted. All exams must be submitted by the date and time indicated on Blackboard. Any questions saved after the due date will not be scored. 

• No lab exams are curved and there are no make-up lab exams!  

Virtual Labs 

• Virtual labs are purchased through McGraw-Hill and accessed through BlackBoard. These labs are in addition to the other lab materials posted on BlackBoard. 

Lab Quizzes 

• Lab quizzes are administered online and cover content from the labs on Blackboard.  

• Lab quizzes must be completed by the time and date on Blackboard or there will be a late penalty. Late lab quizzes are only accepted prior to the respective lab exam deadline. 

Lab Unknowns 

• There will be two unknowns assigned throughout the semester. Guidelines and details will be provided on Blackboard.  

We will use Microbiology Fundamentals: A Clinical Approach by Cowan & Smith (2024). The book comes with access to Connect, which we will use for low-stakes assessments and virtual labs. All course materials for lecture and lab will be available via Blackboard but you can also access Connect via McGraw-Hill's website. 

This course provides a survey of microorganisms, their environments, and their interactions with multicellular organisms, especially humans, and it concentrates on the microbes that are pathogenic to humans.

Course-Level: Specific skills/competencies are expected of students who successfully complete this course, including the ability to:  

• Explain microbiological processes in detail and on an appropriate level, including cell theory, metabolism, genetics, control, and interactions between humans and microbes, including the disease process and defense/immune responses 

• Correctly perform microbiologic lab skills such as use of a Bunsen burner, use of the microscope, aseptic technique, streaking for isolation, establishing pure cultures, and isolation and determination of unknowns using differential stains and differential/selective media 

• Display a habit of safe lab practices including aseptic technique and disposal of biohazard waste 

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/Visual Communication – Communicating effectively, adapting to purpose, structure, audience, & medium. 

 Departmental Common Course Objectives can be found here: http://www.austincc.edu/biology/commoncourseobjectives.html