Lecture Schedule    Laboratory Schedule   CONNECT    Lecture/Laboratory Recordings

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General Information

A student’s final grade for the course will be based upon the total number of points earned.  Students shall have the opportunity to earn a minimum of 1000 points that are divided between those available via the lecture component of the course and those earned through the laboratory component.  The pertinent details are provided below.

In brief, the lecture component is worth 80% of a student’s course grade.  The laboratory component is worth 20% of a student’s course grade.  There are a few “built-in” opportunities to earn bonus points (see below).  However, a student’s final course grade is based upon an absolute scale, i.e., there is no curving of this scale.  Moreover, (take note!), a student’s success in the laboratory must meet certain point levels to be eligible to receive a particular final course grade.  These details are discussed in the relevant sections below.

Students need to note that almost all examinations, quizzes, and other graded activities (e.g., SmartBook assignments, Virtual Lab exercises, etc.) shall be administered via the CONNECT learning platform, whereas certain laboratory reports shall be submitted via a Blackboard specific to a particular laboratory section.  Again, the details are presented below.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: A theme noted repeatedly throughout this syllabus should be etched upon the mind of each student enrolled in this course.  The deadlines for scheduled assignments are firm – there shall be no extensions! 

Students are strongly encouraged to refer to both the Lecture Schedule and Laboratory Schedule on a regular basis to be aware of assignment deadlines.

Lecture Grade Components

Examinations.  Dates for examinations have been established (see Lecture Schedule).  These dates are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. 

Seven examinations will be given throughout the semester.  Although each exam may have a few bonus point questions included, the official point values for each is given below:

Collectively, all seven examinations are worth 525 points towards a student’s course grade.

Please take note of the following regarding examinations:

i)       All exams shall be administered electronically.  Therefore, students must possess an appropriate laptop computer to take this course or have access to a desktop computer.

ii)      All exams, but Exam II, will be taken in class unless extenuating circumstances occur.  If an exam is taken remotely (off-campus), the student is solely responsible for any interruptions (i.e., glitches, freezes, lost connections, etc.) due to an unstable internet connection or any other reason.  Though each instance will be considered on a case-by-case basis, Dr. Cooper is not likely to be sympathetic to adverse events taking place off campus during an examination, a quiz, etc.

iii)     All examinations shall be electronically proctored using the program Protorio.  As such, the Chrome browser is required to take exams.  Except for the occasionally proctored quiz (see below), other browsers can be used for other CONNECT assignments.  NOTE: for Proctorio support, go to https://proctorio.com/support.

iv)    Exams I and III through VI shall begin promptly at the scheduled lecture time on the dates assigned.  Exam II is a “take-home exam”.  However, for all exams, students will have 50 minutes to complete each.  Students should expect to take 5 minutes of this time to properly sign-in for the exam being administered, which shall include at a minimum presentation of your identification.  NOTE: Students must possess their YSU ID to take any proctored exam/quiz.  The ID will need to be recorded by Proctorio.

v)      Exam VII shall be administered in WBSH 3022 and will begin promptly at 8:00 AM on Friday, May 6^th, and end no later than 10:00 AM.  Students must begin Exam VII before 8:15 AM.  Scores earned by students beginning after this time shall not be recorded.  Also, students should expect to take 5 minutes of this time to properly sign-in for Exam VII.

vi)    EXAMS IV AND VII WILL NOT BE TAKEN EARLY BY ANY STUDENT FOR ANY REASON.  Do not plan your Spring Break or holiday vacation to take place until after the dates of these exams.

vii)   Once again, the YSU Bookstore did not include the Proctorio monitoring service in the First Day Ready program for this course.  Hence, students will have to pay for the Proctorio service ($15.00) using a credit card since the cost was not included in the First Day Ready package.  However, once paid, the proctoring service will be included in your CONNECT subscription for the entire semester.

viii)  Typically, by using CONNECT, each student shall not have the same version of any of the examinations.  Examinations shall be mainly comprised of multiple-choice questions, true/false statements, and matching problems.  However, fill-in-the-blank type questions (YES, spelling does count!) and short essay questions may be used as well.  These examinations will focus solely on material covered since the previous examination, yet current material often builds upon that previously covered in the course.

ix)    Exam VII is not comprehensive and covers only recent material as noted in the Lecture Schedule.

x)      Make-up examinations will be given ONLY at Dr. Cooper’s discretion upon either verification of an “excused absence” (see Attendance) or an extenuating circumstance that are convincingly acceptable to Dr. Cooper.  Make-up examinations may take any form, including the use of oral or essay questions.

xi)    Except for extreme extenuating circumstances, it is unacceptable for a student to request to take an examination at a time other than scheduled.  Having a second examination, or even a third examination, the day before, the day after, on the same day of the scheduled microbiology examination is not even remotely a rational or valid reason to request a change in the microbiology examination date.  (Out of curiosity, did you ask your other instructor to change the date of their examination?).  Also, do not make vacation plans that will result in your absence from an exam, quiz, laboratory experience, etc.  Dr. Cooper shall give no consideration for vacation plans.  Moreover, a request to take an examination earlier/later for vacation, holiday, or like purposes is entirely unacceptable.  The latter is especially true of the last examination.  Do not make plans to leave for Spring Break or s finish the semester earlier than your scheduled time for Exams IV and VII.  Requests to take Exams IV and VII on a different day/time shall not be honored.

xii)   My policy is that I do not the release completed exams for students to review.  If a student wishes, per their request, I can review the exam and provide a general evaluation of what issues may have presented difficulty.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Due to the online educational environment we are experiencing, many instructors of other courses often blithely give broad deadlines to their students for completing an exam, task, quiz, etc.  In the past, these time frames have included on occasion the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM period, as well as established times that sections of BIOL 3702L meet.  To be unequivocally clear, students enrolled in BIOL 3702 and an accompanying BIOL 3702L section must wholly reserve the times for which they have officially enrolled in this course to attend to required activities, e.g., scheduled exams.  If an instructor of another course assigns an activity that conflicts with the time of a required BIOL 3702 lecture/laboratory activity, the student should immediately notify both that instructor and Dr. Cooper.

CONNECT SmartBook Exercises.  For each chapter covered, students should complete an assigned SmartBook exercise via CONNECT.  The dates that these exercises are opened and closed have been scheduled (see the table below and Lecture Schedule).  All exercises will be open over a broad range of days.  The SmartBook exercise begin at 8:00 AM on the stated date and will close at 10:00 AM on the stated date.  SmartBook Exercises can never be “made up” regardless of reason. 

The deadlines for the SmartBook Exercises are firm – there shall be no extensions!  To repeat, there shall be no extensions! 

In essence, students should view these exercises as both homework and a means to review the contents of each chapter.  A wise student will take these exercises seriously and not view them as a chore to check off.  Take note that each exercise will incur a significant amount of time to complete.  Therefore, plan accordingly.  Collectively, the exercises are worth 190 points towards a student’s course grade.  Partially completed exercises earn partial credit.  Non-submission of an exercise for any reasons will result in a score of “0” for that assignment.

SmartBook Assignments on CONNECT

*The time required for each of these assignments is subject to change and shall undoubtedly vary from person-to-person depending upon the understanding and commitment of the individual.

Quizzes.  Dates for eighteen (18) quizzes have been established (see Lecture Schedule).  The dates for when these quizzes are opened and closed have been scheduled over a broad range of days.  The quizzes will begin at 8:00 AM on the stated date and will close at 10:00 AM on the stated date.  These quizzes are worth 5 points each.  A missed/unsubmitted quiz will incur a score of “0”.  Generally, most quizzes will have a 5-6 minute time limit.

The deadlines for the lecture quizzes are firm – there shall be no extensions!  To repeat, there shall be no extensions! 

Overall, this grade component is worth 85 points towards a student’s total course score though there is the opportunity to earn 90 points (or more due to bonus questions).  Hence, if a student misses/does not submit one quiz, no real harm will occur to the student’s course grade.  Missing or non-submission of more than one quiz may have an impact upon the number of points a student can earn.  Earning more than 85 points on these quizzes shall be considered as earned bonus points.

Each student in each lecture session may not have the same version of the quiz. 

i)      Each quiz shall be mainly composed of multiple-choice questions, true/false statements, and matching problems.  However, fill-in-the-blank type questions (YES, spelling does count!) and short essay questions may be used as well. 

ii)     Each quiz is timed – typically students shall have 5-7 minutes to complete a quiz.

iii)   Quizzes will focus solely on material assigned for that particular chapter.

iv)   Quizzes can never be “made up” regardless of reason. 

Chapter Practice Reviews: For each chapter, a practice review will be posted to CONNECT.  The purpose of these reviews to stimulate a better understanding of the material covered in a particular chapter.  These reviews are worth 0 (zero) points and will not count towards the final course grade.  These are merely provided for study purposes.  Each review is NOT timed, but each is only open for the dates noted in the Lecture Schedule.  A student is not required to work on these reviews, though students are encouraged to do so particularly if the material is not well understood.  Unlimited attempts are permitted and performance details are provided.

Bonus Points.  There is no inherent right for “bonus points”.  Bonus points are only a courtesy that may be extended to students.

Please take note of the following:

·       The availability of “bonus points” is wholly at Dr. Cooper’s discretion.  Usually, examinations and the occasional quiz include one or more bonus points.

·       Students MUST NOT ask for bonus points or special projects to earn bonus points or to compensate for a poor performance on an exam, quiz, etc..  Such requests will be denied.

·       Bonus point opportunities are never able to be “made up”.  If a student misses them by being tardy, absent, or otherwise, the opportunity is gone.

·       Known “bonus point” opportunities include the following:

o   Assessment Quizzes 1 and 2. Students cannot study for these quizzes which are intended to assess a student’s current knowledge in microbiology.  There will be no extensions or “make ups” granted if a quiz is not submitted by the stated deadline.  Each of these assessments are worth 10 bonus points, or 2% of the course grade, collectively.

o   Proctorio Practice Quizzes 1 and 2.  These quizzes are worth 5 bonus points each – 1% of the course grade, collectively.  The quizzes are intended for students to become comfortable with the Proctorio proctoring program.  Quiz 1 will be taken in class.  There is no make-up for this quiz.  Quiz 2 is to be conducted by the student on their own and has been scheduled with a specific deadline (Lecture Schedule).  This is a firm deadline with no possible extensions.

o   Syllabus Acknowledgement and Liability Waiver. Submission of these two elements by the stated deadlines will earn a student one (1) bonus point each.  See the “Miscellaneous Quizzes/Assignments” file in CONNECT to complete these requirements.  The bonus points count towards the lecture portion of the course.

BIOL 3702L Laboratory Grade Components

For all BIOL 3702L assignments, be sure to check the Laboratory Schedule for deadlines.  It is essential that you adhere to the deadlines for submission of any laboratory assignment.  Late submissions will not be accepted.

General Laboratory Grade Information.  As a reminder, the laboratory section of this course is worth 20% of the overall BIOL 3702 course grade, or 200 points.  However, the grade components for BIOL 3702L, as detailed below, comprise various opportunities to earn 300 points.  Therefore, the total number points earned by a student in BIOL 3702L will be normalized (i.e., proportionally converted) to represent 20% of the course grade.

Safety Quiz.  This quiz, worth 15 points towards a student’s overall laboratory score, will cover those important safety items and rules as presented by the laboratory instructor.  Please refer to the web page BIOL 3702L Laboratory Safety Rules and Procedures.  This quiz can be found in the “Miscellaneous Quizzes/Assignments” file in your CONNECT subscription.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Any student not scoring at least 12 points on the safety quiz shall not be permitted to participate in any laboratory activity.  The student must repeat taking the quiz (a different version) until a minimum score of 12 or better is achieved.

Pre-Lab Quizzes. Ten (10) scheduled pre-lab quizzes (meaning before attending a laboratory session), worth 5 points each, have been scheduled.  Quizzes will be available via CONNECT and are due by 8:00 AM each Monday morning (for specific dates, see the Laboratory Schedule).  Generally, most quizzes will have a 5-6 minute time limit.  The scores of these quizzes will be counted for a total of 50 points towards a student’s overall laboratory grade.  The quizzes will cover the material provided in the laboratory instructions for the exercise(s) performed or to be performed that day/week. 

The deadlines for these pre-lab quizzes are firm – there shall be no extensions!  To repeat, there shall be no extensions! 

Laboratory Reports.  These reports are worth a total of 120 points towards a student’s overall laboratory grade.  The deadlines for these reports have been established Laboratory Schedule).  These reports will be submitted in a paperless manner via Blackboard for each specific laboratory section.  Your laboratory instructor shall provide the relevant details.  Regardless, unless otherwise noted by the laboratory instructor, laboratory reports submitted after the time stated by the instructor shall not be accepted and a score of “0” shall be recorded. 

The deadlines for these laboratory reports are firm – there shall be no extensions!  To repeat, there shall be no extensions! 

Skills Tests.  These exercises, worth a total of 45 points towards the overall laboratory grade, are designed to assess a student’s mastery of particular microbiological skills.  The particular instructions for these Skill Tests shall described in handouts provided as links in the Laboratory Schedule web page.  The Skill Tests to be performed this semester and their point values are as follows: Microscopy (5 points); Streak Plate (5 points); Gram Stain (5 points); and Bacterial Unknowns (30 points).

Skills Tests results will be submitted in a paperless manner via Blackboard for each specific laboratory section.  Your laboratory instructor shall provide the relevant details.  Reports submitted after the stated deadline shall not be accepted and a score of “0” shall be recorded. 

The deadlines for the Skills Tests are firm – there shall be no extensions!  To repeat, there shall be no extensions! 

Virtual Lab Exercises.  Students are to complete nine (9) Virtual Lab Exercises throughout the semester as indicated by their availability in the Laboratory Schedule.  Eight of the nine exercises are worth 5 points each (including a tutorial exercise that is counted as bonus points).  The ninth exercise, to be assigned to each individual student, is worth 15 points.  Collectively, not counting the tutorial, this component is worth 50 points towards a student’s laboratory score.  Points earned by completing the tutorial shall be considered as bonus points.  The dates that these exercises are open and closed have been scheduled (see Laboratory Schedule).  These exercises will incur a significant amount of effort on a student’s part.  Therefore, students should plan accordingly.  Partially completed exercises will earn partial credit.  An exercise not submitted on time will incur a score of “0”. 

The deadlines for the Virtual Lab Exercises are firm – there shall be no extensions!  To repeat, there shall be no extensions! 

Laboratory Etiquette/Citizenship.  This grade element, worth a total of 20 points towards the overall laboratory grade, represents a subjective assessment by the laboratory instructor regarding a student’s demeanor in the lab, including collegiality, ability to follow instructions, cooperation in keeping the lab neat and clean, following instructions (especially safety guidelines), etc.

Bonus Points.  There is no inherent right for bonus points.  At the discretion of the laboratory instructor, bonus points may be made available.  Students MUST NOT ask for bonus points or special projects to earn bonus points.  In addition, bonus point opportunities are never able to be “made up”.  If a student misses them by being tardy, absent, or otherwise, the opportunity is gone.

PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING SECTION

Laboratory Grade Policy.  Laboratory Grades Matter!  Regardless of the number of points a student has accumulated in this course, the following policy applies to a student’s final course grade. 

·       Students who earn 140-159 normalized points (equivalent to a “C”) in the laboratory section of this course shall not be eligible for a final course grade of “A”.

·       Students who earn 120-139 normalized points (equivalent to a “D”) in the laboratory section of this course shall not be eligible for a final course grade of “B” or better.

·       Students who earn 100-119 normalized points (equivalent to a “F”) in the laboratory section of this course shall not be eligible for a final course grade of “C” or better.

Determination of Final Course Grade

With consideration of the laboratory grade policy noted above, the following unconditional grading scale will be used to determine a student’s final grade in this course:

·     Grade of A = 900 or more total points earned

·     Grade of B = 800 – 899 total points earned

·     Grade of C = 700 – 799 total points earned

·     Grade of D = 600 – 699 total points earned

·     Grade of F = 599 or less total points earned

This grading scale is absolute!  For example, a grade of “B” will be given to a student who earns 899 points.  NO EXCEPTIONS!  My reasoning is simple – at a minimum, every student in this course has the opportunity to earn 3% or more of the total course points as bonus points.  Students should realize the following: a good grade is not an entitlement; it is an earned honor.

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