Instructor: David Kittlesen, Ph.D., 982-5639
Teaching assistants: Melissa Aikens (mla2j@virginia.edu) & Danielle Racke (racke@virginia.edu)
Instructor and TA office hours and locations to be posted on our course Collab site, under Schedule
Required text: How Life Works, preliminary edition, Morris et al.
Meeting times and locations:
Lectures: MWF, 11-11:50am in Chemistry 402 or 1-1:50pm in Gilmer 130
Semester exams: 9/21, 10/19, and 11/9, 3-5pm, Chemistry 402 or Clark 108 as assigned
Final exam: **NOTE: FINAL EXAM DATE AND TIME DEPEND ON YOUR SECTION!
If registered in section 1 (schedule # 11977, 11am class): Sat, Dec 15, 9am-noon, Chem 402
If registered in section 2 (schedule # 10372, 1pm class): Mon, Dec 17, 9am-noon, Gilmer 130
Optional review sessions: non-exam Fridays, 3-5pm, Chemistry 402 and Clark 108
Course description
A broad yet intensive introduction to modern biology designed for prospective natural science majors and premedical students. Chemistry fundamentals, biological structure and function, cell biology, and genetics are covered. This course is required for all biology majors and is a prerequisite for most upper-level biology courses.
Exam, grading, and attendance policies
There will be a total of four exams (including the final exam), each counting as 25% of your final semester grade. The final exam will focus on the material covered since the third exam but, like all previous exams, will be somewhat cumulative as the course builds upon previously established foundations. A small component (~10%) of the final will be comprehensive. Exam questions will come from both lectures and the assigned readings, and success in this course will require that you interpret and apply concepts, not just memorize facts. By remaining enrolled in this course you are making a commitment to take the Friday afternoon (3-5pm) exams, and the final exam, as scheduled—late exams will not be given. If you should miss an exam due to illness, personal emergency, or any other reason, you will be able to replace that missing exam grade by taking an additional comprehensive exam during the final exam period. Please note that this policy is only intended to replace a missed exam, and not to replace a previous (low) exam score. You may earn additional “bonus” points during the semester by using the optional iClicker (you may use the original iClicker or iClicker2). Your final semester score can be increased up to one full percentage point based on participation and up to an additional one-half percentage point based on performance (i.e., correct answers to select questions)— both participation and performance will be assessed via the iClicker. As iClicker use is optional, and any points earned are “bonus” points, there will be no exceptions made or credit given for missed classes (regardless of the circumstances) or for lost, forgotten, malfunctioning, or improperly registered iClickers (the proper registration procedure will be discussed in class). Using an iClicker
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belonging to another student in this course should and will be perceived as cheating, and therefore is clearly a violation of the UVA honor policy.
Schedule
Please note that the following schedule (except for exam