Principles of Biology Biol 101 Fall 2011 Dr Kelly Hogan MWF 9 00 9 50 AM Section 1 Hamilton Hall 100 Instructor Dr Kelly Hogan Kelly Hogan unc edu Office phone 843 6047 Office hours Wilson 104B Tuesdays 10 00 12 00 and Fridays 12 15 2 15 PM Academic advising questions See me in from 12 30 4 30 on Mondays by appointment in academic advising in Steele Make an appointment through the academic advising website If you can t make it at these times I am free right after class each day for quick questions and I am willing to discuss things by email or over the phone Supplemental Instruction TA Chelsea Steele steelc email unc edu SI times locations TBA see blackboard under the SI folder REQUIRED TEXT AND REQUIRED ONLINE MASTERING BIOLOGY ACCESS Campbell Biology Concepts and Connections 7th Edition by Reece Taylor Simon Dickey Feel free to choose a physical book or the ebook The ebook is the cheaper option if you do not plan to keep your book Required access to Mastering Biology the online activity and homework tool This comes included with a NEW physical textbook or ebook but can purchased separately if you buy a used book If you have a used physical book you can buy the Mastering Biology access card at the bookstore Why this extra tool We class tested this tool with over 1500 students in the 2010 11 academic year and it was a big success Required reading Particular chapters are required see course outline for Guided Reading details and you will be expected to have read them for Mastering Biology homework assignments and the exams HOMEWORK VIA MASTERING BIOLOGY COM 10 of your grade Homeworks will be due every Sunday and Thursday night by 11 55 PM Some assignments will take you as little as 15 minutes and others will take over an hour with the animations and short tutorials interspersed in the homework It is your responsibility to start it in a timely fashion so that you finish it by 11 55 PM To be safe assume your clock is 5 minutes slower than the official Mastering Biology time Late homeworks will receive zero credit even though you can still do them for practice Do not count on the Mastering program to give an accurate account of how long an assignment will take These estimates can be wildly off There will be numerous graded at home assignments See my Goal 1 below and realize that I am trying to help you to succeed by giving you these regular assessments See blackboard for how to register for Mastering Biology com COURSE WEBSITE http blackboard unc edu you will need your onyen to log on This site will have postings from my lectures such as outlines power point slides old exams and supplemental material I mention in lecture I will also post announcements regarding student concerns on this site It is your responsibility to check it regularly SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION SI Your SI sessions will be offered 3 times a week Each session will be scheduled for 1 hour The times and location of these sessions will be posted on blackboard during the first week of class You are not required to attend SI but it is highly recommended since this is your opportunity to get more one on one attention for this course I suggest you fit one into your schedule early in the semester and attend weekly as if it is a required class Your SI instructor s contact information is listed above 1 PARTICIPATION Are you required to come to class Are you required to pay attention Are you required to discuss biology with your classmates during class Nope I cannot make you do any this But since this is your education and you want that 4 0 this semester it behooves you to do all of these things that make you a successful student I enjoy Facebook too but put it away and participate in your education As a reward you will see some small bonus incentives on your exams How will I know you are participating in this LARGE class You will be using a program called PollEverywhere com through your laptop or mobile phone See blackboard for the required registration information If you do not register correctly you do not have the opportunity for bonus points WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING TO CLASS EVERY DAY 1 Outlines from blackboard either printed or on laptop 2 Extra blank paper for drawings notes activities etc or tablet computer for drawing 3 3 x 5 index cards with or without lines preferably white 4 Poll everywhere device either your cell phone for texting or laptop ipad smartphone for web access COURSE GOALS Many students like to complain that this is a weed out course Of course this is not true but why does it have this reputation Fact the average grade in this class is in the C range C is not bad it is average Yet many students also earn D s and F s in this class This is absolutely shocking to first year students who have in the past received A s in their high school classes You are wondering is there a pre determined number of students that receive a C D or F Nope See below to see what grade you need to earn In theory if the whole class earns A s then the whole class is given A s So why don t all students do as well as they think they will when they walk into class on the first day My experience tells me that 1 Some students do not have the active learning and studying skills that they should already have at the college level It often takes these students an exam or two for them to recognize this 2 Some students do not actually put in the effort that is necessary even though they may think they are putting in a big effort And this brings me to the goals of my course 1 This course should prepare you to succeed in future science courses You should learn how to be an active learner in the lecture hall and you should learn how to actively study There is no magic formula that works for each student Some students find they learn best when they write and re write notes others need to record the lecture and re listen others like to make models and act out biological processes And what if you don t plan to take any more science classes Active learning and studying is a skill that is needed for any discipline You can achieve these goals by attending a how to study biology workshop see date below on schedule attending SI regularly see below using practice exams and reading the book And maybe most important you should be thoroughly evaluating their exams to see what kinds of questions you are missing remembering understanding applying I take a special interest in students improving their skills and my office hours are always open no appointment
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