!PLPA 2010 1st EditionLecture 1The SyllabusMagical Mushrooms, Mischievous MoldsPLPA 2010 — PLPA 2013* — PLPA 2015*Spring 2015Prof. Kathie T. HodgeCourse e-mail: [email protected] to Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds! This course is a light butsubstantive introduction to the world of the FUNGI and their close relatives. During the next 14 weeks, we'll explore the role of the FUNGI in the circle oflife on Planet Earth, with special attention to how they have shaped the course of human history and how they affect our daily lives.* This Syllabus is for students enrolled in PLPA 2010 (2cr), as well as those of you in PLPA 2013 and PLPA 2015. The latter are 3 credit courses that have thesame content as PLPA 2010 plus an additional section of lab or discussion with its own syllabus.MMMM Syllabus, Spring 2015 Page 1 of 9The Shroom Squad(course staff)The Professor:Dr. Kathie T. Hodge <[email protected]>401 Plant Science, 255-5356Teaching Support Specialist: Mary McKellar <[email protected]>Graduate teaching assistants:Elizabeth Brauer <[email protected]>Megan Hall <[email protected]>Christine Kraus <[email protected]>Rachel Kreis <[email protected]>Simon Schwizer <[email protected]>Undergraduate teaching assistants:Loron Neil <[email protected]>Gretchen Stillings <[email protected]>Raymond Velazquez <[email protected]>Course Admin Assistant: Jackie Armstrong, 334 Plant Science, 255-3246Course Mailbox: [email protected] course mailbox is the primary way to contact us with problems, questions, to make appointments, etc. We’ll acknowledge your message within 24 h (48 h on weekends). Some issues might take longer to resolve, but at least you should know that we got your message. If you don’t get an acknowledgment, please write again.PLEASE use the subject line to describe your inquiry; it helps us answer faster.Every year we find lots of students have redirected their Cornell mail to another account, and our efforts to reply to that account bounce back. Then we’re leftwith no way to contact you. If you don’t get a reply from us after two tries, pleasecontact the course staff in person.Office hours: We have no formal office hours, but you can make an appointmentthrough the course mailbox or by contacting Prof. Hodge directly. Our TAs are happy to meet with you too — just e-mail them to make arrangements.MMMM Syllabus, Spring 2015 Page 2 of 9!Textbook and other assigned readings:We refer frequently to the book by the founder of this course, George Hudler:Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds. Princeton University Press.You are not required to buy this book, but you are expected to do the reading.It’s available in paperback through the Campus Store if you’d like to buy it. You can also find a few copies on 2–hr Reserve in Mann Library.We’ll also assign readings and videos to supplement the lectures—these will be posted on Blackboard. Information from the text and assigned readings will provehandy on our exams.The Exams:The two Midterm exams in this course are given during regular class hours (see provisions for make-ups below) and comprise multiple choice plus short answer questions. The exams attempt to measure your mastery of important facts and concepts, as well as your ability to use what you know to problem-solvein new situations. Each multiple choice question will have one right answer among four or five choices.Each short answer question may have several "right" answers depending on how you interpret the nature of the inquiry; get one of the possibilities right for full credit. (For example, if the question asks for three factors that contributed to some great moment in fungal history and there are actually six factors, your answer could be different from your neighbor's but still correct.)The comprehensive Final Exam is administered during Cornell’s Exam Period, and has three parts:30 multiple choice questions on material since the second prelim 40 multiple choice questions on material presented throughout the semester. A 30 point crossword puzzle with clues constructed from material presented over the entire semester. Examples of will be posted as final exam time approaches. Students with reactions to crossword puzzles ranging from mild discomfort to utter disdain may opt to respond by filling in blanks on the clue sheet rather thanthe puzzle sheet. In such cases, there may be more than one correct answer. If, after any one of the exams, the teaching staff concludes that a question was more confusing or misleading than anticipated, we reserve the right to remove the question from the total for the exam. We also reserve the right to curve the exam grades to account for flaws in the exam’s design.MMMM Syllabus, Spring 2015 Page 3 of 9!Makeup Exams:A makeup is available for each Midterm and the Final. There will be only one makeup time option for each exam. You don’t need a formal excuse to take the makeup exam but you MUST register ahead of time (generally by a week before a midterm, or by the last day of classes for the Final). Register for a makeup by e-mail to [email protected], and bring a copy of your makeup acknowledgement e-mail to the exam.SPORE Assignment (required):SPORE is the Student Participation Outreach & Review Essay.You’ll write a magazine-style article of 300 to 600 words that teaches something about a fungus-related topic we assign. Your essay (without identifyinginfo about you) will be reviewed by four classmates, plus a member of the Shroom Squad. The combined grade makes up 5% of your final grade. More instructions will follow, once the semester is underway.Course Grades (PLPA 2010, 2 cr):Midterm One30%Midterm Two30%SPORE Assignment5%Comprehensive Final Exam35%Final grades are calculated on a percentage basis: 98.5–100 = A+; 93.0–98.4 = A; 90– 92.9 = A-; 88.5–89.9 = B+; 83–88.4 = B; 80–82.9 = B; 80–82.9 = B-; 78.5–79.9 = C+; 73– 78.4 = C; 70–72.9 = C-; etc.Course Grades for PLPA 2013 and PLPA 2015 (3 cr):Students in PLPA 2013 (Mushrooms, Molds, and More) and PLPA 2015 (Mushrooms, Molds, and Molecules) are expected to undertake all lectures, readings, exams, assignments and demos of PLPA 2010 described here, in addition to their assigned lab/discussion section of 2013/2015.For calculation of final grades in these 3-credit courses, 66% of the final grade will come from the lecture- and demo-based midterms, final exam and SPORE assignment of PLPA 2010; 34% will come