Syllabus
CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Biology 2104 (Spring 2004) CRN: 10759
TR 12:30-1:45, Derring 1084

Instructor:  Dr. Jill C. Sible     Teaching assistant:: dayna wilhelm
Derring 5029       Derring 5029
231-1842       231-3576
siblej@vt.edu       dwilhelm@vt.edu

Course Website: www.biol.vt.edu /faculty/sible/class.htm
Text: : Essential Cell Biology, Alberts et al. 2nd ed. 2004
Prerequisites: BIOL 1005, 1006 or BIOL 1105, 1106 and CHEM 1036
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-3 or by appointment

Learning Goals:
1) Understand and utilize information deemed basic by practicing molecular and cell biologists.
2) Describe how the practice of cell and molecular biology is influenced by society at large.
3) Recognize that science itself has a culture that influences its practice.
4) Engage with the idea that studies of science itself are as much a part of science as data gathering. You need not ultimately agree with this concept, but you should be able to defend your position rigorously.
5) Consider you own position in the society of science, where you are and where you would like to be.

Evaluation:  The grade for the course will be based on the following:
   Exam 1   20%
   Exam 2   20%
   Exam 3   20%
   Exam 4   20%
   Writing assignments 20%
 
Exams 1 ­ 4 will be will be a combination of short answer and short  essay and will cover the lecture/reading material indicated in the class schedule. The text is a critical supplement for material presented in class, but text material that is not mentioned in class will not be on the exam.  On the other hand, a significant portion of the lecture/discussion will be derived from current events and recent scientific literature.  This material will be tested but will not be found in the text.  Therefore, regular class attendance is key to success in this class.  Exam 4 will not be a formally comprehensive final examination. However, the material discussed in this course will be increasingly mechanistic and will integrate topics discussed in the previous sections.  This integrative process will culminate in our discussions of cell signaling, cell cycle and cancer in the final weeks of the course.

Make-up Exams: You must take the exams during the times indicated in the syllabus.  Make up exams will be given only with a letter from a physician or from the Dean’s office.  The make-up exams must be taken within one week of the originally scheduled exam time.

Grading:  A = 90-100%  B= 80-89%  C= 70-79%  D= 60-69%  F= <60%

Extra Credit:
Students will be able to improve their exam grades, knowledge of the material and studying and testing skills through extra credit. Details in the Extra Credit section.

Handouts:
Handouts will be posted on the web site before each class meeting.  These handouts should be printed and brought to class.  The handouts are not comprehensive class notes but will allow students to take fewer notes and to focus on listening, understanding, discussion during class meetings.  It is recommended that students read over the handouts before coming to class so that they are somewhat familiar with the material and better prepared and organized to learn.

Honor Code:
All participants in this course are expected to abide by the honor code.  See the Honor Code link on the home page for details.
 

SPECICAL FEATURES OF THIS COURSE

This section of Cell and Molecular Biology is funded by the Nationa Science Foundation and is a pilot offering for a new way of teaching science. This course will integrate scientific knowledge with analyses of science that have been carried out by historians, sociologists, and philosophers of science, and by scholars in the field of science studies. In this section, we will use the concept of "the cultures of science" as a tool to understand not only the basics of biology but also how these cultures influence the biology itself. It is our hope that students will adopt a critical stance in order to see the assumptions, concepts and practices of science in new ways. Linkage to science studies will reinforce scientific content and science studies will make explicit how culture of science influences its theories and practice.

The course enrollment is restricted to forty students, so that the work will include writing assignments and examinations that are not in the opscan format. The writing assignments will predominantly focus on the analyses of science, rather than on standard scientific content. All students will complete these assignments.

We would appreciate it if you would engage in an assessment of this version of the course. Of course, you may chose not to participate. There are two ways in which you can be included. The first way is to allow Drs. Sible, Lederman, and Scheckler to analyze your writings. The second way is to be interviewed by Dr. Scheckler. These assessment activities have been approved by the Human Subjects Institutional Review Board to insure there are no invasions of your privacy. You will be asked to sign consent forms if you participate in the assessment.
 
 
 

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