Biochemistry

Course Details

Course Number: 5253 Section Number: 101

Spring 2012

Location: Bolin Hall

Classroom Number: 309

Days & Times:

Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 am to 11 am

Course Attachments

Textbooks

MSU Faculty Member

Dr. John D Trombley
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Course Objectives

Students are to develop a foundational understanding of biochemistry that will allow them to seek out and find specific answers to future questions.

Course Expectations

Chem 4243 or equivalent.

Grading Standards

Grading Procedure: Midterm Exams 40%

Work Book 15%

GEA 15%

Homework 15%

Final Exam (ACS) 15%

The work book is done as a team activity. All members of a team will receive the same grade on team activities unless there are significant collaborative difficulties. Unless otherwise noted teams will be groups of 4±1 students who are present in class and students may be assigned to teams if collaborative difficulties persist.

Brevity is critical for clarity. Answers to free response questions that are of excessive length will be penalized based on the degree of excess.

Grades will be determined on a 10 pt scale from the weighted average of all assignments. This may be modified to adapt to the overall difficulty of the assignments. If modified the higher of the two grades will be given.

Final Exam5/8/2012 8:00 - 10:00

Submission Format Policy

Reports are to be typed and submitted as an e-mail attachment (.doc or .docx preferred)

Note: You may not submit a paper for a grade in this class that already has been (or will be) submitted for a grade in another course, unless you obtain the explicit written permission of me and the other instructor involved in advance.

Plagiarism Policy Plagiarism is the use of someone else's thoughts, words, ideas, or lines of argument in your own work without appropriate documentation (a parenthetical citation at the end and a listing in "Works Cited")-whether you use that material in a quote, paraphrase, or summary. It is a theft of intellectual property and will not be tolerated, whether intentional or not.

Student Honor Creed

As an MSU Student, I pledge not to lie, cheat, steal, or help anyone else do so."

As students at MSU, we recognize that any great society must be composed of empowered, responsible citizens. We also recognize universities play an important role in helping mold these responsible citizens. We believe students themselves play an important part in developing responsible citizenship by maintaining a community where integrity and honorable character are the norm, not the exception. Thus, We, the Students of Midwestern State University, resolve to uphold the honor of the University by affirming our commitment to complete academic honesty. We resolve not only to be honest but also to hold our peers accountable for complete honesty in all university matters. We consider it dishonest to ask for, give, or receive help in examinations or quizzes, to use any unauthorized material in examinations, or to present, as one's own, work or ideas which are not entirely one's own. We recognize that any instructor has the right to expect that all student work is honest, original work. We accept and acknowledge that responsibility for lying, cheating, stealing, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty fundamentally rests within each individual student. We expect of ourselves academic integrity, personal professionalism, and ethical character. We appreciate steps taken by University officials to protect the honor of the University against any who would disgrace the MSU student body by violating the spirit of this creed. Written and adopted by the 2002-2003 MSU Student Senate.

Students with Disabilities The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Disability Support Services in Room 168 of the Clark Student Center, 397-4140.

Safe Zones Statement The professor considers this classroom to be a place where you will be treated with respect as a human being - regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, political beliefs, age, or ability. Additionally, diversity of thought is appreciated and encouraged, provided you can agree to disagree. It is the professor's expectation that ALL students consider the classroom a safe environment.

Contacting your Instructor All instructors in the Department have voicemail in their offices and MWSU e-mail addresses. Make sure you add your instructor's phone number and e-mail address to both email and cell phone lists of contacts.

Other Policies

Technology default policies:

Lecture:

Any technology may be used during lectures along this is not disruptive to the learning environment. Recordings of lectures or other class functions may not be distributed without prior permission.

In class tests and quizzes:

No human or nonhuman resources may be used on in class tests or quizzes. Calculators and timepieces are permitted; however, devices such as cell phones which are capable of other functions beyond calculation and timekeeping are prohibited. Additionally the use of programmable calculators is prohibited on ACS tests.

Take-home tests and quizzes:

The use of human resources is prohibited; however, nonhuman resources are permitted.

Group work:

Groups may work together and utilize any nonhuman resources: however, human resources outside of the group are not permitted.

Homework:

The use of human and nonhuman resources are permitted so long as the students work is their own.

Academic Dishonesty:

Cheating on any assignment will be regarded as academic dishonesty and will be subject to a final course grade of “F”.

Multimedia:

This class incorporates multimedia content from a variety of sources. Incorporation of content is for educational purposes only and does not imply an endorsement of the source or its linked content or the opinions thereof.

Graduate enrichment activity (GEA) guidelines.

One of the most important skills for a scientist is communication and the primary means of communication that scientists are involved in is written. As scientists we need to be to communicate with our peers, with scientists, engineers and medical professionals of diverse disciplines as well as the general public. This semester we will do two types of writing assignments.

The first type of writing assignment is a two-page (not including references) memo discussing the possibilities of beginning research on a specific biochemistry topic here at Midwestern. The memo should be written assuming the reader has a firm grasp of biochemistry and/or molecular biology but is not intimately familiar with the topic being discussed. The bulk of the memo should be a review of what is known about the topic. Additionally in separate sections the memo should include: Key questions about the topic in which further research could address. A brief discussion of the logistical implementations of conducting research on this topic at Midwestern (is highly specialized and costly equipment required to do this research or are there significant hazards to this line of research). Finally your recommendation as to which questions if any could be pursued at Midwestern. This memo will probably require approximately 10 to 20 references. You're welcome to choose topics in which there are no key questions remaining to be answered by research or that the remaining key questions are clearly not feasible to be addressed at Midwestern but you should justify those conclusions. This type of project is to be submitted as a word document attached to an e-mail containing any pertinent commentary.

The second type of writing assignment is to significantly add to the lay (nonscientific) literature about a specific biochemistry topic. This can be done by editing a Wikipedia article, writing for a blog, ezine or some other media source. The project is intended to be a service to the community so your work should be readily available to the community at large* (accommodations will be made for logistical problems). The project will need to have proper citations, and follow best practices for the medium in which you are writing. Unlike the memo assignment you are permitted to work collaboratively on this assignment. If the collaborator is a fellow BIOL 5253 student then your grades will be the same for that assignment; however, you will need to complete two projects or complete a project of twice the scale (assuming two students are collaborating, groups larger than two or contain solicited collaborators not enrolled in BIOL 5253 must see me in advance). If the collaborators are members of that medium’s community (and not a classmate) then please denote your contributions separately and no multiple project requirement will be imposed. This type of assignment is to be submitted as an e-mail with commentary as to collaborations and any technical difficulties or other information necessary to be explained as well as a link to the completed project.

Please pick three (3) specific biochemistry topics (more if working collaboratively) and complete one (1) of each type of assignment and one (1) more of the type of your choosing. The grade on both assignments will receive equivalent weight; therefore the effort exerted on both assignments is expected to be equivalent. Additionally two assignments cannot be done on identical or near identical topics. If there any questions please see me.

Writing Proficiency Requirement All students seeking a Bachelor's degree from Midwestern State University must satisfy a writing proficiency requirement once they've 1) passed English 1113 and English 1123 and 2) earned 60 hours. You may meet this requirement by passing either the Writing Proficiency Exam or English 2113. Please keep in mind that, once you've earned over 90 hours, you lose the opportunity to take the $25 exam and have no option but to enroll in the three-credit hour course. If you have any questions about the exam, visit the Writing Proficiency Office website at http://academics.mwsu.edu/wpr, or call 397-4131.