Podcasts and Missing PP
The podcasts for BIO220 and BIO131 are up in the respective media archives. I have also uploaded the missing PP file for BIO220.
Archive for the ‘BIO131’ Category.
First Day
Today is the first day of classes. Good luck and I will try to help you as much as you help yourself. Please remember that all static information is archived on the course website (docireland.org) and all the dynamic announcements and such are listed here in the blog. While it is not necessary to access the online material at all, it may be more timely for you.
Website 4.0 online
The new web site design is now live. There has been a significant redesign of the general visual style for the site and a number of tweaks behind the scenes. I have switched from a table/object design (which had problems with IE) to a CSS/javascript approach. All the major pages can be accessed from the drop-down menu at the top, and if you have problems with Javascript (though most browsers should be fine by now) there is a link to the site map at the bottom. To access the main website, where I store the static information for the course, you can go to the following address.
Website Going Dark
I will be taking the website down for Summer updates within the next week. The website will return by the start of Fall term.
BIO131 Final Grades
The final is graded. The average score was a 60% and the high score was a 90%, this gives a normalization of 10%. The grades are all entered in the spreadsheet and I ask you to look them over before Thursday morning, when I will be entering them into the JCC system.
Grades for BIO131
The first PDF is a final breakdown of the grades for the class with all drop grades calculated. The grade in the last column would be your score if you did NOT take the final.
The second PDF is grade of the minimum score needed for each of you on the final to get a specific grade. If there is no entry in a particular column it means one of two things. First, you may already have a higher score than this. Second, it is over a hundred points, the maximum possible on the final.
Grades for BIO131
Here are the grades for BIO131, the lab quiz is not included yet.
Medical Leave Details
For those of you that still don’t know, I have a kidney stone. While not life-threatening, it is the single most painful experience of my life so far (I am guessing getting shot or stabbed would be worse, but have not experienced them). Many kidney stones pass naturally through the system, but mine is stuck at the junction of the ureter and the kidney (far above the bladder) and has to be subjected to intervention. My doctors have decided to use the least invasive procedure, a targeted sonic procedure called Extracorporal Sound Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL). The procedure should pulverize the stone to fine sand through the use of ultrasonic waves, allowing me to pass the material naturally.
The procedure is outpatient, but does require a recovery time at home. I have tried to minimize the impact the procedure will have on my classes, but some disruption is unavoidable. Below is a list of the disruptions planned for the class.
Thursday (4/15/10 – BIO131) – Class will be canceled, but you will have an out of class assignment (given out on Tuesday) that will be for practice on the concepts of transcription and translation. The assignment will be due the following Tuesday and will replace the missing daily quiz grade. We will be having the normal daily quizzes both Tuesdays. Lab WILL run, Dr. Jon Powell will be running it for me and I expect all of you to show him the respect he deserves as a senior faculty member.
Wednesday (4/21/10 – BIO220) – This is the day of the final exam. Another of the professors will proctor the exam for me and I expect you to respect my class rules and not try any funny business. The lab for this day will be canceled and the lab for Monday (4/12/10, lecture will be held this day) will be canceled to keep the scheduled labs. Unfortunately this means we will be moving into the final lab week (on the syllabus as no labs) but this is unavoidable, I apologize.
Again, I apologize for the changes to the schedule but this was the best time I could get for the appointments that minimized disruptions of class.
Grades for BIO131 and Lab Quiz
Lab Quiz Three will be next week (4/6 and 4/8) for BIO131. It will cover Enzymes, Photosynthesis and Resipration. Mitosis will be on the next one.
The new class gradesheet is attached below, this includes all grades to this point. The average on Biweekly Quiz 4 was a 24/50 with a high of 47 and a low of 4.