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Individuals with disabilities who need to request accommodations should contact the Disability Services Coordinator, Administration Building room # 23, 678-466-5445, disabilityservices@mail.clayton.edu.

The biology sequence (BIOL 1111-1112) covers basic and biological chemistry, cellular organization and function, cell division, bioenergetics, ecology and organ/system physiology as well as Mendelian genetics, molecular genetics, biotechnology, and evolutionary principles. BIOL 1111 includes the basic and biological chemistry, cellular organization and function, cell division, bioenergetics, ecology and selected topics in organ/system physiology.

This sequence is designed for non-science majors. The biology sequence of BIOL 1107 and 1108 is the sequence advised for science majors and most medical majors. If you have questions about the appropriate sequence for your major, please ask your instructor.

Course Co-requisite: BIOL 1111L, Introductory Biology Laboratory I (1 semester credit hour)

Note: If a student withdraws from BIOL 1111L, the student must also withdraw from BIOL 1111. If a student withdraws from BIOL 1111, the student must also withdraw from BIOL 1111L.

By registering for this online class, you will need to participate in online discussions and other online activities.

Each CSU student is required to have ready access throughout the semester to a notebook computer that meets faculty-approved hardware and software requirements for the student's academic program. Students will sign a statement attesting to such access. For further information on CSU's Official Notebook Computer Policy, please go to http://itpchoice.clayton.edu/policy.htm.

This class is an online class and as such requires that you have excellent computer skills. The class will be taught through Georgia View. You must be proficient in your use of Georgia View. You will have to access Georgia View to participate in the class. You will need to work through Georgia View to read, download and save the notes for the class, participate in discussions, post attachments as part of discussions and assignments and submit assignments.

If you are unable to perform these computer tasks, it is HIGHLY recommended that you do not take this online class. Biology 1111 is also taught as a traditional face-to-face class and this format will be better suited for you.

There will be an orientation meeting on Saturday following the first week of class in which various features of Georgia View will be explained. However, if you are NOT highly computer literate, then you should NOT take the class online.

Critical thinking: all components (question/issue, method, evidence, conclusion). BIOL 1111 will require application of knowledge base information to understand biological relationships.

The content of this course syllabus correlates to education standards established by national and state education governing agencies, accrediting agencies and learned society/ professional education associations. Please refer to the course correlation matrices located at the following web site:

There will be an orientation meeting for this class on Saturday, August 21 from 1:00-2:15 PM in Room B10. This is a required meeting. If you cannot attend this meeting or the midterm exam, you will need to sign up for another section of this class.

The midterm examination will be on Saturday, September 25 from 1:00-2:15 PM in Room B10.

The final examination will be on Saturday, December 4 from 1:00 – 3:00 in Room B10.

Campbell, Reece, Mitchell and Taylor, Biology, Concepts and Connections, 6th edition, Benjamin Cummings, 2009

Chapters to be covered: 1-10; Chapter 12 is not listed on the syllabus but material from this chapter may be incorporated into other chapters.

Writing papers in the biological sciences, 4th edition, Victoria E. McMillan. 2006. Bedford/St. Martin's. New York .

There will be 6 quizzes or assignments given in this class. I will drop your lowest grade so that only 5 will count. They are each worth 4% of your final grade so that combined, they will count as 20% of your final grade.

The format of the quizzes/assignments will vary. There will be some online quizzes. There will be predominantly multiple choice questions posted under the learning module for the week. You will only have one attempt to complete these questions so make sure that you are careful when you post your answers. You will not be able to correct them if you made a mistake. There will also be a variety of other formats for the assignments and they will be explained in the classroom.

All quizzes, assignments and papers will need to be submitted by the due date which is Sunday 11:59 PM of the week that it is due. I will deduct 10% for every day that it is late. No assignments will be accepted following 3 days past the due date.

All assignments must be submitted through Georgia View. All assignments will be submitted in the assignment area or through the assessment tab. Any text that you enter in the submission text box will lose all formatting when you click submit. Therefore, you have two options when you submit the assignment.

2. Put <p> before each paragraph so that when it is submitted, it is readable in a formatted fashion.

If your assignment is difficult to read, I will return it to you and you will receive a grade of 0 on it.

You will be required to write one paper in this class. It will be due on Sunday, November 21.

You will have 3 choices for the paper (A, B or C) that I will describe below:

You can either write a traditional paper or you can attend a scientific conference (if you are on campus) and describe what you saw or heard at the conference (this will be described below in more detail)

If you choose to write the traditional paper (choice A), you will be able to research an area of biology that you may find interesting. I am sure that you have read about something recently or heard about something on the news that you found interesting. You can now research this topic in more detail.

For this paper, you may use the articles that were provided as supplements to your textbook as background information but you will also need to find additional articles. You can use magazines that cover scientific topics such as Time, Newsweek, etc. You may also use scientific articles from a scientific journal. You may NOT use the Internet as a source.

1. Find at least 3 sources relating to your topic. They may NOT be from the Internet. This means, it may not start with www. something. This includes things such as Wikipedia and WedMD and the like. You can use the Internet to find an article but it must them be an article and not a web site. For example, if you find a TIME magazine article posted online, that will be acceptable. If you use the supplements from the book, you must find 2 other references related to your subject.

4. State one other thing that was not mentioned in the papers that you think should be studied that relates to this topic.

If you do not want to write the traditional paper, you can attend a scientific conference that will be held at Clayton State on November 5. This conference will be about C. elegans. This is an organism that is used to study biology and it is a model organism that I have been using to perform my research at Clayton State. C. elegans is a small worm but significant scientific findings have been made using this worm.

At this conference, from 10:00 – 11:00 AM, a scientist who will come to Clayton State from Brown University will talk about modeling neurodegenerative disease in C. elegans. If you choose this assignment (choice B), you will need to do the following.

1. Find at least 1 source that describes how C. elegans is used in biology and what is a neurodegenerative disease. This source may NOT be from the Internet. This means, it may not start with www. something. This includes things such as Wikipedia and WedMD and the like. You can use the Internet to find an article but it must them be an article and not a web site. For example, if you find a TIME magazine article posted online, that will be acceptable. I would recommend reading this article before you come to the presentation so that you know a little bit about C. elegans.

3. Describe in YOUR OWN WORDS how C. elegans is used in biology and what is a neurodegenerative disease (based on the paper that you read).

4. Summarize in your own words the talk that you listed to. You may not understand the entire talk but just discuss the main idea(s).

4. State one other thing that was not mentioned in the papers or talk that you think should be studied that relates to this topic.

5. You must provide your reference(s) at the end of the paper. You should also include the speaker as a reference.

6. You must cite your reference(s) within the paper and cite when you are summarizing what the speaker said.

You can do assignment 3. On November 5, from 11:00 – 1:00, there will be a poster session where investigators will make a poster of their work and describe what they have done. You will need to do the following:

1. Find at least 1 source that describes what a model organism is. This source may NOT be from the Internet. This means, it may not start with www. something. This includes things such as Wikipedia and WedMD and the like. You can use the Internet to find an article but it must them be an article and not a web site. For example, if you find a TIME magazine article posted online, that will be acceptable. I would recommend reading this article before you come to the presentation so that you know a little bit about C. elegans.

3. Describe in YOUR OWN WORDS what a model organism is. This may be a paper that describes C. elegans or another model organism. Most of the posters describe C. elegans but some of the posters will describe other model organisms.

3. Pick one poster to describe and give the title and authors of the poster.

4. Summarize in your own words the poster that you observed. You may not understand the entireposter but just discuss the main idea(s).

4. State one other thing that was not mentioned in the papers or poster that you think should be studied that relates to this topic.

5. You must provide your reference(s) at the end of the paper. You should also include the authors of the poster as a reference.

6. You must cite your reference(s) within the paper and cite when you are summarizing what the poster said.

In this class, you will need to participate in asynchronous group discussions. This means that not everyone will be participating at the same time. These discussions will not take place in a chat room. Instead, you will post a response and either the instructor or other students will respond at a later time.

You may participate in these discussions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, there a definite deadlines for the discussions.

These discussions will relate to the material that you have read. They will also give you an opportunity to clarify any questions that you may have.

There will be 12 discussions that you may participate in. I will count your highest 10 grades. Each discussion will be worth 2% of your final grade so that the discussion grade will be 20% of your final grade.

We will review for the midterm and final exams online. I highly encourage you to participate but these discussions will not be graded.

The discussions are a key component for this class. For most weeks, you will need to participate in discussions with other students on topics related to the chapter readings. This will frequently require you to find outside materials.

For the discussions, you will need to post an initial response by Thursday at 11:59 PM. Then you will be required to respond to AT LEAST one other student by Sunday at 11:59 PM. You are encouraged to participate with many other students.

Your initial response is worth 5 points and your response to another student is worth 5 points.

You will be graded on both your initial post and also you response to other students. You must write a response that shows some thought. If you just write, “I agree,” then you will not get any credit.

For every day that you initial response is late, you will have 10% deducted. Your initial response will not be accepted after Sunday at 11:59 PM of the week it is due. For every day that your response to another student is late, you will have 10% deducted. Your response will not be accepted after Wednesday at 11:59 PM following the week it is due.

For each discussion starting with discussion 2, the student who makes the most responses will get 2 points of extra credit added on to their discussion grade. However, all responses must be posted during the assigned time.

There will be an area in the Georgia View classroom where you can ask questions. These should relate to the course material or policies. Please post these questions here so that other students may read the answers. If you have more personal questions, then please e-mail me privately.

Textbook: Biology, Concepts and Connections, Campbell , Reece, Mitchell, and Taylor , 6th edition, 2009

Week	Week of:	Topic	Chapters	Discussion	Quiz or assignment
1	Aug 16	Required orientation meeting, Saturday, August 21 from 1:00-2:15 PM in Room B10; bring your computer with you. Introduction, Scientific Study of Life	1	1	None
2	Aug 23	Scientific Study of Life	1	2	#1 due
3	Aug 30	Chemical Basis of Life and the molecules of cells	2 and 3	3	None
4	Sept 6	A Tour of the Cell	4	4	#2 due
5	Sept 13	The Working Cell	5	5	#3 due
6	Sept 20	Catch up and review for midterm exam Sept. 25, Midterm exam, 1:00 – 2:15 PM in room B10	1-5	None graded but there will be an online review

7	Sept 27	How Cells Harvest Chemical Energy and Photosynthesis	Begin chapter 6 and 7	None graded but I will post comments about the test and students can post any questions they have	None
8	Oct 4	How Cells Harvest Chemical Energy and Photosynthesis	6 and 7	6	None
		Last Day to Drop w/o Academic Penalty: Friday October 8
9	Oct 11	Uses for plants; edible vacccines	Outside Article	7	#4 due
10	Oct 18	Cell Division: Mitosis	8.1-8.11	8	None
11	Oct 25	Cell Division: Meiosis and chromosomal abnormalities	8.12-8.23	9	#5 due
12	Nov 1	Patterns of Inheritance November 5: C. elegans conference at Clayton State	9	10	None
13	Nov 8	Molecular Biology of the Gene	10	11	None
14	Nov 15	Discussion of Scientific American Articles or other outside reading		12 Paper due on November 21	#6 due
15	Nov 22	Continue Discussion of Scientific American Articles and outside readings (Thanksgiving)		None graded
16	Nov. 29	Review for the final exam.		None graded but there will be an online review	None
	Dec 4	FINAL EXAM: Saturday, December 4 from 1:00 – 3:00 in Room B10.	All above

All assignments MUST be submitted online through Georgia View. You may NOT e-mail them to the instructor. If you do, you will receive a grade of 0.

Your computer not working is NOT a valid reason for not submitting an assignment or participating in a discussion. You signed up for an online class. One of the expectations is that you will have a working computer. If the assignment is not received, you will receive a grade of 0.

Many assignments will need to be submitted with an attachment. If you do not use an attachment when requested and your assignment is unreadable, you will receive a grade of 0.

All assignments and discussions are expected by the due date. For every day that it is late, 10% of the possible points for the assignment will be deducted from the grade. No assignments or discussions will be accepted 3 days past the due date.

Behavior which disrupts the teaching–learning process during class activities will not tolerated. While a variety of behaviors can be disruptive in a classroom setting, more serious examples include belligerent, abusive, profane, and/or threatening behavior. A student who fails to respond to reasonable faculty direction regarding classroom behavior and/or behavior while participating in classroom activities may be dismissed from class. A student who is dismissed is entitled to due process and will be afforded such rights as soon as possible following dismissal. If found in violation, a student may be administratively withdrawn and may receive a grade of WF. Please refer to http://a-s.clayton.edu/DisruptiveClassroomBehavior.htm for more information.

Regular participation in this class is highly recommended. Announcements concerning changes in assignment/quiz will be posted in the classroom.

No form of academic dishonesty will be tolerated in this class. Any type of activity that is considered dishonest by reasonable standards may constitute academic misconduct. The most common forms of academic misconduct are cheating and plagiarism. All instances of academic dishonesty will result in a grade of zero for the work involved. All instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Office of Student Life/Judicial Affairs. Judicial procedures are described at http://adminservices.clayton.edu/judicial/.

Changes or additions to this syllabus, including reading, exam schedule, grading, and course policies can be made at the discretion of the instructor at any time.

Section	CRN	Days	Times	Instructor
90	87031	online	Class will be held asynchronously	F. Norflus

Item	Points	% of Final Grade
Quizzes/Assignments	100 (20 pts for 5)	20%
Paper	100	20%
Proctored midterm exam	100	20%
Participation in discussions	100 (10 pts for 10)	20%
Proctored final exam	100	20%
Total	500

Grade	Percentage range
A	90 - 100%
B	80 - 89%
C	70 - 79%
D	60 - 69%
F	below 60%

CLAYTON STATE UNIVERSITY