Location:
Room 424 Sparks Hall
Time:
Tues & Thurs 1:00 pm - 2:40 pm.
Credit Hours:
4 hrs
Lecturers:
Drs. Margo Brinton & John Houghton
Office/Lab: 414
Science Annex /
(MB)
416 Science Annex / 510 Natural Science Centre (JH)
Office hours: Tues: 10:00am - 11:am (MB) Wed: 10:00am - 11:am (JH)
Tel: (404)
413-5388(MB) / (404) 413-5390(JH)
email: mbrinton@gsu.edu / jhoughton@gsu.edu
Text: Genes IX by Benjamin Lewin Oxford University Press, New York, 2004
and/or
Reading assignments in the text book are indicated in the lecture schedule. The background information for some of the lectures will be in the form of handouts and journal articles. Diagrams used in lectures that are not from the textbook will be handed out in class. Exams will be based primarily on lecture material. Reading assignments (text, papers and handouts) should be used to understand the lecture material and provide additional examples.
Grading Policy
* : Grades will be divided amomg the various
examinations in the following manner
Exam I (100 pts.)
Exam II (100 pts.)
Exam III (100 pts.)
Critical thinking assignments (100 pts.)
(in class paper discussion and gene paper)
In-Class Presentation (100 pts.)
Total 500 pts.
The exams (in-class) will consist of short answer and essay questions. Each exam will cover only the material in those lectures given since the previous exam and so will not be comprehensive. However conceptual foundations established in early lectures will provide an infrastructure for understanding material in later lectures and the ability to successfully integrate material and concepts from different lectures in answering questions will be evaluated. Students are expected to write thoughtful, well-organized answers to the exam questions. Although the integration of general concepts and critical details is important, students are also expected to understand the technical aspects of the course material.
Critical thinking assignments will be based on original research literature in the field of eukaryotic molecular genetics. Students will be expected to participate in in-class discussionsof assigned research papers (because you will be graded unexcused absences for these discussions will not be accepted) and to write a paper on an assigned disease gene. The instructors will explain each assignment in detail. All information obtained from published articles and websites and included in the written assignment must be paraphrased (put in your own words) and appropriately referenced in the text as well as in a reference list at the end of the paper. Any sentences or phrases that are copied word for word from a published article are considered a direct quote and must be put in quotation marks. The writing assignment is not to be collaborative but should be done individually by each student without discussion with others.
Each student will be required to make one 20-minute in-class presentation on an original research paper using visual aids. Students will choose a topic within an area of eukaryotic molecular genetics from a list of topics provided by the instructors. Students will then choose a recent research paper that they wish to present on their assigned topic and turn in a copy of the paper, or email a PDF file for approval by one of the instructors at least two weeks prior to the presentation date. Students should choose papers that address problems associated with eukaryotic molecular genetics or eukaryotic cells. Presentations will be assessed in the following areas-1) content (given the time constraints it will not be possible to make a comprehensive presentation of the paper, therefore students need to select and critically discuss only the most important points); 2) organization and clarity (this will include an evaluation of the verbal presentation, the quality of the power point or overheads and how they are integrated into the presentation), and 3) responses to questions (it is important for students to allow a couple of minutes at the end of the presentation for questions).
Ethical considerations: Unless otherwise stated, all examination answers that are submitted for evaluation are considered to be the sole property and ideas of each individual student. Any student(s) caught copying or cheating will automatically receive zero credit for that particular submission, and possibly be subject to further disciplinary action.
This information is given as a guide to the student attending the Bio8620 '08/ lectures as a means to review some of the information. It is not meant to replace the lecture. No emphasis as to what will be required of the student is given in this text, indeed information that is given in the these transcripts may make little sense if the student has not first attended the relevant lecture.
