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Syllabus contents: |
Microm
412 |
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Syllabus Instructor: John Leigh Class Meeting Times and Location: |
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Micro 412 is a course in microbial
diversity. Major groups of environmentally important bacteria are covered,
with a focus on the importance of metabolism in determining an organism's
role in nature. Micro 412 is normally taken after Micro 410 (basic biology of
bacterial cells) and Micro 411 (Gene Action). Goals of
Course 1. To be familiar with the major categories of bacteria with regard to:
metabolism
habitat
taxonomy
phylogeny 2.
To recognize the names of the most important bacteria 3.
To understand bacterial metabolism: "making a living in nature" 4.
To understand how bacteria affect their environment 5.
To see how bacteria interact with other organisms 6.
To understand why and how some bacteria go through developmental changes 7.
To understand how bacteria regulate their activities 8. To speculate on how bacteria have evolved GRADING SYSTEM FOR MICRO 412 This handout is designed to inform you in advance how you will be graded. We believe the approach taken has a number of advantages for you. The first element in this approach is that the standards by which grades are to be determined in this course are set in advance. The second element is that your grade will be decided by your level of performance in relation to the material in the course, not in relation to all of the other students in the course. There are no limits to the number or proportion of students who can achieve any numerical grade. Finally, with this system it will be possible for you to estimate your current numerical grade based on the exams taken up to a particular time. We expect that the present system will remove much of the uncertainty that is usually associated with grading. There will be two midterms and one final, mostly multiple choice, but may include some short answer or short essay questions. The tests will cover the lectures indicated on the syllabus. The two midterms and the final will each count for about one-third of your grade. The grade you receive will be determined by your performance relative to the set of standards given below. These preset standards give the equivalence between the percentage of correct answers attained over all the exams and the numerical grade you will receive. There are two considerations you should know relative to these standards. a. The percentage grade and hence the numerical grade you receive will not be based on an absolute standard. The 100% level for the quarter will be set by the average grade received for all three examinations by the top undergraduates in the course. Thus, if the top undergraduates average 108 out of a total of 120 questions during the quarter, then 108 points will be set as the 100% level. This step serves to adjust the exams for their difficulty. b. To pass the course you must achieve a 50% or greater score, i.e., 50% or more of the number used to establish the 100% level as noted above. Therefore, we have set 50% as equivalent to the lowest passing numerical grade of 0.7. The remainder of the scale rises in uniform increments. Equivalence Between the Percentage Achieved and the Numerical Grade
In determining the numerical grade the table will be used as follows: Fifty percent will yield a numeric grade of 0.7. From 50.1 through 51.5 the grade will be 0.8; 51.6 through 53 a grade of 0.9, etc., and finally, 98.1 through 100 or more a grade of 4.0. The textbook for Micro 412 is Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 12th Edition, by Madigan et al. (Pearson Benjamin Cummings, 2009). Readings are specified in the Course Schedule. The web page for Brock Biology of Microorganisms can be a useful study supplement. Additional readings to be assigned.
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Last Updated: |
Contact the instructor at: leighj@u..washington.edu
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