|
|
Andrew J Howard, instructor; howard@iit.edu,
312-567-5881, cell phone 773-368-5067
Fax : 312-567-3576
class website:
http://csrri.iit.edu/~howard/bio403/
All class notes, assignments,
and exam keys will be made available on this website.
Check this website frequently for updates.
Office Hours: Tuesday 10am - 2pm,
Thursday 4:05 - 6:00, or by appointment
Grading plans:
Electronic communication:
I expect to be able to reach you by electronic mail and through this website throughout the semester. You should use your official IIT e-mail address: for most of you this will look like smitjoh@iit.edu if your name is John Smith. A few of you will have addresses with digits following the seven alphabetic characters, e.g. smithjoh3@iit.edu. If you choose to use another address for most of your e-mail, you have two choices: either check your IIT address in addition to your non-IIT address, or arrange to forward your IIT mail to your non-IIT mail system. Instructions for doing so are available on the IIT website.
Midterms:
The dates for the midterms are listed above. Each will include definitions, short-answer questions, and more substantial questions that require one to three paragraphs each to answer. The full 75 minutes will be available for for the exam. You will not be permitted to bring your textbook, but you will be allowed to bring your graded homework and a one-page note sheet.
Final Examination:
The final will be given at the University's mandated date and time for a course that begins on a Tuesday at 1:50, which will be Wednesday 12 May 2004 from 2pm to 4pm in Stuart 104. The final will be comprehensive, i.e. it will cover all the material in the course; but it will be especially geared toward the material from the final six lectures, since we will not have had a midterm on that material. This will be a closed-book, closed-notes exam. Accordingly, the questions will be somewhat easier than those on the midterms.
Homework:
I would prefer that you send homework assignments by e-mail, but written assignments will be accepted. E-mailed assignments must be in plain text or as attachments using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, or Powerpoint). Paper assignments can be handed to me or left in my mailbox in LS174 or my mailbox in LS182. Assignments will be posted on the website at http://csrri.iit.edu/~howard/biol403/assignments.html. Each assignment will be due at 1700 hours CST on Fridays until Daylight Savings Time begins, at which point they will be due at 1700 CDT. Generally the homework will cover material from the previous week; thus there is no homework assignment due on the first Friday of the semester, 23 January. I encourage you to do the homework assignments for three reasons:
Your answers to most homework questions should require about a paragraph. For study purposes, I'd encourage you to try the problems in the textbook, for which the answers are found in the back. If you've gotten them right, you probably understand the material.
Schedule:
This is the tentative plan for what topics we'll cover.
| Topics | Lectures | Exam |
| Methods, building blocks | 20,22,27,29 Jan, 3, 5,10 Feb | 12 Feb |
| Metabolism | 17,19,24,26 Feb, 2, 4, 9 Mar | 11 Mar |
| Spring Break | 16, 18 Mar | |
| Mechanisms, Metabolism | 23,25,30 Mar, 1,6,8 Apr | 22 Apr |
| Amino Acids, Nucleic Acids, and Molecular Biology | 8,13,15,20,27,29 Apr, 4,6 May |
This portion will consist of six lectures and a midterm. The lectures will be delivered on 20, 22, 27, and 29 January, and 3 and 5 February. The midterm for this section will be given on 12 February. We will have a review session and an opportunity to catch up on any material that we've missed on 10 February.
This portion will consist of six lectures and a midterm. The lectures will be delivered on 20, 22, 27, and 29 January, and 3 and 5 February. The midterm for this section will be given on 12 February. We will have a review session and an opportunity to catch up on any material that we've missed on 10 February.
This portion will consist of six lectures and a midterm. The lectures will be delivered on 23, 25, 30 March and 1, 6, and 8 April. The midterm for this section will be given on 22 April. Note that we will do three lectures after 8 April but prior to this midterm; this is in response to requests from several students that we not schedule the midterm for the week of the MCATs.
This portion will consist of six lectures and a midterm. The lectures will be delivered on 8, 13, 15, 20, 27, and 29 April, and 4 and 6 May. There will be no midterm for this section; instead, the final examination will be drawn heavily from this section.