Molecular Biosciences (MBioS) 305 – General Microbiology

Syllabus, Spring 2010

Instructors: Dr. Phil Mixter, BLS 441, Phone 335-4937, E-mail: pmixter@wsu.edu
Dr. Susan Wang, BLS 445, Phone 335-7714, E-mail: susan_wang@wsu.edu
Office hours will be announced
Classroom: Abelson 201; Tuesday and Thursday; 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM
Course Objectives
This course will offer diverse students basic training in the diverse field of Microbiology with hopes
you will develop a lifelong thirst for more information on this topic. While some students will pursue
careers in health-related fields, others will use Microbiology to further inform their endeavors in broader
areas. This course serves as both a stand-alone introduction for some and a prerequisite for detailed
courses for other students. We hope that you will find this course useful in other areas of your life,
enhancing your science literacy as you read the daily news, make medical care decisions or ponder
whether something in your refrigerator is safe to eat. We hope you’ll learn more about the following
areas:
 Relation of microbes to other species, especially humans
 How microbes respond to changing environments in order to survive
 How microbes metabolize nutrients and collect energy
 What degree of risk certain microbes pose to you under normal circumstances
 What separates “good” or commensal microbes from “bad” or pathogenic microbes
 How your immune system constantly protects you from infection
 Examples of microbes throughout the planet

Additionally, we are interested in not only what you learn, but how you learn. Throughout the course
we will try to work with you as you move into areas of greater detail to refine your learning strategy. As
you gain proficiency in areas closer to your career goal, your learning strategy may change as you wish to
carefully retain information for use in years to come. If you are planning a profession in healthcare-
related fields, this will be most useful. Instructors will discuss this as the semester progresses.

Course Mechanics
1. Required Text: Microbiology, an Evolving Science by Slonczewski and Foster, First Edition (Norton
Publishing). This is the second semester using this text for this course. New and used texts are
available through booksellers. The instructors are working to also offer a digital version through
Norton Publishing. The instructors will convey more on these digital resources as details emerge. As
the instructors have developed new materials using the new text, we welcome your constructive
feedback regarding these materials in an effort to improve the course.
2. This general microbiology lecture course is completely separate from the laboratory course. Each
course will garner a separate, unique grade.
3. Attendance in lecture is not required but greatly encouraged, as lecture exam questions are derived
from the lecture material. Lecture will be made available in various media formats, but technology
has a nasty habit of failing occasionally. Please be courteous to your classmates during lecture.
4. Presentation materials will be posted on the course’s ANGEL Learning Management System website
(https://lms.wsu.edu) prior to lectures. Students should download these materials at their
convenience and be prepared to take notes using these resources, whether on printed pages or using
computers in the classroom. The instructors’ goal is to allow students to be paperless if they prefer
this mode.
5. Grading System:
a. Lecture exams: There will be a total of four exams for the lecture portion of the course, once per
month. This includes the final exam. All exams are mandatory.
Exam Day and Date Possible Points
1 Tuesday, February 9 100
2 Thursday, March 4 100
3 Tuesday, April 6 100
Final *Tuesday, May 4, 7 – 10 PM 200

* The MBioS 305 Final Exam will be administered TUESDAY, May 4, 2010 (7:00 to 10:00
PM, Abelson 201). The final exam is cumulative and will include 25 points on material
covered in each of the three previous exams and 125 points on material covered after the
third exam. Plan your travel accordingly as the final exam will NOT be given at
alternative times. The ONLY exception is for students who have THREE finals on
Tuesday, May 4. Documentation of your final exam schedule is REQUIRED to
reschedule the final.

Rescheduling of exams: The decision to reschedule is at the discretion of the instructors. In

general, accommodations should be discussed with the instructors in advance of any exam.
If scheduling conflicts for events such as university-sanctioned athletics or professional
interviews are known, contact the instructors now. In the case of illness or family
emergency, students should notify the instructors as soon as possible to discuss this option.
In general, only illnesses that require documented medical care will qualify for
accommodation.

Additional points may be made available during the course with additional activities at the
discretion of the instructors.

b. Course Grades:
Final course letter grades are assigned using a standard performance criteria of the 500
available points:
Above 94% A
90.0% to 93.9% A-
87.0% to 89.9% B+
84.0% to 86.9% B
80.0% to 83.9% B-
77.0% to 79.9% C+
74.0% to 76.9% C
70.0% to 73.9% C-
67.0% to 69.9% D+
60.0% to 66.9% D
Below 60% garners a failing (F) grade

However, if the class distribution is significantly non-uniform, the class letter grade
assignments may be “curved,” but only if it improves an individual’s letter grade. Shifts in the
grading criteria have been very small and generally rare in the past.
 Molecular Biosciences 305
Spring 2010
Web Resources
This course employs WSU’s ANGEL learning platform to deliver online resources. This is the main
conduit of communication between students and the instructors. Within the ANGEL course site, you
should find current gradebook information for your performance on exams, downloadable lecture notes,
discussion threads, some frequently asked questions about the course, and old exams to use as study
guides. The instructors have used online platforms in the past to deliver materials and found it most
helpful, but problems may arise. We welcome your timely constructive feedback to make this a useful
resource for all student needs.
We routinely make lectures available in a number of formats, including audio files that you can move
to your digital music player as well as video-streamed lectures. Normally, it takes 72 hours to get
lectures streamed to the web, and this is an issue closer to our exams. We recommend that you attend
lecture and use these captured lectures only to help you review your notes, making sure your notes are
complete. We have a brisk lecture pace, and these formats allow you to rewind something you may miss
the first time. We caution students that these technologies are in addition to “live” lectures and are no
substitute or reason for missing lecture. On occasion this technology fails to capture lecture and these
resources may not be available for each and every event.
Help Us Help You
This course continues to evolve to best suit the needs of our students. Drs. Mixter and Wang will
make every effort to provide you with tools to aid in your successful comprehension of the vital material
presented in the course. We know that this is a challenging course with lots of material to take in, digest
and organize for retrieval during exams. If you have any suggestions for improving this course, we
welcome them during the term, in addition to the evaluations at the end of the course. You can make
comments or ask questions publicly on ANGEL. You can also email either Dr. Mixter or Dr. Wang
directly or make an appointment if you prefer.
Office Hours
You can always make an appointment to meet with either Dr. Mixter or Dr. Wang and we’ll schedule
a weekly review time. This is a great time to ask questions as you review your notes, clarifying concepts
while they are current. Prior to exams, we will schedule a group time in a larger lecture hall for
questions. Drs. Mixter and Wang plan to offer online office hours using ANGEL. Please take advantage
of some of these options.
Tips for Success
Here are some suggestions to reach the performance goal you wish to attain:
 Use media provided to review each lecture at least once while checking your notes for accuracy
and completeness. Successful students have heard every lecture at least once outside of class.
 Use previous exams on file (ANGEL) to test yourself, understand the expectations, and avoid
surprises on test days. Practice! Practice! Practice!
 Successful students not only consider the content of a given lecture, but also make connections
from lecture-to-lecture, even section-to-section. Repeat as needed.
 Take responsibility for your future now. This information will likely come up again in your
career or personal lives. Learn these concepts in a way you can use on an exam, but also for years
to come. If you cram this information, you will re-learn it for the MCAT/DCAT/GRE exam later.
 Form a study group with classmates and meet regularly during the semester. No matter what role
you play, you’ll learn more by participating in a study group. Feel free to form online study
groups using ANGEL (instructors can set up private discussion groups if you wish). Other
members of the group will teach you new things and you will explain things to them in ways that
are useful. Everyone wins.
Students with Disabilities
Drs. Mixter and Wang are committed to providing assistance to help you be successful in this course.
Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. If you have a
disability and need accommodations to fully participate in this class, please visit the Disability Resource
Center (DRC). All accommodations MUST be approved through the DRC (Washington Building, Room
217). Please visit or call 509-335-3417 to make an appointment with a disability specialist.
Academic Dishonesty Policy (WSU Code of Conduct and School of Molecular Biosciences policy)
Academic dishonesty will result in a grade of “F” for this course without the option to withdraw.
Formal documentation will be filed with the Office of Student Conduct at WSU. Academic dishonesty is
defined as cheating, falsification, fabrication, multiple submission, plagiarism, abuse of academic
materials, complicity, or misconduct in research (WAC 504-25-310 in Standards of Conduct for
Students). For more information and definitions, visit http://www.conduct.wsu.edu. Unfortunately, the
instructors are very familiar with this process. We are monitoring your work and will fully enforce these
standards for the benefit of all students in the course.
Campus Safety, Communication and MBioS 305
As part of the greater WSU community, we encourage students to become familiar with the campus
security and emergency plans. The instructors will defer to WSU with regard to weather-related
emergencies, campus-wide alerts, or other related issues. The instructors encourage you to subscribe to
the campus alert system (http://alert.wsu.edu) and become familiar with emergency plans
(http://oem.wsu.edu). If you have questions about whether or not class is being held, visit these sites to
view university information and refer to postings by the instructors on our course’s ANGEL website. To
ensure that email messages sent to all classmates are able to reach you, ensure that your MyWSU
notifications are set to a current email address and update the alert system if your phone number changes.
 Molecular Biosciences 305
General Microbiology
Tentative Lecture Schedule, Spring 2010
Text: Microbiology, An Evolving Science by Slonczewski and Foster (©2009 Norton, First Edition)

PERIOD DATE DAY SUBJECT CHAPTER

READINGS
1 1/12 T Introduction --
2 1/14 R Microbial Life; Observing the Cell A.1, 1, 2,
3 1/19 T Bacterial and Archaeal Cell Structure and Function 3, 19
4 1/21 R Structure/Function; Bacterial Growth 3, 4, 19
5 1/26 T Growth/Development; Environmental Influences 4, 5
6 1/28 R Enzymology 13, A.1
7 2/2 T Antibiotics and Resistance 27
8 2/4 R Physical and Chemical Methods of Control 5
9 2/9 T Exam 1 --
10 2/11 R Ecology and Environmental Microbes 21, 22
11 2/16 T Soil Microbes and Sewage 21, 22
12 2/18 R Epidemiology 28
13 2/23 T General Microbial Pathogenesis 25, 26
14 2/25 R Death by Microbes (Anthrax, Plague, Syphilis) 25, 26
15 3/2 T Bacterial Genetics 7, 8, 9
16 3/4 R Exam 2 --
17 3/9 T Energy Carriers and Metabolic Pathways 13; A.1
18 3/11 R Catabolic Pathways 13
-- 3/16 T Spring Break --
-- 3/18 R Spring Break --
19 3/23 T Respiration 14
20 3/25 R Fermentation 16, 18, 26
21 3/30 T Photosynthesis/Anabolism 14, 15, A.2
22 4/1 R Introduction to Viruses 6
23 4/6 T Exam 3 --
24 4/8 R Viruses and Viral Infection (Influenza) 11, 25, 26
25 4/13 T The Innate Immune System 23
26 4/15 R The Innate Immune System 23
27 4/20 T The Adaptive Immune System 24
28 4/22 R The Adaptive Immune System 24
29 4/27 T Vaccinations, Immuno-diagnostic tests 24, 26
30 4/29 R HIV and AIDS 11

revised 1/12/2010