Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Framework:
BIOL 302 is your first in-depth course in molecular biology and biochemistry. The overall goal
of the course is to provide you with a solid foundation on which subsequent upper division
courses in cellular biology will be based (cell structure/function, physiology, immunology,
developmental biology, genetics, etc.). The main theme of this course is the central dogma of
biological information flow, from DNA to RNA to protein, and energy flow (metabolism).
Our Philosophy:
We (your instructors) want you to really learn the material that is covered, not just memorize it
for the exams, then forget about it a two days later. Therefore, we will do our best to convey to
you why what we are covering is important, and how it fits into the bigger biological picture.
Assessment:
To assess whether you are achieving this broad learning objective, we will ask two kinds of
questions on the exams: Knowledge and Understanding.
There is a fundamental difference between knowing something and understanding something.
Example: You can know your ABCs, but unless you can apply them into making words, you
dont understand how to use them, or why its important to know them.
Biological Example:
Which one of the following amino acids is glutamate? (Knowledge)
What does a glutamate residue do to the overall pI of a protein? (Understanding)
What effect would an E-to-Q active site mutation in an enzyme do to the binding energy
of a cationic substrate? (Understanding)
BIOL 302 Exam Structure:
All Exams are multiple choice (Scantron), typically comprised of 50 questions.
You are responsible for following these rules. We are responsible for helping you
to understand the topics covered in this course through effective teaching and
clearly stated learning objectives.
Summary:
This is your course. You should use all of the tools at your disposal (textbook, discussion
sections, class notes, posted readings, problem sets, web resources, or CDs included with your
textbook) to strengthen your understanding and comprehension of the topics covered in class. If
you still dont understand something then come and see the TAs or the instructors. If you
effectively learn and understand the material, then the exam scores will follow proportionally
and accurately reflect your investment in the learning process.
Above all, we want this class to be interesting, fun and relevant. We will do our best to make it
so, but you have to invest on your end as well.
Sincerely,
Drs. Wang and Janowiak