Environmental Biology
Dr. Bill Tietjen

NOTE: A WORD-FORMATTED AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE SYLLABUS FOR PRINTING OUT IS HERE

Fall 2009
Phone: 8113
Office Hours MW 10:00-12:00
E-Mail: btietjen@bellarmine.edu

Texts:

Office Hours: P187 MW 11:00-13:00. Other hours by Appointment.

Exams. All exams will be essay in format. Tentative dates for the exams are the weeks of September 21st, October 19th  and during the last day of class (December 2nd). The final exam period will be used for presentation of term projects December 9th). Missed exams or quizzes will be made up in the ARC during finals week. The make-up exam will be comprehensive.

Term Project. A term project is required. It can be either a library/internet research paper or it can be an experimental project. The project/paper can be in any area related to ecology, environmental biology, or behavior. You should choose your project early in the semester if you plan on doing field research that could be affected by changes in the weather. You will present the project during the final exam period as a PowerPoint slide show and will also provide a written paper. The term project is worth 20% of your lecture grade. If experimental, term projects can be an extension of a laboratory project. Either type of project can be done in a group of 2-3. If you want to work in a larger group you need to ask my permission. In either case it is strongly recommended that you run your idea past me before you begin since I may have suggestions. You can find example research projects here and term papers in the secret readings.

Grading- Lecture is worth 65% of your final grade, and is based on your test/quiz results and final project (again, worth 20% of your lecture). The remaining 35% of your grade will be based on the laboratory. Laboratory reports are due the week following the exercise (unless otherwise announced). Reports that are one week late are docked 50%. Reports will not be accepted after this time. The final percentages for an The final percentages for an A: 95%+, A- 90-94, B+ 87-89, B 84-86, B- 80-83, C+ 77-79, C 74-73, D 60-69.

Attendance and Classroom Policies:

  1. You are expected to attend every class. If, because of illness or family problems, you miss a class you are responsible for the material we covered. You must make every attempt to document the reason for missing class.
  2. If you sleep in class you will be marked as absent.
  3. If you work on projects for another class you will be marked as absent.
  4. If you text message, surf the internet, play games, or anything similar you will be marked as absent.
  5. For every three unexcused absences  your final grade will drop a complete letter grade. If that would result in a letter grade that does not exist, then you will be given the grade below that. For example, if your final percentage works out to a B- and you miss three classes, you will receive a D since there is no C- grade.
  6. Assigned readings must be completed by the next class session unless otherwise noted. Consider the readings "fair game" for tests or quizzes.
  7. If you miss a movie you should make arrangements to view it on your own time.
  8. Do all required assignments and turn them in on time. The deadlines are real. Late assignments are not accepted.
  9. Take note of the websites we visit during class so you can revisit them while studying

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, the student will ....

  1. demonstrate scientific knowledge through class discussions and performance on tests.
  2. develop critical thinking and integration skills through class assignments and test performance.
  3. demonstrate critical thinking skills in laboratory reports.
  4. demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method by designing and implementing a term project.

University Policies

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