BIOL 4630 Molecular Biology

Course Syllabus:         Fall 2009         4 credit hours
Meets:             Mon/ Thurs 8:00-9:50 in Science Center 2C13
Web-based course materials via RPI_LMS
Prerequisite/ Co-requisite: BIOL 4620 and BIOL4760

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Donna E. Crone Clinical Assistant Professor
Office location: Science Center 2C38
Office telephone number: 276-3299
Office hours: Mon 10-11:30am and by appointment
e-mail address: croned@rpi.edu

Course Description: . Students will use a variety of tools (textbooks, scientific journals and internet resources including molecular databases and data mining tools) to increase understanding of genes, their expression, their products and their inter-relatedness.

Student Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course a successful student will be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability to use field-specific terminology
• Demonstrate the ability to use web-based molecular biology and bioinformatics  tools
• Extract information from a variety of sources
• Present results of research into molecular biology topic in oral and written form

• Describe the typical components of genome project including sequencing and assembly methodology
• Search molecular and genomic databases and/or compare sequences at nucleic and/or protein level and evaluate output
• Demonstrate the use of genomic variants for identification and classification
• Illustrate the analysis and application of microarray technology
• Describe the major techniques for the functional analysis of the genome

Required Textbook:  A Primer of Genome Science – 3rd ed. Greg Gibson and Spenser Muse. 2009.  Students may use printed text or ebook (www.coursesmart.com/9780878932368)
Additional required reading will be posted in RPI-LMS

Grading criteria

Student grades are posted in RPILMS where students can view assignments due and grades assigned.

ATTENDENCE POLICY:  Students registered in this class should make every effort to attend class regularly and to use class time appropriately.  Class participation is 15% of final grade.
Please be considerate to yourself and the others in class – do not come to class if you have flu symptoms.  If you miss class, you must notify me by phone or email by 5pm on the day missed (preferably before class).
Class participation is scored on scale of 0-3
            3 on time and attentive
            2.5  excused absence with missed assignments done by next class period
2 nonattentive (e.g. using computer for other than class activities –other HW, social acitivities, inappropriate/disruptive conversation) or significantly late
            1 late and nonattentive
            0 unexcused absence
Absences excused by Dean’s letter (serious illness, family emergency) will be evaluated individually following discussion between student and instructor.
Laptop required for participation in in-class activities.

Assignments are posted prior to each class and are due at 4pm on the day following class (posted Friday and due 4pm Tues for Monday class and posted Tuesday and due 4pm Friday for Thursday class).  Unless otherwise instructed, assignments should be submitted electronically via RPILMS.  In an emergency, you may send to my email; however, you must send via your RPI email address – not gmail or yahoo.
Late assignments will be accepted and a late penalty will be assessed.  Assignment score is reduced 10% for each day that it is late (weekend counts as one day)

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Student-teacher relationships are built on trust. For example, students must trust that teachers have made appropriate decisions about the structure and content of the courses they teach, and teachers must trust that the assignments that students turn in are their own. Acts, which violate this trust, undermine the educational process. The Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities defines various forms of Academic Dishonesty and you should make yourself familiar with these. In this class, all assignments that are turned in for a grade must represent the student’s own work. In cases where help was received, a notation on the assignment should indicate your collaboration. When working within a group for the final project, the contributions of each member of the group should be explicitly stated orally at the end of the presentation and in writing in the acknowledgement section of the paper.  References should be properly cited.  Copy and paste of material from any source without the use of quotes AND proper reference is PLAGARISM and a violation of academic integrity. If you do not know how to paraphrase, ask for help before submitting assignment. Submission of any assignment that is in violation of this policy will result in a penalty of grade of F for assignment for first instance and grade of F in the course for subsequent violation  If you have any question concerning this policy before submitting an assignment, please ask for clarification.

Fall 2009 Course calendar:
 “This is a tentative schedule and subject to change depending upon the progress of the class”    
HW and supplemental material are accessible at course site in RPI-LMS.