Course: BIOL 204

Instructor: Dr. Anne Hemsley

Office: OF1 113

Phone: (661) 722-6436

Important Links:

LABORATORY SCHEDULES

LIBRARY ASSIGNMENTS

LECTURE SCHEDULE

CLASS STUDY GUIDE NOTES

PAST EXAM PAPERS

PRESENTATION TOPICS

CHECKING YOUR PROGRESS

HOME PAGE

Textbook and Supplies

  Lecture Text

Microbiology: Principles and Explorations 7th Ed., J. Black, Wiley & Sons

ISBN#  978-0-470-27982-3   

(Try using this number with an online company like amazon.com for  up to 45% savings over AVC bookstore prices)

Class Lecture/Study Guide, A. Hemsley - Chapter by chapter print outline of lectures that you can download from this link and print at home.  You will need to bring these outlines to lecture class. If you are an online student, your instructor will need to check weekly that you are completing the outline.  This is the method by which lecture participation is monitored.  Checking the filled-in lecture outlines will take place during lab sessions.

Symbiosis Custom Laboratory Manual

ISBN-13  978-0-5363-7801-9   available only through the AVC     Bookstore. 

Additional materials:

	Set of colored pencils and your own pencil sharpener
	Plastic gloves for staining labs
	Sharpie permanent ink marker
	China marking/grease pencil

Course Description

This course is designed to give an overview of the Biology of
Microbes, including Bacteria, Viruses, Fungi, Algae, Protozoa
and Helminths. Information is directed towards students
interested in careers in diverse fields within the Health Sciences,
including nursing, respiratory therapy, home economics, dental hygiene,
X-ray technology, physicians assistant. It is also designed as a
class that will fulfill the Microbiology requirements for food
science, environmental monitoring, crop and animal science as
well as Biological science. Wherever possible, new
developments in Recombinant DNA technology/Biotechnology,
Virology and Immunology are discussed and expanded upon
in laboratory sessions to provide students with up to date
technology as well as a solid foundation in classical
Microbiology.

Course Objectives

At the completion of the course the student will:

	Understand basic information concerning microbial morphology, physiology, genetics, behavior and ecology
	Describe and analyze interactions between microbes and the host organism in disease and health states
	Describe and assess the common sources of infection, pertinent routes of entry and communicability of pathogens
	Evaluate the contributions of microbes in food production, water contamination, sewage treatment and soil ecology
	Understand the role of the Immune system in health and disease, and evaluate the applied uses of serology in diagnosis and research
	Compare the strategies used by bacterial, protozoan, fungal, algal and viral pathogens
	Evaluate the effectiveness of a wide range of anti-microbial drugs
	In the laboratory, an integrated series of diagnostic tests will allow students to develop an ability to independently identify unknown bacteria likely to be clinical pathogens in biological samples
	In the laboratory, students will develop familiarity with several techniques commonly used in Recombinant DNA technology.  Students will correlate the experiences with theoretical knowledge of the applications of the techniques in forensics and diagnostics.

Grading

The grading scale is designed to encompass all aspects of the class. Simply doing well on the exams does not guarantee a good or passing grade in the course. Grades will be based on the activities listed below. 

Cheating will not be tolerated in the course.  If a student displays any behavior that allows any suspicion of cheating to arise, the instructor reserves the right to cancel the assessment during which the suspect behavior occurred and replace the assessment with another test.

* These activities will take place as part of your hands-on laboratory experience.  Due to circumstances which may change during the semester, such as instructor illness, equipment failure or other unforeseen events, the number of points for Lab activities may vary slightly.

Make - ups and Lab Report Information

Students who miss class must notify the instructor on the day of the absence, or before, in order to attempt a reschedule of any missed exams or labs.  Where possible, a substitute lab session may be attended in order to make up for a lost lab, if the lab is still being run later in the week.  This does not mean that a student may plan to attend sessions other than their own session on a regular basis.  This is disruptive to other students with whom the student is paired for many class exercises.  Late labs and those for which some sessions were missed will be graded for half credit unless prior arrangements with the instructor have been made.  Where laboratory exercises involve making culture media, all the calculations needed for making all the culture media are to be handed in attached to the corresponding lab report. The required format for this math is provided during the first week of class.  Only math calculations handed in using the required format will earn full credit (usually 1 point out of the 5 possible points for aech lab). The math layout will be thoroughly explained in class and practice examples will be worked.

For an exam make-up, the student must contact the instructor by day's end for the missed exam.  If a student does not attend exams and fails to contact the instructor, the instructor will assume that the student is dropping the class.  It will be the final responsibility of the student to ensure that he/she was dropped in a timely manner.

Library Assignments  / Presentations

Several projects and assignments are included as part of your assessment.

Library Assignments:

The Library research assignments Research in the AVC Library and EBSCO Host) need to be completed by the end of the fourth week of the semester.  You can access the tutorials directly by clicking on the links in this paragraph. Answer the multiple choice questions, and submit your answers back to the librarians. This can all be done Online.   Library staff will grade your answers and send certificates of completion back to your instructor, who will then return them to you.  A word of warning - you need to use the "Frames" versions of the tutorials.  The "No Frames" versions are for the visually impaired.

 Please see the notes on submitting projects and assignments (within the Syllabus materials) to ensure that your assignments will not be late.  Late assignments will be graded for half credit only.

Oral Presentation:

The presentation project will be to create a 20 minute oral Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on a topic in Microbiology that has not been fully explored in class.  A suggested list of presentation topics is provided for you to browse.  If you have an idea of your own, please discuss it with me, and it may be a great new addition to the topic list.  Topics need to relate to microbes and Microbiology, and not just be of clinical interest, so make sure your idea is pre-approved before you spend too much time researching it. 

At the time that you deliver your presentation or at the time that you are instructed to complete an outline, you are required to provide the instructor with copies of your reference materials and/or a Bibliography .  This may be a list of web page addresses emailed to me, or photocopies of the articles and relevant book pages you used in your research .  This allows assessment of your sources, to ensure that only  peer-reviewed scientific information is presented.  Evidence that you have assimilated information and re-written it in your own words will also be necessary.

The Marauder Bookstore has academic pricing on the most popular software packages, including MS Office, which includes Word, Xcel and PowerPoint.  

Submitting Projects and/or Assignments

Technology can be exciting and frustrating. You must plan ahead in order to ensure that technology does not catch you by surprise. Printers will run out of ink, computers will misbehave at the last second, and all sorts of other "unexpected" computer problems can happen just when you are heading to class. Plan Ahead! Don’t wait until the last minute to print or submit your homework, or to test whether your PowerPoint presentation will successfully open up on the class computers.

Important registration dates

(Link to AVC Calendar of enrolment and withdrawal date deadlines, book buyback times etc. for the Spring and Fall semesters)

Office Hourse – Online via telephone (661) 722 6436 or email: ahemsley@avc.edu.  Questions can be sent at any time.  You may expect replies, and communications during the following times.  Office visits are welcomed during the times set out below in Room OF1 113.   Appointments may be scheduled for other times if necessary.

Regular Office Hours (Spring 2008)

	Monday          12:20 - 2:15pm, 5:20 - 7:00pm
	Wednesday  - 12:20 - 2:15pm, 5:20 - 7:00pm

Regular Office Hours (Fall  2007)

	Monday 7 - 8:00 pm
	Tuesday 1:00 - 5:00pm
	SI Sessions:  Check Learning Center Schedule

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