Syllabus

Welcome to the Course!

This is the first leg of a three-part journey through the defenses your body uses to keep you healthy. In this part we hope to give you the vocabulary and concepts you need to interact with the medical community and to provide them in a context that makes them memorable.

TEXTBOOK AND WEB RESOURCES:

We don't use a textbook. An extensive outline and a list of figures accompany each lecture. However, if you would like some back-up, try: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/

Some people really like having a textbook.  The following are all good and you may be able to find them in the library or discounted on-line:

Recommended  Textbooks 

Suggested Web Resources:

Prerequisites

At Rice we require students to have passed either Introductory Biochemistry or AP Biology with a score of 4 or better. If you’ve taken Eric Lander’s edX course on “The Secret of Life,” MITx-7.00x or Kathy Matthew’s “Proteins: Biology Workforce,” Ricex BIOC300.1x, that should do it too. You are welcome in at whatever preparation level you have, but the more you know, the easier it will be to understand the material.

Workload

We anticipate spending between 8-10 hours per week, depending on background.

Format

Each week has at least one lecture broken into several video parts. Outlines and figures accompany each lecture. We include these because you’ll need to take notes, and having an outline and figures lowers you chance of writer’s cramp and improves the odds you won’t leave out anything important.

Most video segments conclude with two practice questions, typically in different formats and asking for different kinds of analysis. These do not contribute toward your grade. We also supply a practice quiz each week of ten more questions, and that doesn’t count either. By the time you get to work on the quizzes that matter, you should be familiar with the style and level of testing.

IMPORTANT QUIZ INFORMATION

• Each week will have one or two 15-question quizzes: there are 5 of these total.
• There are three Review quizzes, one on lectures 1-4, one on Lectures 5 and 6 and a last review quiz covering the whole course before you take the final.
• Thus, there are 8 quizzes total.
• Quizzes are closed book. You may not use your notes, but you will have three attempts. After the first and second attempt, you will get your score, but not a breakdown of what you missed. You can then go back into your notes and look up material you weren’t sure about, and then retake the quiz, again without notes. After the third attempt the score counts and you will have access to how you did on specific questions and a key and set of explanations
• Your total quiz scores is the sum of your best six quizzes. Your lowest two quiz scores will not be included in this sore.
• The quiz total is worth 50% of the total grade.
• Quizzes open on Tuesdays at 23:30 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). This means 11:30 PM, in Greenwich, England.
• Quizzes close on the scheduled date at 23:30 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). This means 11:30 PM, in Greenwich, England.
• Do not discuss quiz answers/explanations until the close date has past. You can discuss practice questions and practice quizzes at any time.
• Late quizzes are not accepted.

Here is a convenient converter to determine your local due date and time

IMPORTANT FINAL EXAM INFORMATION

• The final exam has 50 questions and counts for 50% of your grade.
• Tougher rules apply: have a single attempt, and you cannot use your notes. This is the way finals work at Rice, so this is taste of the undergrad Rice experience. They’re not fond of it, either. Let me point out that with 3 attempts at a quiz and the ability to drop the two lowest quiz grades, most of you who want a certificate are likely to go into the final with a 90% or better. This means if you make a 30% on the final, the certificate is yours.
• The exam is comprehensive. It opens Friday, November 27th at 23:30 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and closes Friday, December 4th 23:30 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

Multiple-choice questions will have one, and only one correct answer. Questions with more than one option may have choice that say, “A and B only,” but if you’re not given that option, pick the best of the ones you’ve got. I do not use the choice, “none of the above,” but on rare occasions provide a choice that states the previous options are all wrong with a justification. I will draw the majority of questions from those I have previously used to test Rice University students.

Grading Criteria

Weekly Quizzes = 50% of your grade

Final Exam = 50% of your grade

To earn a certificate for this class you must achieve an overall of 60% or better.

Course Schedule

Collaboration Guidelines

Working with fellow students can be an effective way to learn. However, you must be careful not to rely too much on others, and be sure you understand the material yourself.

The course staff will be proactive in removing posts and responses in the discussion forum that have stepped over the line. Remember that the edX Honor Code applies even outside of www.edx.org. Repeated violations of the following guidelines may result in your progress being erased an/or your account being deactivated.

• It is okay to discuss the general approach to solving a question.
• It is okay to give or receive hints if you get stuck while attempting practice questions but not quizzes or exams.
• You should work out the details of an answer yourself.
• It is not okay to simply copy someone else's solution or answer.
• It is not okay to ask for, share or receive answers or explanations to quizzes or exams before the deadline has passed.

Discussion Forum Etiquette

The discussion forum is the primary way for you to communicate with other students and the course staff. We hope that the forum serves as a useful resource, and that the students of BIOC372x develop a sense of community.

The course staff will be proactive in removing posts and responses in the discussion forum that have stepped over the line. Remember that the edX Honor Code applies even outside of www.edx.org. Repeated violations of the following guidelines may result in your progress being erased an/or your account being deactivated.

• Use the established forum categories and search before asking: Write a concise yet descriptive title for your post, and provide enough information for others to understand the question or problem. What exercise or video are you talking about? Which part? What do you not understand, or what have you tried already?
• Write clearly: Correct spelling and grammar will help others to understand you and provide useful responses. Avoid using ALL CAPS, abbrv of wrds (abbreviation of words), and excessive punctuation!!!!!!!!!
• Upvote good posts: Click on the green “plus” button so that good posts and/or responses can be found more easily. Also, you can search by votes to find the most interesting posts.
• Notify staff of bugs/errata: Including the term “BUG” at the beginning of your post’s title will help notify the course staff of any courseware related issues or problems. Please use this format only when reporting issues in the courseware!
• Use the forums to help you learn the content: We encourage you to ask questions, seek clarification, contribute to the conversation, but please keep the focus of your dialogue to the topics directly related to the course content.
• Be polite: You are participating in a global classroom, with students from around the world and often with very different backgrounds. Let’s build a positive community! Please report any posts that are abusive, offensive, that infringe upon copyright, or that otherwise violate the course Honor Code.
• Observe the Honor Code: We encourage collaboration and learning communities, but please avoid asking for and/or posting answers to assignments. Those caught cheating may have their accounts disabled and their progress erased.

Accessibility and Accommodations

Your experience in this course is important to us! We strive to provide content that is accessible to all students. If you need course accommodations because of a documented disability that may affect academic performance, please communicate your approved accommodations to the course team at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course. All discussions will remain as confidential as possible.