If you are having problems mastering any part of the course, do not hesitate to schedule a time to discuss your concerns with me. I will do all I can to help you. Please, do not wait to try to reverse poor performance until the end of the course.
Accessing the course websites.
1. There should be a link to the course website (index or homepage) under my Wolfware. Do not simply try to connect to Moodle from your calendar or other aids. You will end up on the Moodle index page for this course. You need to search and find your My Wolware page. You should see a list of your current courses under the current tab. Simply click on the title of the course and if you see a cartoon with the title and some drawing of invertebrates, you have successfully maneuvered to the homepage for the course locker where most of the course materials are housed. There are links to this syllabus and schedule under the graphic.
If that fails, you can always navigate to https://bioclass.cos.ncsu.edu/bio402_315/
2. This is a Moodle course, although most of the lecture and lab materials will be found on the course website. You will use Moodle to submit assignments, access on line quizzes and monitor your grades. To get to the Moodle homepage for this course, click on that big orange m in the right corner next to the title.
You should bookmark both homepages.
"Lecture"
As much of the lecture material will be on line as possible. We will meet formally some weeks on Wednesdays (see schedule) for activities, quizzing, and discussions of homework. We may also be meeting for testing.
A textbook or is not required. Some students will benefit from using a textbook and highly recommended is Biology of the Invertebrates by Jan A. Pechenik, Sixth ed. McGraw Hill. Most "lecture" materials will be found on-line and the class will not meet face to face except for review and testing.
Requirements for laboratory
All laboratory sessions are face to face experiences. In Zoo 402 we have always worked with live specimens.
To attain a true understanding of an open circulatory system, you need to be able to trace the clear blood as it moves from the heart into the sinuses on a shrimp happily or perhaps not so happily munching on some fish food. The lab focus is on behavior and form, but we can do some physiology and internal anatomy because most groups have transparent specimens that we house in tanks in the lab room. There is no way to duplicate this experience. Most preserved invertebrates look like bleached white medium size rubber bands. So again all lab sessions will be face-to-face.Laboratory exercises will be published on line for you to download. You will be required to keep a digital journal on the laboratory computer assigned to you. A thumb or flash drive of 1 G or more is also required. Thumb or flash drives will not be returned and the journal you keep on the drive, as well as any other material to be graded, will be evaluated at the end of the term by your laboratory instructor. Do not plan to keep anything on this thumb drive except invertebrate biology material. This drive will enable you also to take your films and photographs obtained in the laboratory for editing .
We will adhere in the laboratory to strict guidelines put in place by law for academic labs. Shoes, etc. are required for laboratory and anyone not in compliance with safety protocol will be sent home. You will be informed on proper safety protocol before your first lab. You will not be allowed to make up or excuse the laboratory missed. I have underlying conditions and of the age that makes me prone to Covid. I do not want any of you to catch the virus or bring it home. So I will be wearing a mask if I visit, and those of you wish to wear a mask in lab or class should feel free to do so.
Grading:
Your grade will be based on 600 points, distributed as follows.
Lecture: 400 points
EXAMS: Total 300 points
240-260 ponts--Three exams, may include take home portions
40-60 points--Final including take home portion.
Quizzes and homework: 100 points Only 100 points can be counted toward your grade. These essentially are self-help activities for which you will earn most of the grade by submitted an honest effort. They are ways for you to test your understanding and mastery of the material before exams. I usually end up offering 125 - 150 points of such activities during the semester and so you can skip a few and still earn the maximum number of points allowed to be counted toward your grade.
Laboratory: 200 points count toward the final grade.
You will be asked to keep a journal on your thumb drive and other materials to be graded by your laboratory instructor. For each laboratory, you will be able to earn up to 35 points that can be added to your final grade. There are nine to ten laboratory exercises and your best 8-9 will count toward your grade. You will be able then, to miss one laboratory, and still earn the 200 points that can be counted toward your grade.
In class and on line exams and quizzes should be considered individual and closed book efforts. To offer or accept aid on such from other students is considered cheating. Also considered cheating is using paper aids or accessing Internet aids during exams or quizzes. Also considered a breach of the university honor code is offering any aid, other than discussion before composing your answers, to another student on homework assignments. You may not submit answers or homework for another student or accept similar aid from another student. in laboratory students may be asked to share films and other results/observations. One week you may have a cooperative specimen, but the next week that good fortune may be enjoyed by another student in the class. Sharing (while maintaining distance) lab experiences benefits everyone. However, any analyses of such should be an individual venture, as students are expected to keep individual journals.
Students who are disruptive or disrespectful of others will be asked to leave the in class meetings and will not receive credit for exams or in-class activities that occur during these sessions.Students are not to leave laboratory without first being dismissed by the laboratory instructor. This is a safety issue. Instructors are suppose to know where, in an event of a emergency, their students are at all times.
E-mail Etiquette
Make sure to include your full name in the body of all e-mails you send to me. In the subject heading, please write invert or 402. If you are attaching a document, include your name in the document and use your name and course number for the file name. Also include your full name in the attached document. If you’re replying to an e-mail, please include any previous exchanges in the e-mail reply. However, do not simply reply to the e ails I generate via my pack portal. My current e-mail client strings all mail from this portal together. I would have to search all the messages I generated and all replies I received from students since the beginning of the term. To avoid this problem, always edit the subject line of your reply. For example, if I send you an e-mail about a coming exam with the subject line Exam 1, you must if you are replying at least add your initials or the date, etc. to the subject line or I may never realize that I have received an e-mail from you. The stack simply reappears and it is up to me to find any new correspondence.
Please allow 24 hours (48 hours on weekends) for me to answer e-mails. I try to check my e-mail twice a day, but there may be meetings, etc. that sometimes prevent me from checking my e-mail till late at night. I have also had my home service fail before.
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR DISABILITIES: Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. To take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with Disability Services Office at Suite 2221, Student Health Center, Box 7509, 919-515-7653. For more info. on NC State's policy on working with students with disabilities, see Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Regulation (REG02.20.01)
POLICIES, RULES, AND REGULATIONS: Students are encouraged to review the PRRs that pertain to their course rights and responsibilities. These include: http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-04-25-05 (Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy Statement), http://oied.ncsu.edu/oied/policies.php (Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity), http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-11-35-01 (Code of Student Conduct), and http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-50-03 (Grades and Grade Point Average). I expect all students to treat each other as respected colleagues. Please let me know if others or I ever make you feel uncomfortable in this class with respect to your gender, race or ethnic identify. That is never my intent.
SUPPORTING FELLOW STUDENTS IN DISTRESS: As members of the NC State Wolfpack community, we each share a personal responsibility to express concern for one another and to ensure that this classroom and the campus as a whole remains a safe environment for learning. Occasionally, students may come across a fellow classmate whose personal behavior concerns or worries them. When this is the case, we encourage students to report this behavior to the NC State Students of Concern website: http://studentsofconcern.ncsu.edu/. Although reports can be anonymous, it is preferred that students share contact information to facilitate follow-ups pertinent to the reports.