Post Secondary Teaching and Learning - PSTL

Description:  This is a learner-centered introductory level course that guides you toward developing your own understanding of the preeminent principles of biology, including Ecology, Biodiversity, Evolution, Genetics, Cell Theory, and the Molecular Basis of Life. But, we strive to have you do so in the context of your own daily living, being ever mindful that all living things are connected in an intricate web of life, and that how you live your life affects the nature of that web. So, how do we begin? By asking questions and developing answers. Here's some questions we'll try to answer from a scientific point of view (and don't worry, you'll get to ask and answer your own questions as well). Who are you? Are we alone in the universe? Want to have a clone? Is there really such a thing as race? Are you only as smart as your genes? Is creationism an alternative to evolution? Is the earth warming? Are we creating a biodiversity crisis? Is social justice possible? How might a shark save my life? We will spend much of our time in the classroom working on small-group activities designed to develop answers to the questions based on what we already know (or think we do) and new knowledge that we are constructing. Sometimes there will be short (10-minute) lectures to help out with difficult concepts; and always we will take time to write about what we understand, how we came to understand it, and what we still don't understand. In the laboratory, you will work in cooperative pairs, focusing on the process of science; that is, how scientists go about observation, formulating questions, transforming the questions into hypotheses, testing the hypotheses, collecting data, organizing and interpreting the data, drawing conclusions, and communicating their work to the world. There is no dissection of organisms in this course.

Class Time: 20% Lecture, 20% Discussion, 30% Laboratory, 30% Small Group Activities.

Work Load: 50-60 pages reading per week, 25-30 pages writing per term, 2 exams, 1 special projects, 5 homework assignments, 1 problem sets. special project is group project; writing is for lab reports; homework assignments and problem set are for lab

Grade: 16% mid exam, 17% final exam, 16% special projects, 17% class participation, 33% laboratory evaluation. Lab scoring based on weekly quiz, lab reports, written homework, and one problem set.

Exam Format: Multiple choice

Instructor:  Hatch,Jay Tudor (Morse Alumni Award; UC Outstanding Teaching Award)