Q: What book are we using this semester?
A: We are using Freeman, Biological Science, 3rd Edition. However, if you have already bought Freeman 2nd Edition, you’ll be fine. The books are similar enough that you will easily be able to adapt. As an added bonus, since the 2nd edition is no longer being used by anyone, you can buy a copy on ebay or amazon.com for a fraction of the cost, and who doesn’t want to save money? Also, I'll be perfectly honest, most books have about the same information, so if you have access to another comparable book, like Campbell, Raven & Johnson, Solomon, etc., go ahead and use it.
Q: Can I use an old lab manual?
A: No, the assignments have been torn out. Also, there is a new edition of the lab manual, so some of the labs are changes. All of the assignments have been changed
Q: Do I need an iClicker?
A: Yes
Q: I have *** brand clicker device- Can I use this instead?
A: No, they are all different.
Q: I already have an iClicker from another class - can I use it in both?
A: Yes, and if you're taking BIOS 101 at UIC, you'll need an iClicker for that class as well, so don't sell it back!
Q: Can I share a clicker with someone in this class? How about my roommate who is taking another class using iClicker?
A: No. Each iClicker must be registered to a single person. If you shared your iClicker with your roommate, the iClicker would either be registered to you or to them.
Q: I already have an iClicker, do I have to register it online again?
A: Yes, they claim that you don't have to reregister your iClicker, and sometimes the registration sticks, but my experience has been that you should spend about a minute and reregister it
Q: I have an iClicker and the number is rubbed off - how can I register it?
A: Well, if you've already registered it for a different class and it has rubbed off, you can do this:
- go to iclicker.com
- under What's New look for Find Your Remote ID
- click on read more
- fill in your Name and UIN
- it will then give your iClicker serial number
If you have a used iClicker or you just can't get this to work, come and see your instructor and we'll do a few iClicker tricks to retrieve the number.
Q: I don't have any iClicker points on blackboard, what happened?
A: Most likely, you haven't registered your iClicker properly. Reregister this and tell your instructor. If it is past the first few weeks, you may not get the points. You're supposed to be responsible for this and we can't keep manually entering the grades for everyone too lazy to check up on this.
Q: How do I calculate my grade?
A: Add up your exam scores and drop the lowest score. Add up your labs and drop your lowest lab. Add in the clicker points and anything else I've added for one reason or another. This total is your final score. DO NOT use the blackboard total, as this is incorrect. See below...
Q: Do I have to drop the lowest lab?
A: Yes, the grading scale is set up to accommodate this. If you didn't drop your lowest lab, the grading scale would be 9-10 points higher for each break and unless you have all 10's for your labs, this will hurt your grade. Trust me, it is in your best interest to drop the lowest lab and have the lower grading scale
Q: I don't see the class in my blackboard page - what's going on?
A: Most likely you haven't been entered into Blackboard
Q: The syllabus says that the point total for the class is ***, but blackboard says ***. Why?
A: Blackboard does not drop the lowest exam (100 pts) or the lowest lab (10 points), so these are included in the point total. The totals given in blackboard are You are just going to have to deal with this.
Q: Blackboard says an exam or lab is worth zero points (or 55 or a million or something that is totally incorrect). Why is this?
A: I got really tied of answering questions about how the blackboard total relates to your grades. Blackboard is a database - however, it does not calculate your grade. At the end of the semester, I download the database, put it into a spreadsheet, drop all of the lowest exam and lab scores, add in anything else I need to, and then use that total to calculate your grades.
Q. What if I'm missing a lab score on blackboard?
A: email your TA - it is possible that she hasn't entered it yet - if you have turned it in and your classmates have a score entered and you don't, make sure your TA knows this. If you have the graded assignment, feel free to either show your TA or me and we can enter it. Yes, you should ALWAYS save your graded assignments.
Q. What if I'm missing a clicker score on blackboard?
A: you have to email me within a week of the score being posted. If you email me after that date, there is nothing I can do. YOU are responsible for keeping up with your grades, so you should check it at least once a week.
Q: What if I miss a lab?
A: If you miss a lab, you can make it up during that week. Simply look in the UIC timetable, find a lab, and go to it. Make sure that the substitute TA initials your labsheet or you won't get credit. If you miss a lab and the week ends, well, you are out of luck. Sorry. Remember you get to drop a lab.
Q: Can I use my friend's lab manual from last year?
A: No, you need to have the assignments. I change them every year, so if they were still in the manual, they would be different.
Q: Since we have lab parters and do the experiments together, can't we work together when doing the write up?
A: While we encourage you to discuss your work with your lab partners, you have to do all of the lab write up yourself. That includes graphs - don't just make one graph and print out four copies - we're not stupid, we'll notice that they are all identical and then reward that insult to our intelligence with a big fat zero.
Q: How can I contact my TA?
A: There are many ways to do this. The easy way is to go to the couse webpage and click on the Teaching Staff link. You can also go into blackboard, click on the "send email" list and then find your TA's name (or another student's name) in the list. A more general way is to go to the UIC webpage, click on "Find People" on the left, and then enter your TA's name.
Q: What if I don't know my TA's name?
A: Well, you're in a pickle here, aren't you? You should know this. However, if you don't, you may be able to find your TA's name by going to the UIC timetable and looking up your section under the BIOS 100 courses
Q: Where is the timetable?
A: Go to the UIC webpage, click on learning, then click on "schedule of classes." Click the appropriate semester and department and you'll have the timetable. The link changes every semester, else I'd have a direct link to it.
Q: Is lab material on the exam?
A: Not directly, but I do integrate lab material in lecture, so then it is fair game.
Q: How should I study for the exams?
A: The exams are mostly from the notes, so if you know this material, you should be fine. The book is there to supplement and add to the lecture material. However, I don’t have time to cover every point in the book, so material covered in the book but not in lecture will not be on the exam. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t read it, but that you shouldn’t study it for the exam. Sample exams will also be posted - these will give you a feel for the types of questions I will be asking.
Q: I studied really hard, but didn’t do as well as I thought I would do on the exam. What should I do?
A: Go through the exam and for every question you missed, ask yourself, "why did I miss this question?" Sometimes you just make a stupid mistake, sometimes you misread the question, sometimes you realize that you didn’t know the material as well as you should have (or you had an incorrect understanding about the material). Hopefully, when you are done with this, you’ll have a better understanding of your study strengths and weaknesses.
Q. Do you curve?
A: No. The grading scale is posted
Q: Will I be able to get a letter of recommendation from you?
A: That all depends on how well I know you at the end of the semester. If you are in a pre-med and looking for a future letter, you should make sure that I know who you are. That doesn’t mean suck up, because no one likes a brown-noser, but having some knowledge about you, your personality, your interests, etc. really helps.