Lecture Instructor: Rick Gillis  Office: 3014 Cowley Hall Office Phone: (608)-785-8253  

 

OFFICE HOURS: Although my Office Hours in 3014 Cowley Hall are listed on the schedule below in green, please feel free to visit me any time I am in my office (which is usually when I am not in class, as indicated by the yellow shading)

 

I can usually be reached by phone (608-785-8253) or visited during the hours I am not in class, but if this becomes a problem, I can always be reached by e-mail at: gillis.rick@uwlax.edu. 

Course Materials: As part of the special course fee you have paid, you will be provided with a set of Course Lecture Outline Notes (which includes a series of appendices), a Laboratory Manual and a CD-ROM  (Zoo Disk) that contains just about all of the questions (except for some questions to the function of some structures) along with their answers, their correct spelling, whether they need to be underlined or not, capitalized, etc. found on the Animal Biology Lab Practical Exams!   

 

 

Optional Material: Animal Diversity by Hickman and Roberts.  Although you may wish to use this text as a reference, there will be no reading assignments nor will any test material be taken from it.

 

Special Note to Teacher Education Students: Activities in this course can potentially be used for portfolio development!

 

Method of Evaluation: Course grades will be determined by points received on machine-scored, non-comprehensive, multiple choice exams given during lecture hours* as well as a microscope quiz and three laboratory practical exams. Questions for the lecture test will be taken only from the material presented in lecture.  The dates of all quizzes and exams can be found on the Class Schedule.

Note: Any of the lecture exams may be taken prior to the date and time for which they are scheduled for any reason.  With reasonable justification (such as illness, participation in an athletic event, the scheduling of an unreasonable number of exams and assignments on the same day or two, etc.), students may take lecture exams at a later date. In such cases, it is the responsibility of the student to find a time to take the exam during which the instructor is free and available. 

Note also that there is no provision for making up missed laboratory practical exams! If you miss a scheduled lab exam (for a documented reason), check with the lecture instructor immediately to see if you can take it at a later scheduled time!  If this is not possible, the score you receive on the next lab practical will be counted twice.  But remember, if you miss a lab practical for an undocumented reason (i.e., you over-slept, forgot the exact time, arrived after the quiz had begun, etc.) you will receive a zero for that exam!

The breakdown of points will be as follows:

Lecture Exams (4)	200 points
Lab Practical Exams (3)	90 points
Lab Microscope Quiz (1)	10 points
Totals =	300 points

 

The course grade distribution will be as follows:

 

A: 90-100%   AB: 87-89%   B: 80-86%     BC: 77-79%   C: 70-76%  D: 60-69%  F: 0-59%

 

Class Attendance: Attendance at all lectures and lab sessions is a normal and expected component of this (or any other) course at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse!  You are responsible for any important announcements, changes to the exam schedule, assignment due dates, etc. made in lecture and lab. Thus, if you fail to take a lecture exam before or during its scheduled hour because the date of the exam was changed and a new exam date was announced in class, this does not constitute “reasonable justification” for having missed the exam, and you will receive a score of zero for that exam!

 

Required Writing Assignment: As part of the UW-L Writing Across the Major Program adopted by the Biology Department, all students in this course are required to complete a writing assignment.  Accordingly, up to 10 points of extra credit may be awarded for completing a written species account, but remember, if the completed writing assignment is not turned in to your lecture instructor personally, or it is turned in late, 10 points will be subtracted from your total course points!

 

Note:  In addition to the Link on this website, instructions for completing the writing assignment can also be found in the stapled set of class handouts. 

 

Code Numbers: In keeping with UW-L and Federal requirements (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) for maintaining student confidentiality in the grading process, all lecture and lab exam scores will be posted on the bulletin board in Cowley Hall across from Room 325 and on the following Link on the Animal Biology Website by a three-digit Code Number known only to the student and the lecture instructor.  To obtain a Code Number, visit your instructor in his office (3014 Cowley Hall) at your earliest convenience. This is the only way of obtaining this number (which must also be used for identifying your extra credit writing assignment)!

 

Students With Special Needs: Any student with a documented disability who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor and the Disability Resource Services Office at the beginning of the semester.  Such accommodations are not a special privilege; they are your legally mandated right!

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