BIOL 4415
EVOLUTION
Spring 2012: CRN #22063
Dr. Ben Waggoner
020 Lewis Science Center
Cell phone: 472-2854
Department phone: 450-3146
Department FAX: 450-5914
E-mail: ediacara@cyberback.com
Lecture: Monday-Wednesday-Friday, 1:00-1:50 AM: LSC 170
Lab: Monday, 2:00-4:50 PM: LSC 025
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM; or by appointment
Course Web Page: http://faculty.uca.edu/benw/biol4415
Prerequisite: Grade of C or better in Biology 2490 (Genetics)
Textbook: In place of a formal textbook, you will be given readings throughout the semester.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES
Harassment: Sexual harassment of any faculty member, staff member, or student, by any faculty member, staff member, or student, is a violation of both law and university policy and will not be tolerated at the University of Central Arkansas. Sexual harassment of employees is prohibited under Section 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sexual harassment of students may constitute discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Non-sexual harassment based on race, ethnic origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social class, or age will be treated in an equivalent fashion.
The University's official definitions of sexual harassment, and the steps to be taken in case of harassment, are on-line at http://uca.edu/board/files/2010/11/511.pdf . Any incidents should be reported to the professor in charge of the class; to the department head or academic dean; or directly to the General Counsel (Tom Courtway: tcourtway@uca.edu; 206 Wingo; 501-852-2659), the Affirmative Action officer (Jack Gillean: jgillean@uca.edu; 207 Wingo; 450-5077), or the Associate VP of Human Resources (Graham Gillis: ggillis@uca.edu; 103 Wingo; 450-5051).
Disabled students: The University of Central Arkansas adheres to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need an accommodation under this Act due to a disability, contact the UCA Disability Support Services office in suite 212 of the Student Health Center, by phone at 450-3613, by FAX at 450-5664, on the Web at http://www.uca.edu/divisions/student/disability/ , or by e-mail to the director, Crystal Hill, at crystalh@uca.edu.
Statement on academic misconduct: The University of Central Arkansas affirms its commitment to academic integrity and expects all members of the university community to accept shared responsibility for maintaining academic integrity. Students in this course are subject to the provisions of the university's Academic Integrity Policy, approved by the Board of Trustees as Board Policy No. 709 on February 10, 2010, and published in the Student Handbook. (http://uca.edu/board/files/2010/11/709.pdf) Penalties for academic misconduct in this course may include a failing grade on an assignment, a failing grade in the course, or any other course-related sanction the instructor determines to be appropriate. Continued enrollment in this course affirms a studentÕs acceptance of this university policy.
Academic misconduct includes plagiarism (presenting material from another printed or Internet source as your own work), cheating (for example, copying another studentÕs exam or assignment and presenting it as your own), and fabrication (falsifying the results of an experiment or other records). The official definition of academic misconduct used at UCA is found in the current Student Handbook. More information, including examples of these types of academic misconduct, is at http://www.uca.edu/integrity/index.php .
Note that under current UCA policy, your professors are now required to file reports on instances of academic misconduct, which go into your permanent academic record. For repeated offenses, further penalties may be applied, up to and including expulsion.
Scholarships: Students who are on academic scholarships should be aware that most scholarships require full-time enrollment (at least 12 hours) and a minimum fall GPA of 2.5. If you are on scholarship, please keep your requirements in mind when making or altering your schedule. See http://www.uca.edu/scholarships/, or contact the Division of Enrollment Management at (501) 450-3125 or scholarships@uca.edu.
Inclement Weather Policy: If the weather is bad on a scheduled class day, check the UCA main website (http://www.uca.edu/), KUCA (91.3 FM) radio, or local TV for announcements. (Channel 4, KARK, is a TV station thatÕs good about announcing closures, or check http://www.kark.com/ .) If the campus is officially closed, classes will of course be canceled. If the campus isn't closed, then classes will be held as normal, but use your own judgment in deciding whether to attend. Some students have to commute a long way and may not be able to reach campus safely. I expect everyone to make a reasonable effort to show up—but don't risk your life, health, or valuable property to get here! Severe weather counts as an excusable reason for absence; assignments that you miss due to bad weather may be prorated, postponed, or canceled at the instructor's discretion (see below).
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance: Attendance will not be taken after the first few meetings. You are presumed to be adults, responsible for the consequences of your own actions, and able to cope with the results of missing any fraction of this course. You cannot make up missed labs or exams in this course, but if you miss a lab or exam because of a medical or personal emergency, your grade will be prorated.
Acceptable reasons for missing class include: death (your own); death of a family member or close friend; personal injury or illness, if serious enough to require professional medical treatment; injury or illness of a family member or close friend, if serious enough to require medical treatment; serious personal emergency (e.g. car breakdown, court appearance, etc.); participation in a sanctioned intervarsity athletic event; participation in an event sponsored by a registered student organization (RSO), UCA course (e.g. choir, band, course field trip), or recognized professional organization. Medical, dental, and legal appointments may be excusable, as may employment responsibilities, but please do all you can to avoid scheduling them in conflict with your class. Participation in non-emergency family activities, or in organizations that are not RSOs or sanctioned athletic teams, are not usually excusable.
Barring truly extraordinary circumstances, excusable absences must be documented—by an official note on letterhead, or other documentation as appropriate, from your doctor, dentist, car mechanic, arresting officer, parole board, etc. as the case may be. I wonÕt ask to keep your documentation, but I will need to examine it. Also, excusal of your absence does not exempt you from learning the missed material; you will still be held responsible on future tests and assignments for whatever you missed.
Exams: There will be two midterm exam (100 pts. each) and a final exam (200 pts.) The midterms will not be cumulative. The final exam will be cumulative, but will focus mostly on material from the second half of the course. Exam format will include mostly fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and short essay questions.
Labs: Yes, we do labs in this course! Handouts
for each lab will be provided to you, together with instructions for completing
the accompanying lab write-up that you will turn in for a grade. Each of these
will be worth 20 points, for a total of 200 points.
Internet Resources: I use the World Wide Web (WWW) extensively in this course. The course WWW page is http://faculty.uca.edu/benw/biol4415/ Electronic versions of course handouts will be available here, including this syllabus. So will many of the readings. Printable versions of the PowerPoint electronic slide presentations that I use will also be here; this will enable you to review my slides at your own pace, as often as you like. I will also place copies of these files on the course homepage accessible through myUCA. This has a bunch of new features like a chatroom and a message board; if yÕall feel like using them, we can try them out.
Electronic Devices: A number of psychological studies have shown than multitasking interferes with the brainÕs processing ability. In other words, even though you think you can learn from my lectures while updating your Facebook page, e-mailing your mom, texting your significant other, and playing Farmville on your iPhone. . . you really canÕt. Not as well as you think. Still, if you want to pay money to go through this class in an electronically induced purple haze, thatÕs not my problem. I still get paid.
What you donÕt have the right to do is disrupt anyone elseÕs attempt to learn from me. Even if you personally are bored sick by my idle blabberings, you owe your fellow students common courtesy and respect. That means: Turn cell phones to silent. If you must take an important call during class, sit near the exit so you can leave with minimal disruption. If you absolutely have to look at something highly distracting on your laptop, sit in the back row where you wonÕt distract people behind you. In the words of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus (55-135 CE), "What thou avoidest suffering thyself, seek not to impose on others."
No electronic devices may be used during exams. Unfortunately, owing to some suspicious events in other classes, I have had to ban the use of electronic translating devices and dictionaries during exams.
Grading:
Midterm exam 1 100 pts.
Midterm exam 2 100 pts.
Final exam 200 pts.
Labs 200 pts.
TOTAL: 600 pts.
Letter grades will be assigned in 10% increments: thus a score of 90-100% is an A, 80-89.9% is a B; 70-79.9% is a C, 60-69.9% is a D, and anything under 60% is a grade of F. There will not be a curve.
No extra credit or bonus points will be given. Except in the case of an arithmetic or accounting error on the professorÕs part, final grades will not be changed for any reason after the end of the course.
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DATES |
LECTURE TOPICS |
LABS |
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Jan. 13 |
Intro, getting acquainted |
— |
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Jan. 18-20 |
What did Darwin actually do? (no class Jan. 16) |
— |
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Jan. 23-27 |
More on Darwin |
"The Day. . ." |
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Jan. 30-Feb. 3 |
The Modern Synthesis |
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Feb. 6-10 |
Population Genetics |
PopGen |
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Feb. 13-17 |
Yet More Genetics |
Beans |
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Feb. 20-24 |
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Prisoners |
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Feb. 27 - Mar. 2 |
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Mar. 5-9 |
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Mar. 12-16 |
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Cladistics II |
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Mar. 19-23 |
no class—Spring Break |
— |
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Mar. 26-30 |
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Cladistics III |
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Apr. 2-6 |
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Derpbikes
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Apr. 9-13 |
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Cladistics IV
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Apr. 16-20 |
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Apr. 23-25 |
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Heckifino |
FINAL EXAM: Monday, April 30, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
This syllabus is not a legally binding contract. The instructor reserves the right to modify this schedule or the assignments listed on it as he chooses, according to his professional judgement. Any changes will be announced in advance if possible, and will be posted on the course Website.
OTHER CRITICAL DATES
(see http://www.uca.edu/registrar/academiccalendar.php)
January 16, Monday: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
January 18, Wednesday: Final date to register, add classes, change from credit to audit or audit to credit
January 19, Thursday: Final date to drop and receive a 100% refund
February 2, Thursday: Final date to drop and receive a 75% refund. 0% refund after this date.
February 10, Friday: Final date to make degree application for May graduation and be included in the commencement program
March 17-25: Spring Break
March 30, Friday: Final date to officially withdraw from a Jan 12 - May 5 classes or the university with a W grade, unless already dropped for non-attendance
April 2-23: Advance Registration for Summer and Fall 2012
April 20, Friday: Final date to officially withdraw from a Jan 12 - May 4 course or the university with a WP or WF grade, unless already dropped for non-attendance
April 27, Friday: Study Day
May 5, Saturday: Spring Commencement
May 8, Tuesday, NOON: Final grade report date