You made it!
Here are some suggestions for how to study for this class, and for how to use the resources that I will make available. It is a bit of a ramble, but read it.
Here's the plan: on the day before class, I will post study questions. Here's how you should use them.You can print them off and bring them to class if you like. Or, in the interests of sustainability, if you have a laptop you could bring it to class and access the questions there. As we move through the day's powerpoint lecture (and as you take notes!), you can make reference to where in the notes questions are answered, and maybe even answer some as we go along. Then, after class that day, study the material WITHOUT the study questions. Study all of the lecture; you will be responsible for all the material in lecture, even if I don't happen to have a specific study question about it. Then, when you feel you have a handle on the material, close the book, close your notes, and answer the study questions like they are a little quiz. When you are done, go back through the material and see how your answers match with the material, itself. This is the best way to test whether you understand and remember the key concepts and the details. If you just sit down with the questions and your notes and the book, and then just rewrite the material from your notes in response to each question, you are just moving the material from one page to another and little of it might get stuck in your head. So give yourself little blind quizzes; this is the best way to practice for the actual quizzes and exams where you will not have access to your notes or the book. If you are unsure of an answer to a question, e-mail me both the question and your answer and I will let you know if your answer is sufficient. However, don't mail me all your answers! The thoroughness of my reply will be inversely related to the number of answers you and your classmates want me to review! If everyone sends me lots of questions the night before a quiz or exam, it is unlikely that I'll say more than "looks ok; #5 is weak". And indeed, I may not get to them at all if I'm busy that evening.
This is a very information-dense class. You will be held responsibile for knowing all the material we cover, at the level of depth and detail that we cover it. Here is a helpful hint that you should use in all your classes: never ask the prof, "is this important?" or "do we have to know this?". If we spent the time and effort to tell you about it, or to assign a reading about it, then we think the material has some level of importance.
Because it is an information-dense class that builds, cumulatively, on the previous material we have learned, you really need to stay on top of itl. Find time to do the readings and study between classes. If you go from thursday to tuesday without doing much, you will probably have forgotten where we were and the new lecture will be harder to understand. If you are up to speed, it will be easier to understand and you'll need less time to really study and review it because you were able to process so much during the class period. This is particularly important during the first unit - many students find the cellular biology unit more difficult than latter units, so get off on the right foot by developing good study habits.
The powerpoint will be posted about 6pm each lecture day (after I get out of lab). I won't post the ppt before class because I think that destroys the spontaneity of lecture...I want you following along, engaged in the argument as it is presented; not just checking off where we are. There will also be a section called "Assumed Knowledge" posted along with the questions. This section lists topics from the book that we will not cover in class but that you are responsible for. These topics will be reflected in the study questions, as well.
Finally, please feel free to schedule an appt to see me if you have a question. I'm pretty well booked-up on tuesdays and thursdays with 3hrs of lecture and a lab each day, but m,w, and f are open. Rather than limiting my accessiblity to designated "office hours" that may not match your schedule, just e-mail me and we will set up a time that works for both of us.
None. No additional readings besides Chapter 1.