171 Lab

Spring 2019 - General Laboratory Schedule

General Biology Series Website: www.faculty.fairfield.edu/genbio

Instructors:

Lenka Biardi, BNW 248, ext. 3196, lbiardi@fairfield.edu - Wednesday Lab
Dr. Phyllis Braun, BNW 213, ext. 2111, pcbraun@faifield.edu - Monday and Thursday Labs
Dr. Diane Brousseau, BNW 214, ext. 2739 brousseau@fairfield.edu - Tuesday and Thursday Lab
Dr. Geoffrey Church, BNW 207, ext. 2485, gchurch@fairfield.edu - Wednesday Lab
Dr. Shannon Gerry, BNW 223, ext. 2542, sgerry@fairfield.edu - Tuesday Lab

The laboratory component is a required part of the introductory biology course - You must pass the laboratory section in order to pass the course. The laboratory is designed to provide an investigative-based laboratory experience with concepts covered in the course. Students will usually work in teams of two or four, and are strongly encouraged to participate in class discussions.

Attendance Policy
ATTENDANCE TO YOUR ASSIGNED LABORATORY SECTION IS MANDATORY!

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES CANNOT BE MADE UP and will result in the following penalties:
o A single unexcused absence from lab will result in a reduction in the final lab grade by one letter grade.
o TWO or more unexcused absences will result in a failure in the lab and the course.

EXCUSED ABSENCES MUST BE MADE UP IN ANOTHER SECTION THAT SAME WEEK (with instructor approval).
o Excused absences must be approved by the dean or by coach (student athletes must provide the instructor with dates for missed labs prior to lab).
o If a student is unable to make up a single EXCUSED lab it will result in a reduction in the final lab grade by one letter grade. If a student is unable to make up TWO or more EXCUSED labs the student will receive an incomplete for the course and thus must re- take BI171.

Required Materials:
The following materials are required for each student and must be brought to each lab session:

• BI 171 Lab Manual
• A bound, marble composition-style laboratory notebook
• Lab coat, to be worn at all times in the laboratory
• Closed-toe shoes
• Pens, pencils, scissors, ruler
  
  Laboratory Guidelines:
  
• Your laboratory notebook must be devoted solely to the BI 171 laboratory.
• This notebook must be brought to every lab or you will be asked to leave.
• A laboratory coat (available at the bookstore) must be worn in the lab at all times. Students without their coat will be asked to leave the lab.
• You will not be allowed to enter the laboratory with open-toed shoes. Students with open-toed shoes will be asked to leave the lab.
• Before lab each week, students should prepare by reading the entire assigned laboratory, and finish the pre-laboratory writing assignment on a separate sheet of paper.
• We cannot allow any students to attend lab sections other than their own. Make-up laboratories are only permitted under very special circumstances and by permission of the instructor. Please see attendance policy above.
• The use of cell phones or stereo headphones/music devices in class is disruptive to others. Please turn them OFF and have them put away while in class.
• There is ABSOLUTELY NO FOOD OR DRINK permitted in the laboratories at any time - this includes OPEN LAB times. Violators will be asked to leave the lab.
• Individual students will not be permitted to leave lab until the entire class is dismissed by the instructor.
  
  Components of the Lab:

Lab Notebooks
A marble composition-style laboratory notebook devoted solely to the BI 171 laboratory will be required for this course. Experiments will be recorded in the notebooks and they will be checked for completeness at the end of each lab period. Incomplete notebooks will be penalized. Although discussion of labs and assigned questions with other students is encouraged, plagiarism is obviously prohibited.

Quizzes
You will be expected to take short open-notebook quizzes at the start of most lab periods. These will cover the topic of that lab and the previous week’s lab. You will be able to use your pre-laboratory writing assignment as a reference during your quiz, so COME PREPARED! Your lowest quiz score will be dropped.

Scientific Publication Review
You will be assigned to read a scientific journal article from a peer-reviewed publication, and prepare written answers to questions about the article. These questions will require you to analyze and interpret the article’s purpose and hypothesis, experimental design and methods, results, and conclusions.

Computers and Software
Several lab exercises will require use of a computer for data analysis and graphing. You will need to use Microsoft Word and Excel or equivalent software such as Pages and Numbers (Apple), or Google Docs and Google Sheets.

Independent Study Lab Report
You will be asked to write a formal lab report on your independent experiment. This will follow the format of a standard journal article, which will be introduced to you, and is described in your laboratory manual. You have the option to hand in a rough draft of the report, which will be returned to provide you feedback for revising your final lab report.

Independent Study Poster Presentation
You will be asked to prepare a scientific poster based on your independent experiment. Posters will be presented to your instructor and classmates. Guidelines on preparing and presenting your poster will be provided.

Lab Practical
One comprehensive lab practical will be included to test the laboratory concepts and skills covered in the course.

Grading The laboratory component represents 25% of your final course grade.

• Lab Notebook: 7.5% (3 labs will be graded in detail at the discretion of the instructor; all labs should be completed)
  
• Lab performance and execution: 2%
• Weekly Quizzes: 2%
• Scientific Publication Review: 1%
• Independent Study Lab Report: 5% (see Report Guidelines)
• Independent Study Poster Presentation: 2.5% (see Poster Guidelines)
• Lab Practical: 5%

Spring 2019
Laboratory Schedule

170 Lecture | 170 Lab | 171 Lecture | 171 Lab
172 Lecture | 172 Lab | Biology Department | Home

Fairfield University Biology Department
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203)254-4000
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