| MAT 3930 - Biocalculus Computer Lab
Fall 2005 - Course Syllabus Course Material Available on BlackBoard (http://campus.fsu.edu) |
Section 02
223 CON R 9:30am - 10:55am |
Section 04
223 CON R 11:05am - 12:30pm |
| Instructor | Lab/Teaching Assistants | Course Coordinator | ||
| Contact | Sai Achuthan | Joe Rhoads | Natalia Toporikova | Dr. Monica K. Hurdal |
| Office
Phone Webpage |
404E MCH
Use Email sachutha@math.fsu.edu www.math.fsu.edu/~sachutha/ |
251 LOV
Use Email jrhoads@math.fsu.edu www.math.fsu.edu/People/grads.php?id=499 |
402B MCH
Use Email ntoporik@math.fsu.edu www.math.fsu.edu/~ntoporik |
002-A LOV
644-7183 (office) mhurdal@math.fsu.edu www.math.fsu.edu/~mhurdal/ |
| Office hours | Tuesday's, 10:00am-11:00am with Sai Achuthan or Wednesday's, 11:00am-12:00pm with Dr. Hurdal. Alternatively, meetings can be arranged by appointment with any of the above people. | |||
| Eligibility / Prerequisites |
MAC 2311 (Calculus I) is a corequisite for this course. This means that you must be taking MAC 2311 while taking this course or you must have passed MAC 2311 with a grade of C- or better or received credit for courses equivalent to MAC 2311. |
| Text | There is no text for this course. All materials will either be available in class or can be downloaded from the course web page on BlackBoard. Your MAC 2311 (Calculus I) text book will be very useful. It is recommended that you purchase a student version of Matlab software from the University Bookstore so you can work on the lab material at home if you wish. This software is something that you will be able to use in other courses and the student price is very cheap as compared to the non-student price and is comparable to the price of a text book. |
| Course Objectives |
This course is designed to introduce students to topics in computational
and mathematical biology. Problems in biology, medicine and physiology
are used to illustrate how computation and mathematics can improve and
enhance the understanding of these problems.
The purpose of this course is:
- to improve student's use of technology and computers - to introduce students to topics in computational and mathematical biology - to use techniques from Calculus I to analyze and solve problems in biology - to introduce students to the Matlab programming software - to help students better understand the material taken in Calculus I and its applications in biology. |
| Course Content | This course consists of weekly laboratories that will be completed in class and homework that will be due at the beginning of class. The Matlab software package will be used during the course. These laboratories will review Calculus 1 material and apply calculus methods to problems in biology. |
| Grading | A lab report will be due for each lab. 75% of your grade comes from the lab reports, with each report weighted equally. 20% of your grade comes from homework that precede each of the labs, with each homework weighted equally. 5% of your grade comes from class participation. Your worst lab grade will be dropped from your lab average and your worst homework grade will be dropped from your homework average. There will be no final exam in this course. Letter grades will be determined from numerical grades as follows. A: 90-100; B: 80-89; C: 70-79; D: 60-69; F: 0-59. Plus or minus grades may be assigned in a manner consistent with standard University practice. A grade of I will not be given to avoid a grade of F or to give additional study time. Failure to process a course drop will result in a course grade of F. |
| Labs | This lab meets for 1.5 hours every week. You should be able to get most, if not all, of the lab done in class. Lab reports are due the following lab period at the beginning of class. Typed reports are to be submitted. Labs are worth 75% of your final grade. Your worst lab will be dropped from your lab average. A missed lab will act as your worst lab. The instructor and teaching assistants are available during office hours or by appointment to assist with questions or problems. Please make sure you bring any computer files with you when you arrange to meet. |
| Homework | There will be homework preceding each of the labs based on reading material assigned a few days before the lab. Homework is worth 20% of your final grade. Your worst homework will be dropped from your homework average. A missed homework will act as your worst homework. |
| Class Participation |
5% of your lab grade will be base on participation. Parts of the labs will require class participation. You are encouraged to participate in the lab. Parts of the labs are self-directed work. Students are encouraged to discuss things or ask questions during these sections of the labs. |
| Exam Policy | Makeup homework and labs will not be given. Late homework and lab reports will not be accepted. A missed homework or lab report may be excused if the student presents sufficient verifiable evidence of acceptable extenuating circumstances. If a lab absence is excused, then the missed lab will need to be completed as soon as possible as agreed upon between the student and instructor. An unexcused absence from a lab or homework will result in a grade of zero. Absences from labs due to family social events will not be excused. Acceptable medical excuses must state explicitly that the student should be excused from class. |
| Attendance | You are required to attend every laboratory. A student absent from a lab bears the full responsibility for all subject matter and procedural information discussed in class. |
| Courtesy | You are expected to get to class on time. As the lab work will be self-paced, you can leave class when you have finished the lab and submitted your report. Try not to disturb others when leaving. |
| Lab and Software Availability | Computer labs in 215 & 217 CON are available for undergraduate student use Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. The Matlab software is available on these computers. The Maple software is available on these computers and computers in the union and library. You may be able to use the teaching lab (223 CON) whenever there are no other classes scheduled. See http://ical.bio.fsu.edu/teachlab to see if the teaching lab is available. |
| Math Help Center | The Math Help Center is located in 110 MCH (Milton Carothers Hall) next door to the Love Building. The hours of operation will be announced when they are available. |
| Honor code | A copy of the University Academic Honor Code can be found in the current Student Handbook. You are bound by this in all of your academic work. It is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility 1) to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work, 2) to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the University community, and 3) to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the University community. Specifically, incidents of plagiarism of any type or referring to any unauthorized material during examinations will be rigorously pursued. Before submitting any work for this class, please read the "Academic Honor System" in its entirety (as found in the FSU General Bulletin and in the FSU Student Handbook) and ask me to clarify any of its expectations that you do not understand. You have successfully completed many mathematics courses and know that on a "test" you may not give or receive any help from a person or written material except as specifically designed acceptable. Out of class you are encouraged to work together on assignments but plagiarizing the work of others or study manuals is academically dishonest. |
| ADA statement | Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should: 1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC); 2) bring a letter to the instructor from SDRC indicating you need academic accommodations. This should be done within the first week of class. This and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request. |