Bio 100 Summer 2017

Bio Sci 100 Scientific Writing

You are required to carefully read the course syllabus.

Instructor: Dr. Maribel Alvarez

Office hours Friday 5pm to 6pm
4248 McGaugh Hall

Teaching Assistants: Vikram Haridass, Sheryl Paul, and Mark Phillips

Office hours Monday and Wednesday 5pm to 6pm
4248 McGaugh Hall

To better communicate with students, ALL correspondence will occur through Piazza.
Piazza is a free online message board system where you can post questions and
comments related to the course. You can either post to the entire class or just to the
instructors.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The goal of Bio 100 is to give you the opportunity to develop basic intellectual and
communication skills through reading scientific literature, forming a hypothesis from a
question, designing experiments, collaborating and presenting your ideas. Although
communication skills are fundamental to all disciplines, they will be introduced in this
course as they are used in experimental biology.

COURSE GOALS
At the end of the course, you should be able to:
• Be able to meet deadlines
• Use the UC Irvine library databases efficiently
• Find relevant primary articles to develop and support your ideas
• Generate a hypothesis from a question
• Design an experiment
• Identify the important elements of each section of a lab report
• Write a scientific report more efficiently
• Evaluate peer writing
• Use rubrics to help you improve your writing
• Collaborate with your peers to improve writing
• Use Peer Review Programs
• Avoid plagiarism
• Explain the importance of the scientific method

Campus Learning Outcomes for Upper-division writing

• Demonstrate rhetorically effective, discipline-specific writing and communication for
appropriate academic, professional, and public audiences.
• Demonstrate, at an advanced level of competence, use of discipline-specific
research methods, genres, modes of development, and formal conventions.

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• Demonstrate advanced information literacy skills by locating, evaluating and

integrating information gathered from multiple sources into discipline-specific
writing.

COURSE MATERIALS
• Peerceptiv Peer Assessment Account: You will be submitting your assignments and
completing peer reviews using Peerceptiv. You can buy a license for <$20 through
the Peerceptiv website. See the course website for details.
• Turnitin.com Account: We will be using Turnitin.com to check for plagiarism in your
writing assignments. See the course website for details.
• iClicker: You can use either the regular iClicker, iClicker 2, or iClicker Reef on your
own device. You can purchase iClicker 2 at the UCI bookstore, or you can go online
to buy a subscription to iClicker Reef (https://app.reef-
education.com/#/account/create) and use your smartphone, tablet, or laptop to
answer questions in class. You must register your iClicker or iClicker Reef account
in order to receive credit. Visit http://www.classrooms.uci.edu/ars/ for details.
• Required: Image J: http://imagej.nih.gov/ij/
COURSE WEB SITE & EEE: https://eee.uci.edu/17y/05185
The course web site is an integral component of this course. The home page has
links to the syllabus, instructor information, and assignment information. Please
check the site frequently for updates.

COURSE STRUCTURE and COMPONENTS

Active Learning: You might be used to taking courses in which the professor simply lectures the
entire class period. This course is going to be very different, as it is going to be an active
classroom. By active I mean that you will be required to interact with myself and your fellow
students to learn the material presented in this course. We will be using activities such as small
group work, case studies, class discussions, and iClicker questions to actively engage in the
learning process. In order to have an active classroom, attendance and participation are extremely
important. Participation is counted as part of your grade, but will count towards more than that,
because through these active learning exercises you will develop critical thinking and problem
solving skills that are essential to performing well in this course and others.

Learning Objectives: In order to do well in this course, you will need to know exactly what I want
you to be able to, and this is where learning objectives come in. At the beginning of every day of
class, you will be presented with learning objectives that clearly state what I expect you to be able
to do. For example, “At the end of this lesson, you will be able critique the experimental design
section of a scientific research article.” Learning objectives are things that you can actually DO, so
you will be able to tell whether or not you really have a grasp on the course concepts.

Clicker Questions: In order to gauge your level of understanding, improve course participation,
earn course points, and to make the classroom more fun and engaging, we are going to be using
iClickers in this course. Throughout the course, I will pose questions to the class, and you can
respond using your iClicker. This will give me a real-time reflection of your thoughts and views on
a certain topic, and can spark interesting discussions in the class. Clicker questions are also a fun
and engaging way for you to “compete” against your classmates!

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Writing Assignments: There are four writing assignments in this class: 0) short essay
about your college experience thus far and plan for the future; 1) An in-depth summary of
a scientific article 2) an introduction and experimental methods section of a scientific
article; and 3) two in-depth summaries of a scientific article, one for a scientific audience
and one for a public audience. All details for the writing assignments will be posted on the
course website.

Peerceptiv: Peerceptiv is an online tool that allows you to upload your writing
assignments and to effectively evaluate your peers’ writing assignments. You can buy a
license for < $20 through the Peerceptiv website: www.peerceptiv.com.

Turnitin: Turnitin.com is an online tool that checks for plagiarism. You are required to submit all of
your assignments prior to uploading them to Peerceptiv. Please see the course website for details
for how to use Turnitin.

Piazza: Piazza is an online, searchable, and highly efficient message board system where you
can post questions or comments related to the course. You and your classmates can answer
these questions in addition to answers that I provide. The advantage of using Piazza is that
everyone in the class can see the questions and answers and these posts stay online during the
entire quarter, so you can always go back and find what you need. Please see the class website
for more information on how to sign up and use Piazza.

EVALUATION and GRADING POLICY

This class is NOT curved. Your grade will be assigned on a straight scale as follows:

> 96.5% = A+ > 86.5% = B+ > 78.5% = C+ > 67.0% = D+

> 93.5% = A > 83.5% = B > 75.0% = C > 63.5% = D
> 90.0% = A- > 80.0% = B- > 70.0% = C- > 60.0% = D-
< 60.0% = F

A summary of the various grading opportunities is given below.

Clickers: Attending class and participating is essential to doing well in this course, and you
will also have the opportunity to earn course points by actively participating in class. You
will earn participation points by answering clicker questions in class. Each day’s clicker
questions are worth four points. Clicker questions are graded for participation. You must
answer 75% of the questions for the day, (not correctness) to receive credit for that day (no
partial credit). Answering clicker questions are worth a total of 60 points (6%) towards your
final grade.

Quizzes: Pre-class and post-class quizzes will be given periodically on EEE in order to
assess your understanding of reading assignments before you come to class or your
knowledge of certain skills you learned in class. Quizzes are worth a total of 80 points
(8.0%) towards your final grade.

Exams: There will be two exams in this course. These exams will assess your in-depth
knowledge and mastery of the course material using multiple-choice questions and open-
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ended questions. Each exam is worth 100 points each. Exams are worth 200 points (20%)
towards your final grade.

Writing assignments: As this is a writing class, the major points will be linked to your
writing assignments. There are four writing assignments, with all of the details for each
listed on the course website. Writing assignments are worth 660 points (66%) towards your
final grade, with the points distributed as outlined below:
Assignment 0: 10 points
Assignment 1: 126 points
Assignment 2: 262 points
Assignment 3: 262 points

The breakdown for course points is as follows:

Clickers 6.0% 60 points (15 classes at 4 point each)
Quizzes 8.0% 80 points (4 at 20 points each)
Exams 20.0% 200 points (2 at 100 points each)
Writing assignments 66.0% 660 points
Total 100% 1000 points

All scores will be posted in EEE Gradebook. You should check to make sure these have
been correctly recorded. If you notice a mistake in the posted Gradebook, you must contact
the instructor within 3 days after the posting of the score. Similarly, any requests for
regrades of ANY quiz, writing assignment, or other assignment must be submitted within 3
days of the return of the assignment in question. A regrade request will not be considered
after the deadline has passed. Please note: all regrades are subject to a thorough review of
the entire assignment and therefore it is possible for a score to go up or down during the
regrade!

COURSE POLICIES

Courtesy to Fellow Students

We are going to have a positive learning environment in this class, so courtesy to your
fellow students (and to me!) is imperative. Do you want to be distracted while trying to
learn? Probably not, so please treat your classmates as you want to be treated. This
includes putting your cell phones on silent before class starts, limiting side conversations
and comings and goings during class, and other possible distractions. You are more than
welcome to use your laptop to take notes but please do not surf the web and post on
Facebook during class. Surfing the web and other non-class related activities are
detrimental to your learning and is distracting to other students.

Attendance
Attendance is vital to succeeding in this course. Participation in the active learning
activities during class will not only help you develop your critical thinking and problem
solving skills, but it is also counts towards your grade. I expect to see you in class every
day.

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Late Work
• You cannot make up missed quizzes or complete them later than the due date and time.
• You cannot reschedule exams.
• All assignments have a due date and time, and if they are not uploaded by then, you will
either receive a zero on the assignment or will have points deducted from the
assignment grade (20% per day late).
• If a writing assignment is submitted to Peerceptiv, it must also be submitted to
Turnitin at the same time. A late assignment in one place is considered late in
both Peerceptiv and Turnitin.
• Text submitted to Peerceptiv will be compared to Turnitin text and is required to be the
same. If text submitted different, a score of zero will be given for the assignment and
other consequences related to Academic honesty may be considered.
• Because all assignments are due to computer programs, an “activity” record is available
to the instructors that indicates your logins and what you attempted to do in case of
computer problems. You should confirm you have received an email receipt from
Turnitin and should not delete this email until after the class ends.

You are responsible to ensure that all submissions to Peerceptiv and Turnitin are
the files you meant to submit.

If you are having troubles in submitting to Peerceptiv or Turnitin, take a screenshot

and send a message on Piazza to instructors.

You are responsible to ensure that all submissions to Peerceptiv and Turnitin are
the files you meant to submit.

Make-up Work
No make-up work will be allowed in this course. If you have an official, valid, documented
university excuse for missing an exam (death in the family, sickness, university activity),
then an oral make-up exam may be possible. There are no make-up writing assignments

Review of submitted work

Once scores are posted for an assignment, you have 3 days to request a re-grade or to
check for errors. After 3 days pass, no re-grades will be considered for any reasons. When
as assignment is re-graded, the entire assignment is examined, and your score may
increase or decrease as warranted.

Academic integrity
There is zero tolerance for cheating in this class. We intend to maintain a positive learning
environment for all students, free from the distraction and negative effects of unethical
behavior. If you cheat, campus wide policies will be followed, including failing the course
and an academic dishonesty letter will be placed in your file. Refer to
http://www.editor.uci.edu/catalogue/appx/appx.2.htm for details. Cheating affects the entire
class learning experience and I repeat will not be tolerated.
.
Academic dishonesty or cheating is defined as an intentional act of fraud in which a
student seeks to claim credit for the work or efforts of another. This includes assisting
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other students in acts of dishonesty or coercing students into acts of dishonesty, whether it
is on at-home assignments, in-class assignments, or exams. This also includes plagiarism
of any sort and turning in assignments that your friends may have turned in during
previous offerings of Bio Sci 100. Working together on online quizzes and bringing your
friends’ clickers to class and clicking in for them is also considering cheating. If you have
any doubt about whether some behavior constitutes academic dishonesty, first, assume it
does, and then ask the instructor or your TA to be sure. Please see the University's official
policy at http://www.editor.uci.edu/catalogue/appx/appx.2.htm for more details

Participation in Lecture
The course will include both a PowerPoint content presentation and large or small group
activities. For the small group activity, you will work in groups of 4-6 students. I-clickers
will be used throughout the class. You may be asked to report on activities related to
group work as EEE quizzes. Check the website for the handouts related to the in class
activities.

If you are not engaged in a lecture session group activity, you should not be talking to
other students. If I find that you are disrupting the class by talking or doing other activities
not related to the class, I will give you a warning about your behavior. A second
occurrence can lead to loss of points or other consequences.

The Writing Assignments Required Steps

• Submission of a reasonable first draft to Turnitin.
• Revise essay (content, style and grammar)
• Completion of the Self Assessment in EEE
• Submission of Final essay to Turnitin and Peerceptiv Peer Assessment
• Completion of the Peer Reviews for 5 other student papers in Peerceptiv
• Completion of the Back Evaluation in Peerceptiv

For students that have taken Bio100 before

If you have taken Bio100 before, you will need my approval to use any prior assignments. If
approved you will need to make substantial revisions. Any assignments with a greater than
70 percentage match to a student’s prior assignment in the class will not receive credit for
that assignment. If you have concerns or questions about this policy, you need to meet with
the instructor during office hours. Quickly talking to the instructor after class may not be
sufficient if you are unsure about what will be acceptable as a revision. A note will be
entered into your Gradebook files summarizing the discussion.

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CLASS SCHEDULE

The following is the schedule for the course. See the master assignment schedule below
with assignment due dates.

The schedule is subject to change during the summer session.

Week 1
• Mon June 26 Introduction to the course; Types of scientific writing
• Wed June 28 Locating and using scientific literature
• Fri June 30 Process of scientific writing

Week 2
• Mon July 3 The introduction/reasoning
• Wed July 5 Materials and methods
• Fri July 7 Experimental design and controls

Week 3
• Mon July 10 The results section
• Wed July 12 Analyzing results
• Fri July 14 Analyzing results II

Week 4
• Mon July 17 The discussion section
• Wed July 19 Evaluating data I
• Fri July 21 Evaluating data II

Week 5
• Mon July 24 Other types of scientific writing
• Wed July 26 Scientific method revisited
• Fri July 28 Exam 1

Week 6
• Mon July 31 Course wrap-up
• Wed Aug 2 Exam 2

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MASTER ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE

• All writing assignments due on Turnitin and Peerceptiv by 11:59 pm on the due date
• All peer reviews and back evaluations due on Peerceptiv by 11:59 pm on the due
date
• All rubric designs due on EEE by 11:59 pm on the due date
• All quizzes and Self Assessments due on EEE by 11:59 pm on the due date

RESOURCES
Pechenik, J.A. 2004, 2007 or 2010. A Short Guide to Writing About Biology. 5th or 6th
edition. New York: Pearson/Longman, NY

Peer Tutoring in Writing & Library Research

www.writing.uci.edu/peertutors.html

UCI Center for Excellence in Writing and Communication

http://www.writing.uci.edu/writingcenter.html