TEXTBOOKS & REQUIRED MATERIALS:

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In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at Student Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

You are expected to complete quizzes and exams without the use of notes, textbook or other materials, just as if you were in the classroom.  Cheating may give you a better grade, but it does not serve you in the end…….after all, learning the material is in your best interest and is the point of this course!  For detailed information as to what constitutes cheating and plagiarism, see the section under Student Rights and Responsibilities.  

SAFETY:  The student will be expected to follow the safety rules and to notify the instructor immediately if any accident occurs.  While the risk is minimized as much as possible, there is the potential for contact with electrical appliances,  heating elements, sharp instruments, chemicals, and organic materials, some of which may be biohazards.  Any student deemed to be jeopardizing the safety of others will be asked to leave.

CHEATING: Do not give any indication of cheating. This involves talking during exams, use of notes, cell phones, texting, hiding hands, notes, books, etc. under the desk, and the like. Suspected cheating on any assessment will result in a zero for the grade and possible expulsion (removal) from the class.

FOOD/DRINK:

You may bring food and drink into the classrooms, just please nothing noisy or distracting.  Make sure any drinks have lids or caps.

CELL PHONES/PAGERS:

I would ask you to show common courtesy for your fellow students and your instructor and either turn off phones, or place on “silent” mode during class unless there is a cell phone assignment.  If you have a pressing need, please excuse yourself quietly and take care of it. No cells phones out in sight or on at all, when exams are present in class.  Be aware of the following consequence if your phone rings and violates the cell phone policy when in class.  Classroom Cell Phone Policy that Builds Community

GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE:

If a student is having a problem with the course policies or the instructor, he or she should first try and resolve any such problems with the instructor.  If the problem is not resolved, the student may proceed to the Department of Mathematics, Sciences, and Engineering Chair (Dr. Biggers), the Dean, Vice President of Academic Affairs (Dr. Vess) and the College President (Dr. Lowery-Hart), IN THAT ORDER.

SEC (Science Enrichment Center) in Warren Hall 119.is available for study groups, free tutoring and practice practicals.  USE IT!!   Hours will be posted in each class room.  If you make less than a 70 on any major exam, you will be required to obtain tutoring from the Science Enrichment Center prior to taking the next test.  You will not be allowed to take the next test until after I have verification that you have received this tutoring.

 

Grading Criteria

Lecture Grades: 

Chapter Quizzes:  (Called “Concept Check” online) Randomized questions, Unproctored, timed, repeatable until deadline, maximum of 25 questions (FIB, MC, SA format) highest score recorded in grade book.  100 points/quiz.  All quizzes comprise up to 25% of course grade.

Unit Exams: Randomized questions, Proctored, timed, delivery via AC Online (Blackboard) or traditional paper exam format.  Specific due date with grade reported to online gradebook.  Maximum of 75 questions, in MC format and 100 points/exam.  One lowest exam score will be dropped.  4-5 exams comprise 25% of course grade. If you make less than a 70 on any major exam, you will be required to obtain tutoring from the Science Enrichment Center prior to taking the next test.  You will not be allowed to take the next test until after I have verification that you have received this tutoring.

 Final Exam: Proctored, timed, 100 multiple choice questions. Delivery via Blackboard CMS or Scantron format.  Comprises 25% of course grade. The final exam will be available during final exam week as posted in the Amarillo College semester calendar. All other online chapter quizzes and unit exams will be available at appropriately scheduled times throughout the semester.

Discussion Board:  The Discussion board is a forum for the online class community to post questions, clarifications, suggestions, helpful links and the like. This is an asynchronous area of communication that will be instructor moderated, but is student centered and maintained. From time to time, I will post pertinent information for you on the discussion board. You will see when new posts appear, so please check them at least once or twice a week, minimum.

You will have 3 hours of lecture for every 3 hours of laboratory. 

 Laboratory grade: 

• determined by laboratory quizzes, practicals, and assignments
• CHALLENGE questions (up to 25 points/CHALLENGE),
• 3-4 laboratory practicals (up to 100 points/practical).  Lab Practical grades will not be dropped. 
• The best lab quizzes will be factored into your laboratory grade and the lowest score will be discarded. 

The laboratory portion of the course will constitute 25% of your course grade. 

 Standard Grading will be Utilized: (based on 700 point total, for example, but total points available may vary).  Your grade will be calculated based on the following formula:

            90% (630 +pts)  = A                Points earned                 X 100 = grade

            80% (560 pts)    =  B               Points available

            70% (490 pts)    =  C                                                   89.5 - 100 = A

            60% (420 pts)    =  D                                                   79.5 - 89.4 = B

            Below 60%        =  F                                                    69.5 - 79.4 = C

          59.5 - 69.4  D

          Below 59.5 = F         

Grades are not curved. There may be the possibility of an extra credit opportunity for the equivalent of a quiz grade.

GRADING: All chapter quizzes (Concept Checks) will be accessed through AC Connect (BlackBoard LMS) and you will have the opportunity of repeated attempts on each chapter quiz up to a designated deadline with each quiz being randomly generated from the pool of questions. Most questions will consist of short answer and identification, along with some multiple choice questions. There will be a maximum of 25 questions delivered within a 25 minute maximum time limit.

These online chapter quizzes may be repeated up to a maximum of five (5) times.

The emphasis will be upon learning and retaining the material at hand and the highest grade will be recorded and figured into your cumulative grade.

Grading is 50% lecture (assessed by chapter quizzes worth 25% and four to five proctored unit exams worth 25% of cumulative grade), 25% lab (10% assessed by lab quizzes, critical thinking problem-based studies, and 15% by lab practical exams) and 25% by the comprehensive final exam.

Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact Disability Services (SSC 119, ph 371-5436) within the first two weeks of class.

  

Attendance

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

There is much information to be covered during the semester; therefore, the student should be prepared to attend class regularly and keep up with the assignments.  If you stop attending class and do not officially drop the course, you will receive an “F” for the course.  A grade of “W” will be given for student-initiated drops or withdrawals on or before Nov 17, 2015.  There will be no MAKE UPS on assignments, quizzes, or exams past the posted deadline, so please do not ask. 

Calendar

Additional Information

            Aug 24                         Classes begin

            Sept 7                          Labor Day Holiday

            Sept 24                        Fall Fest

            Nov 9                           Register for Spring

            Nov 17                         Last Day to Withdraw

            Nov 26-29                    Thanksgiving Holiday

            Dec 7-11                      Final Exams

            Dec 12                        Graduation

COURSE CONTENT:

There will be online content that you may access any time you wish. The online portion will require that you be self-motivated and have a structure to your study habits (and that you follow that structure!). There will be online homework and study modules through the Mastering A&P student site that will have designated deadlines for completion and grades will be recorded in the online gradebook. 

Once you determine you are ready to go with the online portion, I would suggest the following:

Where to start: 

Review the calendar at the beginning of the course, and try to outline a schedule for yourself, that fits into your schedule.  I have tried to leave some flexibility in the course structure to accommodate schedules, but there are deadlines for assignments, quizzes, and exams.  It is more critical than ever that YOU take on the responsibility of staying on top of assignments and schedules.

Science courses in general require at least 3 hours of study for every hour spent “in class”.  Some students require more, some less, but the point here is that you need to be prepared to spend time on this course! 

Feel free to print off material from the course site. It may also help to write things down as you read from the screen.  The act of writing things down seems to greatly increase the retention rate of material (versus the simple act of reading it). 

My suggestion for each unit is the following:

At the beginning of each week, check out the guidelines for the current unit as posted on the calendar.  The guidelines will include the following:

• Read the text as assigned; as you read, look up any words you do not know the meaning of and write down the definitions

• Print the Lecture Study Guide Outlines and fill in additional material from the lecture material(s).
• Download and listen Special Topic audios for each chapter.  Correlate with the study guide. 

• Complete any correlating labs in the lab manual.  An answer key is provided in the Biology Study Center.

• Answer questions on the study guide to finish preparing for the quiz/exam (note: some sections will have separate study guides for lab quizzes and practicals).

• Go back and study some more (especially those areas where you performed poorly on the quizzes)

• Post your “most difficult topic” question and best answer(s) in the Discussion area of AC Connect.
• Email me with questions if you cannot find the answers in your text, in the online reading material or from a fellow student via discussion or chat rooms.

• Be prepared for the Unit Exam!! 

Other things you might consider to increase your success in the course:

• Take the syllabus quiz until you make 100!!
• Try to redraw figures/diagrams that are included in the readings and PPT’s.  Make sure you can label them correctly and understand the diagram fully.

• Visit as many of the suggested links for interactive online study aids as you can. 
• Form a “study group” with one or two fellow students.  You can use online chats, face-to-face meetings, internal emails or the discussion threads to communicate with members of the study group.

• Try to schedule time at the computer away from distractions, pets, children, etc. to get the most out of your time.  Try setting an early alarm (ex: 4:30 am) to get in study time each morning. 

Many activities are conducted asynchronously in order to benefit your personal time schedule.

• Students should log into the course at least four times per week and must complete at least two course activities per week as designated by the course syllabus to receive full credit for each week.

• You can expect to spend between 6-12 hours per week on course content.

• Please note that this is not a self-paced course. The online components will be paced to support the face-to-face activities and all assignments/assessments will have strict due dates.

  Levels of Learning

  Bloom’s Taxonomy

  The Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) has set forth a complete list of learning outcomes for college-level Anatomy & Physiology courses.  HAPS also has a set of course guidelines for undergraduate instruction of Human Anatomy & Physiology. 

  Click on the hyperlinked text above for more information.