SYLLABUS (03-231)

Course Text: Biochemistry   (5th Edition) by Mary K. Campbell & Shawn O. Farrell, ISBN: 0-534-40521-5, Hardcover Text Only.

Textbook Website: Campbell Interactive Biochemistry (Follow the links to the text; then select graphics, quizzes, etc. for each chapter.)

Class Lectures: MWF at 10:30-11:20 in Baker A51

Instructor:	Christina Lee
Office:	271 Mellon Institute
Telephone:	268-7882
email:	thl@andrew.cmu.edu
Office Hours:	Thursdays 4:30-6:00 pm, DH 1321
Graduate TA:	Tim Feinstein timothyf@andrew.cmu.edu
Graders:	Tim Feinstein , Juchang Hua juchangh@andrew.cmu.edu
Supplementary Instructors (SI):	Andy Hsieh atyu@andrew.cmu.edu ,Tutorial Hours: Thurs, 7:30-8:30, Old Student Center 231A Marciela DeGrace mdegrace@andrew.cmu.edu, Tutorial Hours: Wed, 7:00-8:00 pm, Old Student Center 231A
Walk-In Tutoring	Mudge Library, Tue & Thurs evening 8:00-11:00 pm; no appointment necessary
Home pages:	Mirror Site: http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/03-231/biochemF05.htm Spring Term, 2005 http://stingray.bio.cmu.edu/~web/bc/index.html

Goals and Expectations for Biochemistry I
The major concepts in this course and the goals/expectations for the students are listed on a separate page. Please review this page during the semester to keep the "big picture" in mind.

Grading:

Summary of the final grade components:

  [40%] Three in-class hour exams

  [30%] Final Exam

  [15%] Graded quizzes at CMU Online

  [15%] Problem sets

[100%] Total

• Three exams will be given during the semester, the sum of which will constitute 40% of the final grade. There will be no make-up exams given. However, alternative times for exams can be pre-arranged.
• The Final will be a comprehensive, three-hour exam given during finals week. The final will represent 30% of the final grade.
• Assessment Quizzes at CMU Online will comprise 15% of the final grade. A total of 15 quizzes will be assigned during the course on a weekly basis. Each quiz has three dates associated with it: the Open date, the Bonus Ends date, and the Quiz Closes date. You cannot take a particular quiz before its Open date or after its Quiz Closes date. If you take a quiz between its Open date and the Bonus Ends date it is worth 125%. The extra 25% is offered as a bonus to encourage you to read the textbook prior to lecture. If you take a quiz between the extra credit date and the Quiz Closes date it is worth 100%. You will be allowed to take a quiz three times and the highest score will be used to calculate the grade.
  See the CMU Online Quiz Instructions page for details on taking these quizzes.
• Problem Sets will usually be assigned on a weekly basis. The problem sets will consist of two sections:
  1. Recommended problems from the textbook.
  2. Additional problems from the instructor:
     • Concept questions, e.g. describe, compare & contrast, etc.
     • Problems that require viewing and manipulating molecular models on WWW (Chime) pages.
     • Problems that require calculations and graphing.
  The first section of each problem set will not be submitted for grading because the solutions can be found at the back of the textbook. The second section of problems will be submitted for grading and will account for 15% of the final grade. Note that a significant portion of each exam will be composed of problems taken from both sections of these assignments. Students are encouraged to discuss the problem sets with other classmates. However, the material submitted for grading must be the sole effort of each student.
• Cheating of any sort will not be tolerated. For example, if problem set answers are copied from another student, both students will receive zeros; if graded exams are altered and resubmitted for a higher score, the score will be zero. In addition, these and other forms of cheating may also be referred to the Academic Review Board for more severe penalties. This warning has two purposes: 1) to disuade a small number of students from even thinking about cheating; and 2) to persuade the large majority that they will get a fair grade based on their individual performance.
  Read Promoting Academic Integrity for a thoughtful discussion of these and other issues. Please take advantage of the Help Resources listed in the next section, especially early in the semester.

Information and Help Resources:

• Contact the instructors by telephone, email, or during their respective office hours for help with any aspect of the course.
• Lecture notes and other materials for the class will be available as HTML documents or PDF files (view with Adobe Acrobat Reader). You can access these files from the course home page under the Lecture Schedule listing. For information on how to print these documents, read the
How to to make Hard Copies page.
• Problem Sets and solutions to the problem sets will also be available in the above formats. You can access these files from the Biochemistry I Problem Sets page. The problem sets will be distributed in class. An answer key will be handed out along with the graded problem sets.
• Attend class: The textbook for this course covers more information than can be taught in one semester. The lectures will cover material that students will need to know to be successful in this course. For example, some of the material to be covered in class is not found in the textbook. Lecture time will also be used to solve problems that are similar to those on the problem sets, and to expand on the problem set answer sheets.
• Review Sessions will be scheduled before each exam. The times will be arranged based on the information received from the class. No new material will be given during these sessions.
• Read the text: Base your readings on the lecture notes because this material is considered to be central to the course. Further understanding of the information that is covered in the lectures can be obtained by reading the text.
• Do the homework assignments: This material will also be covered directly on the exams.
• Read and work problems for a minimum of 6 hours per week outside of class.

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