CLASS SYLLABUS
DR. LIGHT -- FALL 1996
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Instructor: Robley J. Light
Office: 204 DLC
Telephone: 644-3844
email: rlight@garnet.acns.fsu.edu
Office Hours: 12:15-1:15 Mondays and Wednesdays
2:30-3:30 Mondays and Wednesdays
(or by appointment)
Help Sessions: Wednesdays prior to Hour Tests, 5:30-7:00 pm.
Others on request.
Textbooks: Lehninger, Nelson and Cox, Principles of
Biochemistry, Second Edition, Worth Publishers, New
York, 1993
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To encourage formation of study groups (4-5 persons),
extra credit will be available for a group assignment. A
take-home, open-book, Pre-Test will be given out on the
Wednesday of the week before each hour test. The test is to
be done by the group and turned in on Monday of the test week.
It will be graded and returned by Wednesday. Persons not
willing to participate in a group, or unable to take part in
one of the exams, will have their Hour Test grade substituted
for the Pre-Test grade. The Hour Test grade will also
substitute if it is higher than the Pre-Test grade.
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Three Hour Tests (100 pts. each) 300 points
Average of three Pre-Tests 100 points
Final Exam (100 points x 2)* 200 points
Total 600 points
*Exam grade can replace lowest Hour Test grade
Final Average = Total/6
No make-up tests
In exceptional circumstances, it might be possible to
arrange to take the hour test a day early. In the case of
excused absences where this is not possible, the final exam
grade will substitute for the missed exam.
Following are the minimum percentage cut-off's for a
given letter grade, obtained by dividing the total raw score
by 6. Depending on test difficulty and class performance,
these cut-off's might be lowered slightly, but they won't be
raised.
90-100 A or A-
80-89 B or B-
70-79 C or C-
60-69 D or D-BCH 4054--General Biochemistry--Fall 1996 Page 2
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To provide an additional means of communication between
instructor and student and among students, students may obtain
a computer account and register it for the class. You are
encouraged to use this means of asking questions, commenting
on lectures, making appointments for help, etc. A class
bulletin board (newsgroup) will be set up for posting
information and questions and for class members to ask each
other questions. A class Web page will also contain class
information and pointers to biochemistry related sites on the
web. Students are encouraged to explore resources available
on the Internet. A separate handout describes procedures
related to obtaining and using the computer account.
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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.
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Students are reminded of the Academic Honor System of the
Florida State University. Collaboration is permitted and
encouraged on the group pre-tests, but signing one's name to
the group effort without having participated in it would be
considered a violation of the honor code. Receiving or giving
unauthorized help on the hour tests is a violation.
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