Biology 348: Evolution
Professor Rich Legg
Office: Lewis Hall 210
Phone: 333-6369; Email at LeggRichardG@ sau.edu
Rich Legg's WWW home at web.sau.edu/LeggRichardG/

Objectives

Life represents the physical product of an ongoing evolutionary process.  As students of life, we are best able to understand life from the context of our knowledge of this process.  Although Biology oftentimes seems to be the studying of unrelated subjects - anatomy, embryology, ecology, genetics, molecular biology, etc. - we are actually students of an extraordinarily unified field that has evolutionary theory at its core. The principal goals of this course are related to developing your awareness of this connectedness as you complete your undergraduate Biology studies. By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Explain the historical origins of evolutionary theory
• Explain how evolutionary theory functions as an example of true science
• Use your knowledge from different sub-disciplines of Biology in framing evolutionary arguments
• Explain the mechanics of the evolutionary process
• Discuss the relevance of evolutionary theory to human biology
• Summarize major events in the origin and history of life

Additionally, this course is designed to sharpen your critical thinking skills. You will continually be asked to examine novel circumstances in light of your growing knowledge of evolutionary theory, and to make reasoned, defended arguments for your inferences. You will be an active player in each class period, and not only your own learning, but that of your colleagues and the success of the course as a whole, depends upon you.

Required Texts

Evans, Dylan and Oscar Zarate. 1999. Introducing Evolutionary Psychology. Totem Books.
Freeman, Scott and Jon Herron. 2004. Evolutionary Analysis, third edition. Prentice-Hall.

General Outline

• An Introduction to the Nature of Evolution
  A Case for Evolutionary Thinking, Chapter 1
  Evidence for Evolution, Chapter 2
  Darwinian Natural Selection, Chapter 3
• Evolutionary Genetics and the Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
  Mutation and Genetic Variation, Chapter 4
  Mendelian Genetics in Populations, Chapters 5 & 6
• Adaptation
  The Evolutionary Analysis of Form and Function, Chapter 9
  Sexual Selection, Chapter 10
  Kin Selection, Chapter 11
  Life History Evolution, Chapter 12
• The History of Life
  Speciation, Chapter 15
  Systematics, Taxonomy, and Reconstructing Phylogeny, Chapter 14
• Macroevolution
  The History of Life: Major Patterns, Chapter 16
  The History of Life: Key Events, Chapter 17
• Special Topics – if time allows

Evaluation and Grading Protocols

There are four different ways in which you may earn contributions to your final grade in this course.  A total of 140 points is available.

• Class Discussion/Participation:  Each class period will be run as a discussion.  An assigned reading for that class period will serve as the background for questions that I will raise for group discussion and problem solution.  At the end of each period, you will complete a brief questionnaire that requires you to evaluate your own discussion participation for that period.  For each period, you may earn a score of 0 (lack of preparedness, lack of participation), 1 (fully prepared, active participation in both small and large group discussions), or 2 (extraordinary participation) points.  Over the course of the semester, a maximum of 40 points may be earned toward your course point total.
• Major Writing Exercises: There will be four major writing exercises assigned over the course of the semester.  These assignments will be take-home, open book, and completed either individually or in small groups.  Over the course of the semester, a total of 40 points may be earned toward your course point total.
• Article Review: For each chapter of the text, I will identify a small number of journal articles that are related to the subject matter. These articles will be available to you on electronic reserve. You may submit up to ten article reviews over the course of the semester. Each article review should be a brief (no more than two type-written, double-spaced pages) summary of the article, using your own words. No more than one article review may be submitted for any one chapter, you may not submit more than one article review in any calendar week unless otherwise indicated, and you may not submit any article review later than the last class period in which we discuss a particular chapter. Over the course of the semester, you may earn up to 40 points via article review submissions.
• Evolutionary Psychology/Group Project:  We will read and discuss the text, "Introducing Evolutionary Psychology" in the second-fourth weeks of the semester and use the Fridays of those weeks for discussion of the ideas contained therein.  After completing this introduction, you will have the remainder of the semester to generate a hypothesis, prepare a relevant literature review, and construct an experiment to test this hypothesis. A final oral account of your proposal will be presented to the class and a written summary provided to me at the end of the semester.  You may work in a group of up to three persons on this project.  I will consult with each group as they develop their ideas.  A total of 20 (15 for the written proposal and 5 for the oral presentation) points may be earned by completion of this project. Additional information regarding this project will be given upon our completion of our reading of Zarate & Evans.

Final Grades will be determined according to the following schedule:

Grade	% (point range)
A	93+ (130 or more points)
B+	87-91 (121-129 points)
B	75-86 (105-120 points)
C+	70-74 (98-104 points)
C	65-69 (91-97 points)
D	55-64 (77-90 points)
F	<55 (76 or less points)

All submitted materials will remain in a portfolio maintained by you.  You should stay abreast of this material and review them form time to time. By keeping your portfolio up to date, you should be continually aware of your standing in the course. Please feel free to speak with me about your performance, or about any other concerns that you have regarding it. No supplemental or substitute work will be allowed. As this is a majors’ course, I expect every student to be maximally motivated not only for academic success but for intellectual achievement as well.

Attendance Policy

You are expected to attend all class periods. No excused absences are allowed for any but the most extenuating circumstances (e.g., long-term illness of the student, serious illness or death of a close family member, nuclear holocaust). Employment or participation in extracurricular activities such as band, theatre, or sports does not constitute an excused absence either from class or from an examination.  Attendance will be recorded daily and each absence in excess of three will be penalized at the rate of two points being deducted from your overall point total for the course. You are required to be present at all scheduled examinations. Exams will be made up only in the most extenuating circumstances; please see me immediately (or call me if you anticipate missing) in order to determine whether you have an allowable excuse and if so, how arrangements for making up the experience will be made.

Office Hours

My office hours for the spring semester are Wednesday MW 8-10 and Fri 9-10. Please feel free to stop by my office (Lewis Hall 210) at any time to speak about matters relevant to the course.  If you cannot make any of the above hours and need to see me, please call for an appointment.

Students with Disabilities

Please inform me if you will require any special accommodations for this course.  I will gladly work with you and the Office for Students with Disabilities should you require modification of any course requirement including note-taking, reading, exam-taking or other in order to enable you to learn as effectively as you might in this course.