Biology 108 – Principles of Evolutionary Change
Syllabus
Instructor: (Dr.) Rich Legg
Office: Lewis Hall 210
Phone: 563.333.6369 (x6369 on
campus)
Email: LeggRichardG@sau.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Class Meeting times: MWF at
11 with alternate Fridays an additional hour at 10; please see the attached
detailed schedule for all dates and activities
One doesn’t have to be a
scientist to want answers to profound questions. Who are we?
Where did we, and all of the rest of the astounding diversity of life,
come from? How did life first arise? Why is the living world put together in the
way that it is? Does the apparent
history of the living world make sense in any way? The main purpose of this course is to
introduce you to answers that scientists—biologists, paleontologists,
ecologists, biochemists, geologists, and many others—have developed in answer
to these questions, and to teach you the strategy that they have used to
fashion these answers. In the process,
you no doubt will fashion answers of your own to these and many other
questions, and sharpen your intellectual skills for addressing a broad variety
of other questions. Learning about
evolutionary theory and the history of life will require you to think like a
scientist. You will learn about the
nature and limits of science, how science differs from non-science and
“pseudo-science”, come to understand a world-view that explains the origin and
nature of biological reality, and hone your ability to think critically about
and evaluate new ideas.
Rose, M.R., and L.D. Mueller.
2006. Evolution and the ecology of the organism. Pearson/Prentice Hall,
There will be additional readings
throughout the semester from other sources.
These materials either will be provided to you or placed on ereserve in
the library.
General Course Plan
This course is designed
differently from many others that you already may have taken. You will be asked to think critically about
subject matter throughout the semester, and all of our class activities will be
designed to help you think more clearly as a scientist, and to reflect your
growing familiarity with evolutionary theory and the understanding of the world
that such an understanding provides. You
will learn some of the “facts” of Biology and about evolution, in particular,
but by and large, our time will be focused upon coming to an understanding of
the idea of evolution and evaluating the evidence marshaled in its support.
You will be asked to do
reading for every class period, and you will be expected to bring a completed
assignment to every class period. You
will be expected to actively participate in every class period, by discussing
readings, offering a point of view or explanation, citing examples, restating
arguments, and so on. You frequently
will be involved in group work in class, self-assessment, and peer assessment. My goal is that you become an active and
critical learner, constantly assessing what you say and hear, and that you
sharpen your thinking ability in many ways.
General Course Topic Structure
How does science work? What kinds of questions can science answer? Which can it not address? What are scientific
facts? What do scientists mean by
“hypothesis” and “theory”?
Who was Charles Darwin? What was
the state of thinking about questions of origins and about evolution prior to
and at the time of
Why were the developments of genetics and
population genetics important to constructing support for
What did
5.
Nature plays out
the results
Coevolution – How do
predators and prey, hosts and parasites, communities, and other groups of
multiple players become organized structurally and functionally as a
consequence of the evolutionary process?
6.
Evolution and societies
Why did sex evolve?
How has evolution affected mating strategies? How are social behaviors adaptive solutions
to common problems? What elements of
human behavior are driven by evolutionary forces?
Assessment
Daily assignment
submission/self-evaluation (30 @ 2) 60
points
Major examinations (4 @ 8) 32
Laboratories (6 @ 4) 24
Maximum Total
116
|
Final Grading
Scale |
|
|
Letter Grade |
Point values |
|
A |
106 or more |
|
B+ |
98 to 105 |
|
B |
89 to 97 |
|
C+ |
82 to 88 |
|
C |
77 to 81 |
|
D |
73 to 76 |
|
F |
72 or less |
Daily assignments – You will
have an assigned reading and assignment in advance of each class period. You will be asked to provide reading notes,
may be asked to respond in writing to one or more questions about this reading,
interpret a biological phenomenon related to it, or solve a problem based upon
it. These submissions will be short, and
should be used by you to focus your thinking on the topic of the day. They also may be used by you on examinations
in this course. At the end of each class
period, you will briefly assess your performance during the day, generally by
analyzing your own behavior with respect to group or class participation. These assessments will be brief and
relatively informal and should help you to evaluate your understanding of each
day’s work.
Exams – There will be four
major examinations during the semester.
Each will be “essay” in structure and require you to frame answers to
relatively complex questions that will test your mastery of the course material
to that point. They will be evaluated
not only for correctness in understanding the basic principles of evolutionary
theory but for clarity of expression as well.
You may work in groups or alone for each of these exams. You generally will have one week for the
completion of each.
Laboratories – We will have
six scheduled laboratories during the semester.
Each will have its own specialized assessment. Laboratories cannot be made up nor
rescheduled.
Attendance
I believe that we all learn
best in a cooperative setting, and from one another. Thus I believe that it is imperative that you
both attend and play an active role in every class period. Extraordinary
circumstances may prevent you from making every class. As described above, you
will receive credit for each class session that you attend and in which your
performance meets basic expectations.
Class attendance will be recorded and excessive absences will receive a
grade penalty. In addition to credit lost for failing to participate in a day’s
class, each absence beginning with the fourth incurs an additional penalty of 1
point being deducted from your overall class average. Please note that there are no excused
absences from class periods. In the case
of extraordinary circumstances, please contact me as soon as possible to
discuss your situation.
If you require any
accommodations to meet the requirements for this class, please inform me and I
will work with you and the Office for Students with Disabilities to ensure that
you will be able to perform as well as you can.