Biology 575- Spring 2007

 

Course Information:

Course Title:                             Molecular Basis of Heart Disease Spring 2007
Course Number:                       04432
Course Credit Hours:               3 units
Prerequisites:                            Bio 366 or Bio 590

Strongly Recommended:          Biology 590

Meeting Day/time:                   Tu/Th 2-3:15

Meeting Location:                    LS101

Final Exam:                               May 10 from 1 to 3 pm
Department:                              Biology
Department Location:              North Life Sciences

Instructor:                                 Chris Glembotski, Professor of Biology, LS 326, 594-2959
Office Hours:                            By appointment

e-mail:                                        cglembotski@sciences.sdsu.edu
                                                  

Required Text:  There is one required textbook for this course,

 

1- “Cardiovascular Physiology Concepts” by Klabunde, 2005, Lippincott.  It will be available at Aztec Shops.

 

Supplemental Textbooks:  There are several textbooks that are not required, but are good supplementary books; they are:

 

2- “Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach” 4th edition, by Silverthorn; 2007

(this is the textbook for Bio 590 for Fall 2007, so is a worthwhile purchase if you are going to take that class)

 

3- “An Introduction to Cardiovascular Physiology” 4th edition, by Levick; 2003

(this book makes a good complement to the required textbook for Bio 575, and it would serve you well in Bio 590)

 

4- “Cardiovascular Physiology” 9th edition, by Levy and Pappano; 2007

(this book is very up-to-date but is written at a little more advanced level than those books described above; nonetheless, if you are really into the field and want a book that will be a good reference for you for a long time in the future, this would be a good purchase)

 

News and Literature Articles:  These articles and papers will be posted on the blackboard web site for this course and will be accessible to all students enrolled in the course.  There will be no charge for you to access these articles.

 

 

Description:  This course is designed for students who have already had previous course work in biochemistry, cell biology and molecular biology.  Although a previous physiology course is not required, the pace of this course will be brisk; so if you have not had physiology previously, be sure to keep up with the assigned reading.  The assigned text is required, as is the assigned reading.  Additionally, recent articles from the literature concerning cardiovascular physiology and the molecular basis of heart disease will be assigned and discussed during class. 

 

The course involves mostly discussion and seminar-style interactions between students and faculty.  Throughout the semester, we will follow the assigned textbook in terms of basic cardiovascular physiology material, and this material will be discussed during the dates shown on the syllabus.  But, instead of a professor talking at you, ala lecture style, we plan to have more of an interactive format, with one of the student groups being assigned the major responsibility of preparing and presenting material from the text.  Accordingly, under the guidance of the professor, in this course the students will actually be preparing the discussion materials and leading the discussions.  That way, the students have input concerning the pace, depth and format of the class each day.

 

After being assigned to a group, or team, students in that team will devise their own organizational structure of leadership and communication between team members.  Teams will be involved in discussions about the material to be covered from the text, as well as discussions and critique of the current news articles and literature that will be discussed in class.  To be successful in this course, you need to work effectively as a member of your team, attend class regularly, and work with your team during class to discuss course materials.

Scope:  (see course syllabus).

Purpose:  The purpose of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to learn about and discuss the basics of, as well as current topics of cardiovascular physiology during health and disease at the organ, cellular and molecular levels.

Student Learning Objectives:

  1. discuss and write about cardiovascular physiology and current prevailing theories of heart disease
  2. discuss and write about the prevailing theories underlying the tissue, organ, cellular and molecular basis of human disease

Course Grading- 

Your grade in this course will be determined by a combination of your class participation and examination.  Your class participation grade, 25% of your overall grade, will be determined by how you do in your group discussions and seminars, and by individual participation during discussions in class.  Your exam grade will be derived from 2 exams during the semester, each worth 10% of your overall grade, and one final exam, worth 30% of your overall grade.

You and your team will have a major role in determining what material goes on the exams.  Each team will be responsible for authoring possible exam questions, some of which will be selected for inclusion on the exams.

Your final grade is based on a total of 100% points possible, as follows:

An Example Letter Grade Breakdown:

Letter Grade

%

points

 

 

 

A

90-100

> 480

B

80-89

420-479

C

60-69

324-419

D

50-59

210-323

F

< 50

< 210

 

 

 

Use this table as a general guide only.  If, during the course of the semester, you come to one of us and ask what your letter grade is currently, we will refer to this table and say “If the final course curve follows the example on the web page, you’ll get ….; however, until all the quizzes have been taken, and the final grading curve established, we cannot tell you for certain what your grade will be.”

Keys to Success in this Class:

1.   Attend class regularly and be on time.

2.   Read the section of the text relevant to the class material IN ADVANCE of the class meeting.

3.   Read the power point material relevant to the class material IN ADVANCE of the class meeting.

4.   After each class session and before the next session, study/review what was covered in class AND review and correlate it with the relevant chapter(s) in the text. 

5.   Use your team as a study group to help you prepare for the quizzes.

 

Class Policies:

1.   Unless otherwise instructed, turn off cell phones, computers, and other devices that can access the internet while you are in class.

2.   No text-messaging or other form of e-communication will be allowed during class.

3.   Come to class on-time; it is very disruptive and disrespectful to the instructors and the other students when you some to class late.

4.   You are expected to attend EVERY class session; we make it a point to get to know all of you early on in the semester, since we conduct a very interactive class.  Accordingly, your absence will be noticed.  Moreover, you will get the most out of this class if you attend every session.

5.   You must notify Dr. Glembotski at least 1 week before an exam if you must be absent.  You must have a valid excuse and written documentation for the excuse in order to qualify for a make-up exam.  The nature of the make-up exam is variable, but most likely it will be an oral exam and must be completed before the next class session.

6.   We have a zero-tolerance policy about cheating on exams.  Cheating means getting exam answers from an external source, including people in or outside of class, including via classical cheating methods (i.e. roaming eyes), or via state-of-the-art cheating methods (e.g. e-messages).

      If you are caught cheating, your exam will be confiscated, you will be given a 0 on it, and you will be reported to the department and to student affairs for appropriate action.