Your final grade in the course will be based on laboratory performance, laboratory notebook, laboratory reports and exams.
Laboratory Performance (5%)
Laboratory performance grade will be based on:
Your understanding of the theory and practice of each experiment
Your improving ability to handle the equipment
Your technique with living material
The extent to which you have planned and organized your laboratory time
Your ability to obtain useable data
Laboratory Notebooks (5%)
Laboratory notebooks will be evaluated with respect to:
The extent to which your data is recorded in a recoverable manner
Whether there is sufficient information to permit reconstruction of the experiment
Laboratory Reports (50%)
Complete lab reports (average of 2) (30%)
Brief lab reports (average of best 2 of 3) (20%)
The lab reports are evaluated with respect to:
Evidence that you understand the functional role of the system studied
Clear presentation of the data in a form relevant to the experiment
Your analysis and interpretation of the data
Your discussion of the implications of the experiment with regard to the function of the system studied.
Exams (40%)
Midterm exam* (15%)
Final exam (25%)
*a make-up midterm exam, covering the entire course, will be offered at the time of the final exam for students who missed the midterm due to illness.
Laboratory Quizes
A short quiz will be given at the beginning of each laboratory session.
No makeup quiz will be given.
The quiz average will not be averaged into the final grade.
Students with a quiz average of 75% or better will receive an extra point on their final grade.
(This is the only mechanism for increasing your final letter grade)
