BIL 161 - Course Policies, Grading and Other Requirements

You may not change your laboratory section after the second week of laboratories. Note that NO OVERRIDES will be given for laboratories that are full to capacity.

GRADING
Your grade in BIL 161 will be based upon the assignments shown in the syllabus. Your Laboratory Instructor will explain his or her grading methods and scale on the first day of lab. It is your responsibility to keep track of your own grade over the course of the semester. Be sure to keep all your graded assignments safe until you have received your final grade on MyUM at the end of the semester.

Your Laboratory Instructor will give you specific instructions on each lab assignment. The requirements for PowerPoint and poster presentations can be found in the online lab manual.

Your Laboratory Instructor will give you specific information about the midterm and final exams.

Don't wait until the night before to start writing! IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BACK UP YOUR WORK AND KEEP A COPY UNTIL YOU HAVE A FINAL GRADE AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER.

REQUIRED READING AND PREPARATION
You must bring your lab manual, Life, the Universe, and Everything with you to the first and every laboratory session, whether in hard copy or on your laptop. Also bring your Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms (by Donald Borror) with you to every laboratory.

LAB RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
Each laboratory experiment will be followed by a team presentation later in the semester, as shown on the syllabus. Your Laboratory Instructor will tell you what type of report will be due for each lab (powerpoint, poster, written paper) and provide additional instructions before you prepare your assignments.

ATTENDANCE AND MAKE UPS
Attendance in laboratory is MANDATORY. If you miss your assigned lab in the first week of lab, your space may be assigned to the next person on the waiting list, and you are likely to lose your space in that lab, even if you are officially registered for it. On the first day of labs, your Laboratory Instructor explain very important lab policies on safety, grading, requirements, and other information. It is your responsibility to be aware of your instructor's requirements.

Labs are completely dismantled every Friday. Therefore, if you miss a lab (even for excused reasons), you must make it up in the same week. Plan ahead! There are no make up labs after the last lab of the week is over.

If you anticipate having to miss a lab (due to a religious holiday, for example), NOTIFY YOUR TA WELL BEFORE THE WEEK OF THAT LAB so that arrangements can be made in advance for you to make up the lab (either before or after your regularly scheduled lab). Make up exams/quizzes must be arranged between you and your TA.

LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
Any student found guilty of wanton negligence or abuse of lab equipment (such as leaving a microscope dirty, leaving a microscope slide on the scope stage, leaving glassware dirty, leaving a scope cord dangling and hazardous for the next student, throwing trash in the sinks etc.) will automatically be docked 5 points. IT IS TIME TO LEARN THE PROPER SKILLS AND TOOLS OF YOUR CHOSEN FUTURE PROFESSION.

ACADEMIC ETHICS
Cheating, including copying on exams and plagiarism on research presentations, will not be tolerated, and is easily detected by our very experienced and jaded TAs. Any student caught cheating will automatically receive an "F" in the course and brought before the university's Undergraduate Honor Council for possible further penalties. Every student will be required to read and sign a document on what constitutes plagiarism, We will keep the documents as proof that each student understands the definition of cheating.

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