CELL & TISSUE BIOLOGY / HISTOLOGY (3.0 credit hours)
Faculty: Dr. Craig Canby, Dr. Maria Patestas, Dr. Donald Matz
Ingredients:
Lectures by Cell Biology faculty
Lab vodcasts narrated by Dr. Canby
Virtual Microscope website link
Laboratory Manual of Fine Cellular Structure (EM images)
(optional) iBooks on iPad
This course consists of:
4 section exams, consisting of group and individual questions
Formative assessment – “instant feedback”-type practice questions
Recipe for Success (from the kitchen of Firras Garada):
The format for how Cell Biology has been taught has changed significantly from year to year -- the majority of second years would agree that the class was relatively straightforward. Many students recommend getting an iPad for this class -- I personally didn’t purchase one and did just fine (although having one couldn’t hurt either). Cell Biology is the first class you will encounter in your first year that has an independent “laboratory” component not taught in the classroom. The lab portion consists of being able to recognize and identify key features of histologically prepared tissue/cell samples from images that are presented in Dr. Canby’s vodcasts, the Virtual Microscope, and the Laboratory Manual. Students from previous years (as well as people in your class) will likely upload PowerPoints to the Class of 2018 Google Drive that contain all the pictures you need to memorize, which will come in extremely handy because images are scattered from many sources.
Exam questions are typically pulled directly from the PowerPoint slides and lecture, so if you go to class or watch the lecture recordings and take good notes alongside the PowerPoints, you will be fine. For each exam, there is a group portion worth about 15 points -- unique to the Cell Biology course, group members and seating arrangements are assigned prior to the course start date. Most groups do very well on the handwritten/scratch-off response group exam, making it a potential grade buffer Students then use their laptops to complete the individual exams, just like an exam in any other class. Dr. Canby is a great professor who really cares about his students’ learning and is willing to make adjustments/be flexible to better accommodate the students.
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