Welcome to the Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory! This laboratory course was initiated about 10 years ago to introduce students to cellular and molecular biology research through exposure to laboratory research theory and methods as well as primary literature. This course has changed dramatically over the years and will continue to change as new and exciting discoveries in molecular biology come about. This semester's course will hopefully give you an appreciation of importance of laboratory work and biotechnology and the relevant application of both to solving current biological problems. The three sections covered in this course will include:

Steve Moore, Ph.D.
Office: Pryor-England 160
Office Tel: ext 4066
Home Tel: 278-5089
Office Hours: By Appointment
e-mail: smoore@harding.edu

Jo M. Goy, M.S.
Office: Pryor-England 164E
Office Tel: ext 4151
Home Tel: 279-7138
Office Hours: By Appointment
e-mail: jmgoy@harding.edu

Due to the nature of this laboratory course no conventional textbook will be required. Instead, you will be asked to purchase a course manuel from the department. This manuel is a dynamic entity and new material will be added throughout the semester. The majority of test material will come from the course manual.

Because of the cost of lab supplies, reagents, and extra-departmental gene analysis, students will be expected to pay a lab supply fee of $75.  This fee will cover all materials including course manual, disposables, assay kits, and purchase of cell lines.  This fee must be paid by the beginning of the second week of class in order for the student to receive all necessary supplies. Payment should be submitted to Mrs. Valentine, Pryor-England Rm 131,.

Attendance is mandatory for each lab period.  Each class period will begin at 8 a.m., break for chapel and continue until 12:35 p.m.  Because of the amount of material covered in the course, it is essential that the class begin promptly at 8 a.m.  Please be aware that this is a 2 hour laboratory course, which is equivalent to 6 hours/week of course work.  Anyone entering the classroom after class has begun will be considered tardy. 

Because scientific research does not adhere to specific hours, students will be required to come in during non-scheduled hours to conduct their research.  The supervisory instructor or lab assistant must be notified if you plan to work in the lab during non-scheduled hours.  Should a student be absent and it is excused according to Harding University Policy, the student will be required to meet with the supervisory instructor, at the instructor's convenience, to complete the exercise for that week.  The instructor must be given proper documentation that the absence was excused to receive credit for that absence.  If the student knows ahead of time that they will be absent, the student is encouraged to meet with the instructor to determine what work will need to be completed so that the student does not get behind.  If a student absence is not excused, 5 percentage points will be deducted from the student’s final semester average and can not be recovered.  Unexcused students will be required to arrange a time with the instructor so they may be instructed concerning essential protocols and techniques.  Students are allowed to leave only after completion of the assigned exercise, equipment is properly cleaned and stored, work area is properly cleaned and hands are washed.  Students leaving the laboratory prematurely will be counted absent.

Each student will be awarded 50 attendance points at the initiation of the course.  A penalty deduction of 3.5 points will be accessed for each tardy and 5 points for each lab absence.

Each student is expected to actively participate in the weekly activities of this course.  Attendance to lab is not sufficient to have "participated".  At the conclusion of the semester each student will be awarded a maximum of 50 participation points based on their eagerness, initiative, attitude toward the work, attention to details, group participation, etc., throughout the semester.  The awarded points will be subjectively determined by Dr. Moore and Mrs. Goy.

Students will be assigned data manipulation exercises throughout the semester. These assignments will include a variety of activities. For example; several of our experiments will generate data to be analyzed, reanalyzed, plotted, etc. or we may have a worksheet of calculations. Each exercise will be scored and recorded out of a possible ten points. The final overall value of these assignments will be scaled to 50 total points.

Three primary literature articles have been selected for reading and discussion this semester.  The chosen articles utilize the techniques and research theories we will be discussing during the semester.  Each student is expected to access, monitor and participate via WebCT in an on-line discussion of the selected articles.

Each article has been assigned a discussion time frame (see below).  Within that time frame jump-start questions will be posted. Each student is expected to post a minimum of three (3) comments (per jump-started discussion) which are appropriate to the current discussion. You may post more than three. Your postings will be graded. Example evaluation criteria for grading postings are shown below.

1. Appropriateness of your posting relative to the current discussion
2. Degree to which the posting reflects depth of knowledge of the article and discussion topic
3. Value awarded for reasonably imaginative, novel, and supportable research approaches
4. Value deducted for mundane postings that obviously do not help the discussion progress
5. Value pro-rated for your level of engagement as demonstrated by your postings
6. One or more of the course instructors will assign posting scores

Each student's mastery of the techniques, equipment, experimental design, project theory, chemical and supplies utilized in each experiment will be evaluated on four semester quizzes. Format for the quizzes may include short answer, essay, multiple choice, and/or fill in the blank questions. The course instructors reserve the option of conducting quizzes via WebCT. Therefore, during the first week of the semester make certain your HU username and password is operative. If you experience problems with accessing WebCT contact the Office of Student Technology Services at 279-4545.

Quizzes will be challenging. They will cover the material addressed in the course to that date.  However, each quiz will concentrate on the material discussed, covered, assigned, etc. since the last quiz. Quizzes are assigned as individual exercises and are to be taken without the help of others. 

The instructors reserve the right to amend course policies as may be needed during the semester. Any changes to policy will be announced.

In this course students will be graded on their understanding of research principles, experimental design, mastery of technical procedures and chemical manipulations in the lab, participation in literature review and discussions, and ability to manipulate and interpret data.  The composition of the final course grade will be as follows:

It is the policy of Harding University to accommodate students with disabilities, pursuant to federal and state law.  Therefore, any student with a documented disability condition (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations, must contact the instructor and Student Support Services at the beginning of each semester.   (If the diagnosis of the disability occurs during the academic year, the student must self-identify with the Student Support Services office as soon as possible in order to get  academic accommodations in place for the remainder of the year.)   The Student Support Services office is located in Room 109 of the Lee Academic Center, telephone 279-4028.

If you have special testing needs you must discuss them with a course instructor prior to the first quiz.