Grading

The grade for lab is worth 1/3 of the total grade in the class.  Your grade for lab will be converted to a percent and combined with the lecture grade. There are a total of 150 points possible in lab. The point break down is below.

 Points   Subject
   25  Quizzes
   25  Unknown Report
   10  Presentation
   25  Staph. Report
   50  Examination
   5   Lab Notebook
   5   Clean Up
  5  Participation
 150   Total

Preparation for Lab

You are expected to read each lab, and to outline the procedure in your lab notebook before coming to each class. Your lab instructor will provide you with advice on maintaining a useful and valuable lab notebook.

Missed Lab / Quiz Policy

 You may need to miss lab for various reasons during the semester. Please contact your lab instructor as soon as possible to make arrangements to attend another lab section.  Attending alternate lab sections is at the discretion of the instructors, and it is your responsibility to obtain prior approval from both lab instructors. There will be no make up quizzes or exams, with the exception of a missed quiz due to documented serious illness, accident, or unforeseen emergency.  At the discretion of the instructor, a make-up quiz may be provided for you, or your score may be prorated. The content of a make-up quiz will be comparable to the one missed, but the format may be different. Unexcused absences will result in a score of zero (0) on that day’s assessment.

Late Policy

All assignments are due at the start of your assigned lab section. Any work turned in after the start of class is considered late.  A penalty of 5 points (10%) per day will be assessed for late work.

Special Accommodations

 If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to your TA a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs may be addressed.  Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities.  (303-492-8671, Willard 322, www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices.

Study Tips

Students generally recall about: 10% of what they hear, 30% of what they see in illustrations, 50% of what they hear and see, 70% of what they write, and 90% of that they say as they do it.  Therefore, working together in groups and talking about science will be a great way to help you comprehend and recall the material. Form study groups of 4 or less, where each member comes prepared to discuss and participate.

Honor Code

 The University has adopted a student Honor Code.  It is your responsibility as a student of the University to know the tenets of the Honor Code and abide by them.  This means that you are to do your own work. Even though you work in a group in class to gather data, you must write up all discussions in your own words.  If two students have nearly identical wording in discussions of the lab reports, both students are in violation of the Honor Code. If you do take someone else's work, such as digital images, you should always note where the work comes from.  For more information consult http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/