Text:  There is no required text for this class.  If you would like a text, I recommend Vertebrate Endocrinology, by D. Norris (Academic Press).  I will have texts in my office that you may sign out for short periods.  I also strongly recommend using your old animal physiology text, or borrowing someone else’s.
 

Course Description	Academic Honesty
Goals and Outcomes	Grades
Course Requirements	Students with Disabilities

Tentative Schedule

Couse Description: 

This course will explore hormonal control, emphasizing current research.  Lectures will give background on the key concepts, then they will focus on in-depth analysis of the major vertebrate hormones using published research.  We will study topics such as gender differentiation, growth, reproduction, weight control, diabetes, the stress response, and environmental endocrine disruption.  The lectures will emphasize discussion and analysis of the scientific literature.  The discussion period will provide time for more in-depth writing exercises, discussions and occasional demonstrations

The reasons for using the scientific literature instead of a more typical, textbook-based lecture approach are three-fold:

• The primary literature provides detailed concrete examples, which are often more interesting and give better insight into how hormones work
• Hormonal control, like most systems in the real world, is amazingly complex.  This leads standard textbook-based approaches into two serious mistakes:  1) glossing over the complexity, losing out on one of the key lessons in physiology, or 2) trying to catalogue all the complexity, losing students in a sea of confusing and often contradictory information.
• Analysis of experimental logic will teach you critical thinking skills that are useful for dealing with complex, real-world problems.
• The methods of endocrinology are the methods of modern molecular biology – they are the tools of the 21^st century.  It’s a good idea to know what they are capable of.

Course goals and learning outcomes:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of hormonal control
2. Learn the structure, function and regulation of the major vertebrate hormones
3. Learn a variety of common methods in molecular biology and their strengths and weaknesses
4. Identify connections between processes at the molecular and organismal level
5. Critically analyze information on hormones, including analysis of the effectiveness of methods, the meaning of observational and experimental data, and the appropriateness of the conclusions
6. Effectively communicate information about hormones in both oral and written form.

Course requirements

Attendance and participation:  Because this class depends on interactions, attendance is expected as is regular contribution to the class discussions.  If you will be unable to attend a class, notify me in advance (I check e-mail and voice-mail regularly).  Anyone who is present every day and is involved in the class meets expectations (see scoring on next page).  Deductions will only be made for unexcused absences, if it appears that a student is not contributing to discussions, or for unacceptable work on informal writings.

Graded writings and Quizzes:  There will be at least one writing assignment or quiz each week.  Quizzes typically test required background information (goals 1, 2 and 3), while the writing assignments will focus on analysis (goals 3, 4 and 5).  Writings may involve analyzing or commenting on a scientific paper, suggesting further experimental approaches, or considering the broader implications of some finding.  You will not be expected to memorize the details of any particular experimental study. 

Ungraded writing assignments:  There will be additional, informal writings that will be used to stimulate your thoughts on specific topics.  In some cases, you will be reading and commenting on others’ work.

Review paper:  You will write a review paper on a topic of your choice within endocrinology.  Your grade will depend on the thoroughness of your coverage and the clarity of your write-up.  These papers are typically ten pages or longer, and typically cite 10-20 primary sources.  The review paper will be written in stages, with parts of the grade assigned at some of these stages.

Presentation:  During one of the discussion sections you will be expected to present to the class the results of a published paper (chosen from a list).  The presentations should be brief (roughly 10 min) and focused.  You will be graded on the clarity of your presentation and your understanding of the paper as demonstrated during the ensuing discussion.

Final:  The final will be a graded writing like the other ones throughout the semester, and will be counted in with the rest.

 Grades:

Graded writings and quizzes	55%
Review paper	25%
Presentation	10%
Class participation	10%

Grades will be given based on whether the student met the expectations of the assignment, using a scale of 0 – 3 as follows:

0 = No evidence of achieving goal.  The work was either not done, or done so poorly that one cannot discern sufficient progress towards achieving the goal.

1 = Approaches goal.  The guidelines of the assignment were followed and the work shows evidence of progress towards meeting the goal.  Nevertheless, it may be unclear, partially incorrect, or reflect misunderstandings.

2 = Meets goal.  The work is performed with minimal errors or misunderstandings and is of overall good quality.  It could be improved, however, with increased analysis, integration, sophistication or rigor.

3 = Exceeds goal.  Performs the task at the level expected of an experienced scientist.  There are no significant errors or misunderstandings, the work is clear and comprehensive, and it demonstrates sophisticated thinking (insight, analytical ability, integration etc…). 

These grades correlate loosely to letter grades as follows:

A         Meets the goals of almost all assignments, occasionally exceeding the goals (2.3+)

A-/B+  Meets the goals of all assignments (~2)

B         Meets the goals of most of the assignments (~1.7+)

C         Typically approaches goals, only occasionally meeting them (~1.3)

D         Approaches the goals roughly half of the time (~0.5)

F          No evidence of achieving goals (< 0.5) 

I take into account progress over the semester.  I typically expect students to have more trouble meeting the goals early in the semester, but as their skills develop, they can meet the goals more easily.  Demonstrating full ability to meet the goals at the end of the semester carries a lot of weight in the grading.

Students with disabilities:

 Accommodations will be made for students with disabilities following the college’s procedures as outlined in the Student handbook.

Academic Honesty:

All the work in this class must be your own, unless stated otherwise.  For many of the assignments, it is expected that you will discuss ideas with your classmates.  Nevertheless, the final work must be your own, and must reflect your own analysis and interpretation. 

Confirmed instances of academic misconduct will result in a zero for that assignment/quiz and referral to the school judiciary system.  Please refer to the Student Handbook for a detailed description of the policies regarding student academic conduct.  If you have a question about what constitutes plagiarism, refer to the following web site:  http://www.ithaca.edu/library/htmls/plagiarism.htm

Final Exam:  Tues. May 5^th      4:30-7pm.