Zoology is the study of animals. It is a huge, very broad field of study. It is also incredibly fascinating. This course covers basic principles common to the animal kingdom.

MY PHILOSOPHY AND GOALS FOR THIS COURSE:

My philosophy about teaching is that I want to share as much knowledge and understanding of the subject with students as possible. I also believe it is my job as instructor to challenge people. I want you to learn course materials because I care about you and I care about zoology. I firmly believe that the more people know, the happier they can be, and the more they can appreciate and enjoy the world around them. I want to help you in gaining knowledge about, and appreciation of, zoology. I expect students to be thoroughly involved in my courses and in their education in general. The more people put into something the more they get out of it; therefore, I expect this class to be high on your priority list, and I expect you to put in plenty of quality time and effort on it. Likewise, I will spend much effort in trying to make the course a valuable experience for you.

My goals for this course are that all participants gain a general and conceptual, yet reasonably detailed, knowledge of 1) the diversity of animals that populate the earth, and 2) how animals cope with the universal problems of living. The framework in this course for both # 1 and #2 is structure and function at various levels of organization, from cells to populations. Further, by gaining this knowledge, I hope each of us will gain more appreciation and enjoyment of the living world, will learn new ways of thinking, and will become more informed and responsible citizens with respect to issues concerning the living world.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Introduction to Zoology is a freshman level course. It is a 4-unit lecture and laboratory course. It is a prerequisite for the Biology major and is also a General Education course under area B2. Since it is a prerequisite to the Biology major and nearly all upper-division biology courses, it is a content-heavy course that takes much time. BIOL 1010, Principles of Biology, is a more appropriate course for most people needing a General Education course in area B2. Prerequisites for ZOOL 1050 = a grade of A or B in high school biology, satisfactory score on a biology qualifying exam, or BIOL 1010 with a passing grade. ZOOL 1052, Intro. to Zool. Lab, is a corequisite, i.e., must be taken at the same time as Z00L 1050. ZOOL 1050 lecture = Mon., Wed., and Fri. 9:05 - 10:03 in room S -146. See the Fall 2003 Class Schedule for times of the lab sections. Labs are held in room S -129.

THE SEVEN COURSE GOALS FOR GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES

Since ZOOL 1050 counts as a G. E. course, I will list the seven goals of G. E. courses at CSU Stanislaus, and I will show how most of these goals can be integrated with my specific goals for ZOOL 1050. The seven G. E. goals are:

1. Subject Knowledge. To provide an educational experience that will enhance student's understanding of the discipline's basic principles, methodologies, and perspectives. This is the same as my goal that all participants gain a general and conceptual, yet reasonably detailed, knowledge of 1) the diversity of animals that populate the earth, and 2) how animals cope with the universal problems of living.

2. Communication. To provide an educational experience that will enhance the ability to communicate. As you gain more appreciation and enjoyment of the living world, learn new ways of thinking, and become more informed and responsible citizens with respect to issues concerning the living world, you will want to share your insights with others. And you will have the background to effectively communicate these insights.

3. Inquiry and Critical Thinking. To provide an educational experience that will enhance critical thinking skills and will contribute to continuous inquiry and life-long learning. The course is structured in such a way that new material builds on earlier material. I often ask questions that require you to incorporate old and new material into an answer. If you keep up with studying, these questions often result in what I call "Ah-ha" experiences. Ah-ha experiences are the very heart of both critical thinking and the joy of, and desire for, life-long learning.

4. Information Retrieval and Evaluation. To provide an educational experience that will enhance the ability to find, understand, examine critically, and use information from various sources. The major sources of information you need to use in this course are lecture notes, the textbook, the course pack, the lab book and optional, extra credit papers and videos. You need to understand, examine critically, and use information from these information sources as answers to exam questions.

5. Interdisciplinary Relationships. To provide an educational experience that will enhance students' understanding of a discipline's interrelationships with other disciplines. The study of (animal) life is by definition interdisciplinary.

6. Global or Multicultural Perspectives. To provide an educational experience that will enhance the ability to look at issues from multiple perspectives and/or that will describe a discipline's impact on or connection to global issues. Humans depend on natural ecosystems (which are made of animals and plants) for our very life. We are also destroying the world's biodiversity (the diversity of animals, plants, etc., and natural ecosystems) at an unprecedented rate. The connection between this course and global issues obvious, and is one of the major themes of the course. This is what I am talking about in my goal that all people in the class become more informed and responsible citizens with respect to issues concerning the living world.

7. Social Responsibility. To provide an educational experience that will help students understand the complexity of ethical judgment and social responsibility and/or that will describe the discipline's impact on or connection to social and ethical issues. See number 6, above. The answer is the same.

SPECIFIC COURSE OBJECTIVES, i.e., WHAT SHOULD YOU BE LEARNING?

This is a content-heavy course; the primary learning objective is therefore mainly to learn course content. You need to thoroughly learn the information presented in both lecture and lab. The text is used primarily for background reading and pictures/diagrams, unless it is noted that you especially need to know specific pages. Material in the Course Pack needs to be learned very well. You need to bring your textbook and the Course Pack to class every day. Your lab instructor will go over lab book and other items needed in labs.

ASSESSMENT METHODS, GRADES and GRADING:

1. The best assessment measure for content-heavy courses is exams. Most of your grade will be based on lecture exams and lab quizzes.

1. As a general philosophy, you should attend all class meetings. If you must miss a class meeting, it is your responsibility to make up any work missed and to obtain and learn all information you missed.

2. Be on time to class. ZOOL 1050 (lecture) begins at 9:05 am, MWF.

3. Students are expected to take exams on days and times listed in the class schedule. There are NO alternatives for lab exams. If you have a legitimate excuse to miss a lecture exam, the instructor needs to know the reason, in writing, at least a week before the exam date. Arrangements for taking the exam at another time must be made at the time of the written request. If you have an emergency less than a week before an exam, you must let me know of the emergency prior to the exam time if possible. You must provide a valid, written excuse on or before the next class period after the exam date, in order to be able to take the exam at an alternate time. If the emergency lasts beyond the next class period after the exam, you must at least let the instructor know about the situation, and you must bring valid, written excuse as soon as you return to school. The instructor will determine the appropriateness of taking the missed exam in this case.

4. Observe lab safety and cleanliness procedures.

5. Participate fully and in a positive manner in all class activities.

6. Do not hesitate to raise your hand and ask questions during lecture. You will notice a higher retention rate and gain greater confidence in the material if you reread your lecture notes and the text after each class.

7. At the beginning of most lecture periods, I will ask if clarifications are needed of previously presented material. Use that opportunity to gain mastery of material and to fill in any gaps (see #6 above).

8. Cheating in any form is unacceptable in science, including in all biology classes. This includes Zoology 1050 - 1052. It is the policy of the Department of Biological Sciences that anyone caught cheating will receive a grade of F for the course. The instructor reserves the right to request any student even suspected of cheating to take a second, different, exam from the rest of the class.

9. Talking, whispering and giggling among students during lectures is disruptive for both classmates and the instructor. It is expected that students will refrain from these activities while anyone is lecturing at any time during lecture or lab time. If this becomes a problem, students will be asked to leave class for the duration of these activities.

10. Cell phones must be turned off while anyone is lecturing at any time during lecture or lab time. Cell phones must be turned off, and must be placed out of sight of any student in the class, during all lecture and lab exams.

11. The field trip regulations (on separate pages from this introductory information) that do not specifically pertain to being in vehicles, pertain to all parts of class, i.e., lecture and lab as well as field trips. These are not limited to, but especially include numbers 4, 7, and 8 of the Department of Biological Sciences Field Trip Regulations and number 2 of the CSU Stanislaus Field Trip liability Waiver. (See Course Pack).

12. People learn best when they take responsibility for their own learning. You need to accept that responsibility.

EXPECTATIONS OF THE INSTRUCTOR

1. Numbers 1 — 12 above.

2. Be open to feedback on the course and be flexible in order to make appropriate changes to meet student needs.

3. Be fair in assessment of student learning.

It is my hope and expectation that we will all work together to make this course an outstanding experience for all involved.