• This is a fully online course. Both lecture and lab activities are online and can be completed at home.

• This course begins on Monday, August 22nd, 2022 and ends on Friday, December 16th, 2022.

• This course is organized into 16 content modules. The study guide, lab activities and progress check in each module are due every Thursday.

• We have no required scheduled meeting times. All of your work can be completed asynchronously (on your own schedule) each week.

• We will have optional, guided synchronous sessions where you can work collaboratively with other students over Zoom.

• This is not a self-paced course. You are in a learning community with your classmates and me. Together, we will move through one module each week.

• Instead of taking quizzes and exams, you will demonstrate your learning of biology in our course by completing lab activities and a content curation project on an issue at the intersection of biology and society. Possible topics include antibiotics, biotechnology (GMOs), biodiversity, climate change, microbiome, vaccines, and viruses. Let me know if there is another biological topic you are interested in exploring during our course.

• This is a 4 unit class, so you should plan to spend 8-12 hours a week to complete our course activities.

Course Resources

• You can learn more about me, your instructor, at my Faculty Profile page.

• You can explore the Table of Contents of our free online textbook, and read the first chapter, for an introduction to the biological topics we will be learning about this semester. You do not need to purchase the textbook as you can view it online or download it for free. But if you know you do better with a printed copy of a textbook, order your book soon. The new textbook is $29 for a hardcover or $23 for a paperback. There are also used copies available, just make sure you don't pay more than the cost of a new textbook.

• Lecture videos and lab resources will be available, for free, in Canvas.

Getting Ready for an Online Course

• Before the semester starts, if the name that you would like to have shown on instructor rosters and in Canvas is different from your legal name, there is information on the Butte College Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion website, and a link to the Change of Information Form, to change the name that shows up on college documents to your chosen name. You can email the completed form to admissions@butte.edu

• If this is your first course hosted in Canvas, you can complete this free Passport to Canvas course to learn how to use Canvas. 

• It's highly recommended that you update to the newest version of whatever browser you are using. Check out the Canvas Browser Support page for the most recent information. Canvas works best in Chrome and Firefox.  If you don't have one of these browsers, you can download Firefox or download (or update) Chrome for free. You also have free access to the full suite of Office applications to use on personally owned technology through your association with Butte College. 

Week 1

• Our course will be available on Canvas starting Sunday, August 21st. At that time, you will be able to log in to Canvas and click on our course in your Canvas dashboard. You won't be able to see our course until August 21st. You may want to download the Canvas App if you are accessing our course on a mobile device.

• Read our syllabus and complete our Introduction Module in Canvas before midnight on Thursday, August 25th.

• If you need more time to complete the Introduction Module, email me to let me know when you plan to complete it so I know to save your spot in our course. 

• Every Friday, I will post an announcement in our course letting you know that the new module is available. Follow the link in the announcement, or on our Canvas course homepage, to the Module Overview to look over the activities for the upcoming week.

• Set a weekly schedule. In this course, that will include using the lecture resources to complete a study guide early in the week, then working on the lab activities later in the week. The weekly modules have been designed in the course to ensure time is provided to allow you to produce your best work each week.

• Create a study space. Finding a space to work where you won’t be disturbed will allow you to be more efficient with your study time.

• Get started early. Procrastinating can cause unnecessary stress and lead to less-than-quality work. Aim to submit activities on or before the assigned due date, which, in turn, allows me time to review your work and provide meaningful feedback so you can revise submissions if needed.

• Communicate regularly with me. If you have any questions about the course material or activities, I can help! Also, if there is an activity that is a challenge for you to complete, I can work with you to design a different way for you to demonstrate your learning. If you recognize a due date might be a problem, email me with your plan for when you are going to catch up. Late work will be accepted without penalty. We will work together to make sure you can be successful.

• Revise and resubmit! Learning is a process. After submitting an activity and reviewing the feedback I provide, you will be able to review our resources and resubmit to demonstrate the progress of your learning. Your course grade will not reflect how long it takes, or how many revisions needed, to demonstrate your learning. When you demonstrate your learning the activity will be recorded as complete.

• Engage with your classmates. Taking an online course should be more than sitting in front of a computer — real engagement involves becoming a part of our community of learners. You will have opportunities to engage with classmates in asynchronous discussions and synchronous study sessions.

What you can expect from me.

1. I will provide you with a clear, organized course that is designed to ensure you meet our course goals in a meaningful manner.

2. I will provide a variety of resources and activities to ensure your learning needs are met.

3. I will be actively present in your learning. I will respond to your emails as soon as possible and provide timely feedback on submissions.

4. I will reach out to you when I sense that you need support.

5. I will treat you with dignity and respect and be flexible to support your individual needs.

6. I won't be perfect. I am human and will make mistakes at times. I will view mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow and embrace all feedback you graciously share with me.

What I will expect from you.

1. You strive to be an active participant in this course and strive to meet due dates.

2. You will maintain an open line of communication with me so I understand how to support you. You will reach out with questions as soon as, if not before, you sense the onset of frustration.

3. You will contact me if you have a concern with an activity, trouble meeting a due date, or if you are thinking about dropping the course. We'll figure it out together.

4. You strive to regularly contribute to collaborative activities to ensure other members of the community have ample opportunity to read/listen, reflect, and respond to your ideas.

5. You will treat your peers with dignity and respect.

6. You will do your best to have patience with technology. There will be hiccups, expect them. Let me know and we will get through them together.

7. You will give yourself grace. Expect to make revisions. You are human and learning is a process.

Is there anything else you would like to add to these lists?

This learning pact is adapted from the work of Zaretta Hammond, (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Corwin Publishers.

California is facing some big challenges. Climate change, environmental justice, food accessibility, and a current pandemic are just a few of the challenges at the intersection of biology and society. We need to approach these challenges from multiple perspectives. I teach general education biology because I believe we benefit from the different experiences and ways of knowing of our diverse community members. Approaching these challenges from different perspectives will allow collaborative and creative solutions. 

This course is designed to center learning. You will have choice and multiple opportunities in what resources you use to learn, and how you demonstrate your learning. We are all members of this learning community and I will learn as much from you as you will learn from me and your co-learners in this course. We are all here to grow together!

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. ~John W. Gardner