Topics/Biological Sys Analysis

Luis F. Rodriguez

none

376C Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building

I generally keep an open door policy, but my preferred times are: Tuesday mornings 9-11 AM.

217-333-2694

lfr@uiuc.edu

Or via IM (take your pick):

• rodriguezluisf via AIM
• wheezito via YahooIM
• wheeztio@hotmail.com via MSN

All students will begin the semester with zero points. Points shall be accumulated throughout the semester based on the evaluations listed in Table 1 for undergraduate students or Table 2 for graduate students. Both absolute and curved grades will be determined based on the graded evaluations and the proportions described in Table 1. The better of the two grades on each of respective scales will constitute the final grade.

Each article shall be reviewed and discussed during the class period. Your class participation is expected and, with the wiki, there are now several media which can allow you to do so. During class I will expect you to be an active participant making positive contributions to the discussion. I will make every effort to moderate an active discussions in the class, but to be realistic this is a two way street.

Our wiki inherently incorporates a discussion page at every location that can be edited by any user. I would encourage you to use this feature to discuss content. You should sign all of your discussion points. Here are some guidelines for managing effective discussion threads.

As we complete each discussion topic, I will note which students have made a positive contribution to the discussion. Positive contributions bolster the discussion by ensuring that all key points regarding the subject matter receive due attention. Certainly comments should never be derisive in nature, rather we seek to help every person in the classroom achieve the class objectives.

Similarly, I will monitor activity on the website. Positive contributions will be noted in the same table where I will note class participation. Copy editing is considered baseline, so if you think you have found a typo, please fix it. If you think you can add/modify content to improve the quality of the article, please add it. If you have thought of a new discussion topic that perhaps we did no cover in class, either start a thread on the discussion board, or add it to the article, or both.

Each of you will be responsible for an original wiki article covering a topic discussed during the semester. I suggest that you should watch your articles so that you may be advised of any changes or discussion that may occur. It is up to each of you to create the best article possible. As discussed in class, your objective is to create an article that is worthy of publishing in Wikipedia, by meeting the needs of your classmates. This underscores again the importance of class participation so that you can assist your classmates as they create the strongest articles possible.

I will regularly post your scores, so that you can see how you are doing relative to your peers.

See the Wiki Contributions for Topics/Biological Sys Analysis link to find the location where wiki homework assignments shall be posted.

Please note: to edit the wiki, you will need to register for an account and log in. Once you have created your account, you are responsible for sharing it with me, so I know who you are.

All your edits are automatically stored in the wiki history, therefore I will be able to determine your level of participation.

Please keep a high standard for your participation; recall that the history is permanent.

All reading assignments must be completed prior to the related lecture. This is imperative to the ability of this class to function and there can be no exception. This will be considered a lack of class participation and the class participation portion of your grade will suffer.

An oral final examinations will be administered during this course. I will be looking to see how well you have done achieving the course objectives. Graduate students will be responsible for creating questions and answers which we will select from for the final exam.

There will be no cheating. We will generally default to the university policy on cheating. Please think twice before taking the risk of putting either of us in such an uncomfortable postion. If, however, suspicious activity is observed you should expect swift action on my part.

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