Syllabus

Reading List

Student Information Form

Problem Sets (1)

Office Hours: I have no specific office hours this semester. Students with specific questions about any aspect of the course are strongly encouraged to e-mail me at Eric_Hendrickson@brown.edu.

Lectures: This course will consist of 13 three-hour lectures divided into three sections. There will be no lecture on Oct. 27th.

Reading: For most of the lectures there is a relevant chapter in the required text (Watson et al.'s Recombinant DNA 2nd Edition) which should be read before coming to class. Secondly, the books Hannah's Heirs and Racing to the Beginning of the Road will also be required reading. In addition, there will be one to two original research papers per class which will be required reading. The required reading will be one potential source of exam questions.

Problem Sets: There will be two problem sets for each course section (six total problem sets). These problems sets will be handed out in class and will be due one week later. These problem sets will be graded and will count 15 points apiece. Group discussion and work on the problem sets is encouraged, HOWEVER, every student is on the honor system to provide their own answers.

Class Participation: The majority of the classroom lectures will involve an analysis/explanation of the assigned reading. This part of the course will be greatly enhanced by class participation. To encourage this, a maximum of 60 points will be awarded for class participation.

Take-Home Exams: There will be two take-home exams. These exams will count 100 points apiece and will cover only the first and second sections of the course, respectively. There will be no make-up exams. Students absent for either of the hourly exams will have their Final Exam adjusted accordingly (i.e., count for 450 points).

Final Exam: The final exam will be held in class at Pfizer on Friday, Dec. 15th from 3 PM to 6 PM. The first part of this three-hour exam will consist of questions dealing exclusively with the third section of the course (worth 100 points). The second part of the exam will contain questions pertinent to all sections of the course (250 points). The total for the Final Exam is 350 points.

Grading: Final grades will be based upon the total number of points accumulated over the course of the semester:

NOTE: Anyone scoring less than 50% (175 pts) on the final exam will NOT receive a passing grade. In addition, anyone accumulating less than 50% of the total points available will NOT receive a passing grade.

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