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General Information

For up to date Winter 2012 information please visit Biol 208 listed under eClass Moodle Courses at https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/my/

Policies related to the lab portion of Biology 208

Please read the policies outlined in the section titled "Biology 208 Lab Policies" on this page and in your lab manual.  Where any differences occur, policies on this page supersede policies in the current lab manual.  Any changes to the policy document will be announced in labs and on eClass.   One announcements are made it is your responsibility to read and understand how the changes may affect you.

Laboratory Grades

The laboratory comprises 41% of the course grade.

Assignments and reports are due at the beginning of the next lab period, unless informed otherwise. Late assignments are not accepted.

Required Lab Supplies

Laboratory manual is available for purchase from the bookstore. Previous versions of the lab manual are not applicable, so make sure you purchase the manual for the correct term.  You will be required to wear protective eyewear for some of the labs.  

Change of Lab Section

Attend lab on the day and time and in the room assigned. Equipment limitations and fire regulations prohibit students from switching scheduled lab rooms. If you must change your lab section, see the Coordinator in CW-312E.

Absence from Lab

Because of crowded lab sections and equipment limitations, arrangements must be made with the Coordinator to make up a missed lab with another lab section. Contact the Lab Coordinator as soon as possible to arrange to attend a make-up lab.

Field Trips

Several of the laboratory exercises in Biology 208 are held out-of-doors, and neither rain, nor snow, nor freezing temperatures will keep us from going out! Please dress for the weather for the laboratories on Statistical Analysis, Terrestrial Ecosystem and Competition.

Disclaimer: You are responsible for yourself and, through your actions, those around you. All field trip participants will behave in a safe manner. No one will knowingly risk himself or herself or put others at risk. Although field localities and field exercises are chosen with safety in mind, work and study outdoors carries some risk. All field trip participants are equally responsible for safety, but faculty and staff of the Department are in charge. You are strongly advised to secure additional medical insurance. THE DEPARTMENT AND THE UNIVERSITY WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MEDICAL EXPENSES OF ANY KIND. All students will be required to sign a Release of Liability form before participating in field exercises.

Biology 208 Lab Policies

Winter 2012 V1.1 (January 8, 2012)

Where any differences occur, policies in this document supersede policies in the current lab manual.  Any changes to this document will be announced in labs and in eClass.   One announcements are made it is your responsibility to read and understand how the changes may affect you.

 

Email policy

Your TA will respond to your email usually within one working day.  However they have duties other than Biology 208. These include research commitments, course work and even families.   Please do not be surprised if they are not able to respond to your email immediately within minutes or hours.  If you send email to your TA after 5pm during the week do not expect a response until the following day.  If you send your TA an email during the weekend do not expect a response until the following Monday.  Please keep this in mind if you have work due on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.  Be prepared to plan ahead. 

Attendance Policy

Attendance in the lab is mandatory. Some of the projects require more than one lab session to complete so it is essential that you are present for all the laboratory sessions.  If you miss a lab or know ahead of time that you will miss a lab you must contact the Lab Coordinator within 24 hours of the missed lab.  Failure to do so will result in an unexcused absence.  An unexcused absence results in the loss of all weight assigned to all activities for that session including pre-lab quizzes.

The Lab Coordinator may grant you an excused absence if you have a valid reason for missing the lab, begin the process of reporting your absence to the Lab Coordinator within the allotted time (24 hours) and meet the Lab Coordinator in person if required.  Results and consequences of an excused absence depend upon which lab was missed; the Lab Coordinator will go over these with you. Valid reasons for missing a lab include but are not limited to illness, death of a close relative, personal or family crisis and intercollegiate team commitments.  Documentation supporting your absence is required in some situations.  The Lab Coordinator will inform you if it is required for your specific situation.  There are no make up quizzes for those that are late for a lab and miss a pre-lab quiz.

Late Reports

Assignments are due at the beginning of the lab period. Late assignments will not be accepted. Computers crash, printers run out of ink, dogs eat lab reports, but these are not acceptable excuses for handing in a late paper. In the case of illness late labs may be submitted with documentation OR a signed declaration from the faculty office.  For other circumstances please see the lab coordinator. Make sure you back up your computer files often, and also on a separate storage device so that  you avoid losing hours of work in the event of a computer crash. Leave plenty of time for printing your report since printer problems are as common as computer crashes.

Submission of electronic file of lab reports to the online submission web portal. 

You must submit the electronic versions of your labs reports and assignments to your TA via the online submission portal before you hand in your hard copy to your TA.  The submission portal is also a plagiarism checker and checks your report against all of the reports that are submitted by the current Bio 208 class and those from previous terms.  Once you have completed the submission form and submitted your work you will receive a confirmation that you have completed the submission process.  Your TA will give you detailed instructions on how to access and use the online submission portal.

Your printed hard copy version is the official version of your work and you must hand this to your TA at the beginning of the lab period your assignment is due.  However you will not be assigned an official grade for your work unless you submit the electronic version within 24 hours of the time that your lab was due.

Grade appeal policy

There is a one week window from the time you get graded work back for you to appeal the grade you received.  You will not be permitted to contest the mark you receive for work you handed in after the one week window is over.

 

Group Work Policy

A group, which includes all members, is responsible for completing and submitting the group’s assignment by the due date regardless of the following circumstances: 

1. A member of the group withdraws from the course.

2. A member of the group is unable to complete their portion of the group’s assignment.

3. A member of the group is difficult to contact and/or work with.

Listed below are three example situations and how the rules above apply:

Example A

One group member from the group presentation withdraws from the course – There will be no reshuffling of groups.  The remaining group members are responsible for delivering the group presentation on the date it is due.

 Example B

One or more group members are ill the day of the group presentation – The remaining group members are still responsible for giving the group’s presentation (so make sure that all group members are capable of giving the complete presentation).

 Example C

Parts of your work have been edited out of the submitted version of your group lab report without your permission – The submitted version of your group’s report is the final and only version your TA will mark.  We assume all group members have proofed and approved the submission of the group’s report. Your name on the assignment indicates this.

To summarize, group work is a collective responsibility.  The group must manage any situation that obstructs the completion of a group assignment. The group, as a whole, is responsible for submitting a completed assignment.  It is not the responsibility of your Professor, TA or even the Lab Coordinator to ensure that all members of the group are contributing. 

Requests for Arbitration

1. As soon as possible, let your TA know of any problems your group is having regardless of how small they seem.  Your TA may be able to help you work through your difficulties.  

 2. Contact the Lab Coordinator before the due date of the assignment if you feel your group is experiencing circumstances beyond what a group could realistically manage.  Be prepared to discuss the group’s original plan, the specific nature of the conflict and a proposed solution.  In consultation with you, your group members and your TA, the Lab Coordinator will provide a final, indisputable resolution. 

3. Once the due date is past arbitration is not possible.  Each member of the group will receive the group grade.

 4. The professional conduct grade is based in part on how individuals interact with their group members.

 Collaborative work policy

Different assignments will have different permitted levels of collaboration.  This will be outlined by your TA at the beginning of the lab module. Please make sure you understand what work is to be done in groups, pairs or individually and more importantly what level of collaboration is permitted for the work that will be handed in. Even for individual work you are encouraged to discuss your results with other student, get help from other students and your TA.  But such discussions must take place BEFORE you begin writing your own assignment.  After discussing your results with others, sit down by yourself and write your assignment; do not work jointly (unless the assignment specifically permits you to do so).

 Do not make use of other students’ completed assignments from this or earlier years because submitted written work MUST be your own. Acts of academic misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, cheating, copying another student’s work, etc.) will be dealt with severely. Your name and the work in question will be submitted to the Dean of Science for disciplinary action. In the past, penalties have included grades of F8 and suspensions from the University. Please read Section 26, Code of Student Behaviour, and Appendix A, of the University of Alberta Calendar for complete definitions of academic and non-academic misconduct and their associated penalties. If you are unsure about how to use references without inadvertently committing an academic offense, review the section on Using Primary Literature in your lab manual.

We ask that every student be respectful of their peers, instructors and their work environment.  Each student is monitored for how well they follow instructions, complete individual tasks, tidy up their work areas at the end of lab, interact with their peers and participate during lab. Interactions between peers is especially important during group work.

The professional conduct mark will also include the results from up to three pre-lab quizzes.  These quizzes will occur randomly through the term.