Overview of the Hybrid BIO 181 Labs
Course expectations: To be successful in the lab portion of Bio 181, it is important that you complete all assignments by the due dates and that you are on time to the in-person lab sessions. The lab is a hybrid model, meaning that you attend lab in person one week and complete an online lab the following week. Lab sections fall into Group 1 or Group 2 (see the lab schedule for your lab group designation and Moodle and to keep track of assignments by week). You will attend all in-person labs at your assigned week day and lab room (see your registration schedule). Online lab weeks will be completed following directions in Moodle (for the Independent Online Learning Activities or on the Lab Website for the Ecology Project Work (Lab Website Units 4.1 [Fall & Summer] or 4.2 [Spring].
Online Lab Weeks – On your lab Moodle site, you can access the Independent Online Learning Activities (Units 2, 4, 8). Read and follow the directions in Moodle. The directions will involve accessing other web resources to explore a topic and turn in your work on Moodle, then you will gain access to the Unit Quiz. These assignments will complement the In Person labs. We have also built in 2 weeks (Units 6 & 10) as Ecology Work Weeks 1 & 2 for Groups to meet outside of the lab room and work on the Ecology Projects.
See the lab schedule and Moodle for all due dates. You will not attend the lab room during Online Lab weeks. Plan your time wisely and you will have plenty of time to complete these Online and out of Lab Assignment..
In-Person Labs: All the instructions for the labs you attend in person will be provided as a Handout on the BIO 181 Hybrid Lab Website. Use these together. Note that the lab manual handouts are provided to you free of charge in a format that you can answer questions and enter all your lab data. Your lab instructor will facilitate the lab experience, and you will complete most of your work during lab and upload it to Moodle. Lab manual work is due no later than 24 hours after the end of your lab at your usual lab start time (for example, if you have lab at 12:50pm on Mondays, your due date would be 12:50pm Tuesdays). To get ready for each lab, visit the background material in the Pre-Lab section and read through the Lab Unit for the week. You will have at least one week to complete most of the other larger lab assignments.
Semester Ecology Project: You will be completing an ecology project throughout the semester on your own time, both individually and with your lab group (see the Ecology Project section on Moodle). One of the online weeks will be dedicated to working on this project so that you have additional time to organize and analyze your Group’s Data data. The project information and material may be found in the lab website – Lab Unit 4.1 (Fall & Summer) or Unit 4.2 (Spring). You will learn additional information about this project in one of your lab meetings.
Learning Objectives: You may find specific learning objectives, what you should aim to accomplish, for each lab unit either in the lab manual or in the SimBio online module. The course/lecture syllabus for BIO 181 will include course learning objectives and all other information such as policies, support resources, etc. Since the lab course is linked to the class component, it is combined and there is no separate syllabus for lab.
Lab Scores: Your lab score is divided into lab work and participation. Lab work includes all of the assignments and materials you complete in and out of lab, including SimBio. Participation includes effort demonstrated through interactions in the lab with your lab partners and TA, lab work itself, and your collaborations with Groups Work/Assignments.