Semester & Year: Spring 2015 Instructor: Cynthia Littlejohn Course Number & Section: BSC 381L Phone: 601-266-5796 Section: _H00 _Day: ______Email: [email protected] Course Name: Microbes in Health and Disease Lab Office: 142 WSB Office hours: M-F 7:45- 8:45am M&W 12:30-1:30 pm

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ******* I. Student Outcomes 1. The student will have a basic understanding of the following biological concepts:  Microbiological laboratory techniques and lab safety  Microscopy and basic stain techniques  Methods for enumerating microorganisms related to public health  Methods for determining the effectiveness of anti-microbial compounds  Microbial identification including pathogenic microorganisms and normal flora  Serology & Epidemiology

II. Text/Materials: The text for the course is Laboratory Manuel for Microbes in Health and Disease by Cynthia Littlejohn. (ISBN # 9781465265692).This text is required. The following items must be purchased for the laboratory (all items are available at the bookstore):  Box of clean glass microscope slides and box of glass cover slips  One package of bibulous paper and one package of lens cleaning paper  Inoculating loop  Black sharpie pen and labeling tape (1/2” masking tape will do)  Colored pencils  Lab coat or apron (recommended - an old shirt will do to protect your clothes)

III. Grades: The course grade will be based on two exams; two formal lab reports; weekly lab exercises; quizzes and attendance. Grades will be computed based on the following scale: 89-100 % -A; 79-88 % -B; 69-78 % -C; 59-68 % -D; 0- 58 % -F

IV. Attendance: Students are expected to attend all laboratory periods. If a student misses a lab; a valid excuse must be submitted to your TA no later than the next lab meeting. You must have supporting documentation for your absence (court date, Dr. visit, hospitalization, funeral). Excuses without proper documentation will not be accepted! There will be no make-up labs! With a documented excused absence, you may attend another lab section in the same week. It is your responsibility to contact your TA and arrange to attend another lab in the same week. Only if the missed lab was the last section offered for that week, may you write a mini-laboratory report to replace one (1) missed lab’s attendance and you may make-up one (1) missed quiz. You will only be allowed to turn in lab exercises that carried over to the next week’s lab so that you were at least involved in data collection. Any additional labs missed will result in a grade of zero (0) for attendance and the quiz. If a student has an excuse for multiple absences they may take an incomplete for the semester. Be on time. Do not disrespect your fellow students and the instructor by coming in late and causing a disruption. If you are more than 15 minutes late or if you leave early you will be counted as absent and not allowed to participate in the lab exercise or take the quiz. No cell phones or MP3 players are allowed in lab because of the distraction. It is important to prepare for lab by reviewing the assigned material in advance. You can expect weekly quizzes to re-enforce this practice. V. LAST DAY TO DROP: The last day to drop the course without academic penalty is Wed., April 1st. The university’s policy of withdraw is strictly enforced. Dropping a course will result in a W being assigned and this will be shown on the transcript. Students who withdraw from a class after this date will receive their current letter grade (i.e., the grades of WP and WF are no longer available). A student who receives an incomplete is required to make up missed assignments during the next semester he or she is enrolled. If you fail to complete the work the following semester, the incomplete will automatically become an F on your transcript. Unless I made an error in my grade calculations, I WILL NOT go back after the semester is over and allow students to complete work to earn additional points, change grades or process withdraws regardless of the circumstances.

VI. Students with disabilities : If a student has a disability that qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities Act and requires accommodations, he/she should contact the Office for Disability Accommodations for information on appropriate policies and procedures. Office for Disability Accommodations; 118 College Drive # 8586 Hattiesburg, MS 39406; Tel. (601) 266-5024; Fax (601)266- 6035. Students with hearing impairments can use the Mississippi Relay Service at 1-800-582-2233 or email Suzy Hebert at [email protected].

VII. Immuocompromised students: Immuocompromised students are at a higher risk of contracting an infectious disease. The consequences can be serious or even fatal. Causes of immune system impairment include, but are not limited to, chemotherapy, immunosuppressive drugs, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, pregnancy, and AIDS. If you think you might be immunocompromised, contact your physician regarding the risk associated with working with pathogenic microorganisms and whether you should or should not enroll in a microbiology laboratory this semester.

VIII. Cheating and Plagiarism: Students are encouraged to study and work in groups, but cheating and/or plagiarism of another student’s work or any other source are expressly forbidden (see the code of student conduct in your student handbook). The minimum academic penalty is a grade of zero on the assignment or the examination in question. All class assignments will be assessed with plagiarism detecting software to ensure academic integrity. This software will recognize and flag papers generated by cutting and pasting from Web materials, previously submitted papers by other students at this and other participating institutions, papers purchased from commercial databases, and material from library subscription databases. You are required to set up an account through turnitin.com and register for this course. The course ID# is 9267384 and the course password is micro. Formal lab reports are required to be submitted through this software by 10 am on Wednesday the week they are due. A hard copy should be also submitted to your TA. Any report with a similarity index of greater then 20% will only be eligible to receive ½ of the points available for the assignment. Reports with an excessively high similarity index will not be graded at all! Formal lab reports not submitted through turnitin.com will not be graded.

IV. ONLINE MATERIALS: Information about the course, including TA contact information and handouts, may be obtained from the following web site: http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w536943 Click on courses, then choose the appropriate link (BSC 381L).Check this website frequently for updates and course materials. The general planned format of the class is as follows: Week: Topic Exercise # Jan. 26 Safety; microscopy; ubiquity of bacteria; aseptic technique 1, 2 & 3 Feb. 2 Smear prep; simple and negative stains 6 Feb. 9 Gram and acid fast stains; capsule and spore stains 7 & 8 Feb. 16 No labs this week due to Mardi Gras holiday Feb. 23 Water quality and coliforms (someone from your group will be 9 required to come back before the end of the week and collect data) March 2 Evaluation of antiseptics; Kirby-Bauer method (someone from your 13 group will be required to come back before the end of the week and collect data) March 9 No labs this week due to Spring Break holiday March 16 Exam 1 March 23 Bacteria of the skin; Bacteria of the upper respiratory tract 11 & 12 March 30 Rapid Strep A test 18 Lab report #1 due online by 10 am Wednesday April 1 Last Day to Drop April 6 Blood typing and ELISA test Handouts April 13 Fungi and Parasites 14 & 15 April 20 Effectiveness of hand washing and Synthetic epidemic 5 & 20 April 27 Exam 2 Lab report #2 due online by 10 am Wednesday

VIIII. TA Information: Please take the time to fill in the following information for your teaching assistant. If you have a problem with your lab or an assignment for your lab, please contact your TA. If you can not get in touch with your TA or are not satisfied with their response, then you should contact me. Please start by contacting your TA!

TA Name: ______

TA Email: ______

TA Phone Number: ______

TA Office: ______

TA Office Hours: ______

Pertinent dates: Jan. 19 Martin Luther King Holiday Feb. 16-17 Mardi Gras Holiday March 9-13 Spring Break Holiday April 1 Last day to drop the course April 3 Good Friday Holiday May 1 Last day of regularly scheduled classes