Preface to the Human Anatomy Syllabus

This syllabus contains general course information that you will need for the quarter.  It does not include any of the lecture notes or other handouts.  These can all be found on the course website (info below).  Please be sure to read this entire handout as it contains most of the information that students ask me all the time (ie. course website info, assessment, grading, books and teaching philosophy).   If you have any questions that are not answered in the guide, please feel free to contact me.

I’m really looking forward to an interesting and mutually rewarding quarter.  My goal is to assist you in learning many fascinating things about the human body this quarter and to have fun doing it!

Catrin Pittack, PhD
Course Chair

Faculty Listing

Office Hours

Catrin Pittack – Wed 12-2 & Thur 10-12 or by appointment – just email me.

Teaching Assistants

Ben will be holding 1 review session per week as well as answering questions on the class discussion board (GoPost).  He is also available for individual help by appointment – just email him or talk to him during the review sessions.

Review Session: Thursday’s 6-7pm T-639 Health Science Building

Introductory Material

Links to the syllabus, schedule, lecture slides, grade postings, WebQ assignments, GoPost, exam keys and other course information will be available on the course website.  Please check it often for schedule updates and other important information.  

Emailing me: Please use BSTR 301 as the subject line in any email correspondence.  Use email only if you have a question that is personal in nature.  All other questions should be posted on the GoPost and either Ben or myself will respond as soon as possible.  Remember, if you have a question regarding the course, chances are, one of your classmates has it as well.

Course Objectives

Biostructure 301 introduces the student to human anatomy – the anatomy of YOUR body. The course includes gross anatomy (where is it?), neuroanatomy (where are the nerves, how do they keep it all working?), and a small amount of histology (what’s it look like at a cellular level?  why does that matter?) -- with functional correlates coming from medicine, physiology, biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, and pathology. The structure of the human body -- at all levels of organization – and how it relates to function, is the central theme of the course.

Teaching Philosophy

Lectures represent the primary instructional method of the course. While useful for introducing material and directing study, lectures are only moderately effective as learning tools. Considerable time must be spent outside the classroom learning new facts and associating them with images and patterns. For each lecture, there are facts to be learned, images to be remembered and self-assessment questions that can be answered at the end of each chapter. 

It is generally agreed upon by educators that learning is not a spectator sport and that students do not learn by just sitting in class listening – they need to talk about it, write it down, draw a picture, relate it to their own experiences and apply it to their daily lives.  With an understanding of how you all learn best, my job is to engage your mind and pique your interest about human anatomy so that I can assist in your learning and understanding the material. 

Your job is to come to class ready to learn, having already prepared for class by doing the reading assignment, bringing your questions to class and participating in class activities.  If you do your job and I do mine, learning anatomy will be enjoyable, interesting and a breeze!  That being said, we still need to assess your learning somehow.

Assessment

Homework Assignments

In order to encourage you to keep up on the enormous amount of material in this course, there will be 10 homework assignments (HA) during quarter.  These HA’s will be available on-line through WebQ for a specific time only (see the syllabus for information regarding each HA availability).  Since you are doing these HA on-line, you may use your book and class notes as well as discuss the questions with your classmates since group work is a great way to learn.  Each HA will be worth 10 points for a total of 100 possible points.  Answers for each HA will be available to view on Catalyst once the quiz closes.

Note on HA’s:  Makeups for the quizzes will NOT be offered.  If you miss the time window to take a quiz, you will receive a 0 on that quiz – no exceptions, please don’t ask.

Exams

This course has 3 exams, 2 during regular class time and the 3^rd during finals week.  Exams are not cumulative and will cover only material since the previous exam.  Exam questions are multiple choice so please bring a scantron and a pencil to all exams.

Note on exams: NO MAKE UP EXAMS in this course.  If you must miss an exam for any reason please contact me before the exam.  We will figure out how to proceed on an individual basis – note that on rare occasions in the past, I’ve given make up exams that consist of short answer questions so keep this in mind when you make your decision to miss an exam.  Please do not ask me to offer you an alternative date for the 3^rd exam (June 12^th) for any reason.  Look ahead on your schedules, mark the exam date and resolve any conflicts or take this course another time.

Exam rebuttals: 

I am more than happy to accept your rebuttals for a maximum of 2 exam questions but there are a few guidelines that must be followed:

1. Rebuttals must be typed and handed in to me.  No hand written or email rebuttals will be accepted. 
2. Include your name and student ID # on your paper.
3. You may select up to 2 questions per exam only. 
4. All rebuttals are due at the beginning of class exactly 7 days after the exam key is posted.  No late papers will be accepted.
5. Your rebuttal needs to contain the following:
• the entire exam question including answer choices
• the correct answer (according to the answer key) and your answer
• Present this information with an argument as to why your answer should be accepted.
• Whenever possible, refer to specific book pages.
• Your rebuttals should be OBJECTIVE not SUBJECTIVE (ie. arguments such as “I wrote ______ in my notes” and “I thought that……” are not valid and you will not receive credit for these.  If you are unsure of what an objective rebuttal is, please feel free to talk with me.
6. If you reference information from a website, you must give me the link for that website so that I can check it out.  Obscure websites and websites that are not anatomically or medically valid (as determined by me) will not be accepted as exam question rebuttals.
7. If your rebuttal is accepted, you will receive full credit for that exam question (2 points).
8. Re-read points 4, 5 and 6 very carefully!!

In class participation questions –  clicker questions: 

Clicker questions will be asked during lecture to assess student learning.  Some of these questions will need to be answered on your own and some will be group exercises.  Clicker questions will be based on the material covered in the previous days lecture, the assigned reading material and/or that day’s lecture material.  Some of the clicker questions will be based on clinical scenarios and you will be discussing them with your classmates before selecting an answer.  Correct answers are worth 2 points, participation (that means use your clicker to pick an answer), is worth 1 point.  You will receive 0 points if you do not answer the question (ie, if you are absent).  Clicker question points will be added up at the end of the quarter and students will receive either 30, 10 or 0 points depending on their total number of points – see scale below.  The 5 lowest scores will be dropped. 

Clicker question slides will be put onto the course website at the end of the week.

No make ups on clicker participation questions – please don’t ask.

70-100% of total points = 30 points

50-69% of total points = 10 points

49% and below = 0 points

Final Scores

Your total accumulated points in this course consist of the following: 

3 exams: 100 points each = 300 points (70%)

10 on-line homework assignments: 10 points each = 100 points (23%)

Clicker questions: 30 points (7%)

Total possible points = 430

Grading

Grading for this class is based on a straight scale – that means that your grade is not dependant on the performance of your classmates, it is based only on your total accumulated points (430 total possible points).  If you want to keep track of how you are doing in the class, below is numerical grading system that I use.   The grading scale shown below may seem a bit harsh but know that in years past, the straight scale has moved in an upward direction and generally, people who work hard, are pleased with their final grade – I will say no more.  If you need study tips, don’t hesitate to talk to me.  I have plenty of them.

Note (this is important!!!): I will not discuss grading issues over email under any circumstances.  If you want to discuss my grading policy or your specific grade, please make an appointment to see me. 

Grading system:

95 – 100% = 3.9 – 4.0

90 – 95% = 3.5 – 3.8

87 – 89% = 3.2 – 3.4

84 – 86% = 2.9 – 3.1

80 – 83% = 2.5 – 2.8

77 – 79% = 2.2 – 2.4

74 – 76% = 1.9 – 2.1

70 – 73% = 1.5 – 1.8

67 – 69% = 1.2 – 1.4

64 – 66% = 0.9 – 1.1

62 – 64% = 0.7 – 0.8

Below 62% = 0.0

Exam scores and answer keys will be posted on the course website as soon as they are available. 

Exam Dates & Times – see schedule. 

Lectures – see attached schedule.  Monday and Wednesday 3:30-4:50 in Kane 130 & Thurday 8:00-8:50 in Kane 130.

Lectures will be videostreamed and available via a link on the course website.

Textbook - Human Anatomy, 2nd Edition, Ken Saladin (McGraw Hill, Inc.) 2008**

In order to reduce textbook cost, I had a custom edition of the book made.  This custom textbook is available in the book store.  You can use the 1^st edition of this book but know that assigned reading pages will come from the 2^nd edition.  You can also choose to buy a hardbound copy of the 2^nd edition if you wish – there are plenty available on the web.

There is a copy of the textbook on reserve in the Health Science, Suzzallo & Odegaard Libraries.

Anatomy Revealed CD Set. 

It is a CD that shows real cadaver anatomy of all the systems and has some self assessment quizzes to take.   I’ll be showing images from this CD set during lecture.

Required equipment:

Turning Technologies Rf response card (clicker).  This is the UW sanctioned clicker used in several other UW courses.  You must register your clicker on the course website so that you receive credit for any clicker questions.  Bring your clicker to class every day!!  You are responsible for keeping your clicker in working order and making sure it is registered.