7.

013 Introductory Biology

Spring, 2016
This handout includes:

• Course staff listing

• Course Policies
• Recitation Sections Schedule
• Problem set policies
• Information on Textbook

Web Site:

http://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/7/sp16/7.013/index.html

Course Staff:

Faculty:

Prof. Hazel Sive 617-258-8242 sive at wi.mit.edu

Prof. Laurie Boyer 617-324-4036 lboyer at mit.edu

Instructor:

Dr. Diviya Sinha 617-452-2557 dsinha at mit.edu

Teaching Assistants:

Chris Ellis dcellis at mit.edu

Paritosh Gangaramani paritosh at mit.edu

Sahin Naqvi
Jaeseok Park
Azucena Ramos (Susy)
Cassandra Schaening
Jennifer Halford
Shi Yun Wang (Alice)
snaqvi at mit.edu
jcpark at mit.edu
aramos1 at mit.edu
axolotl at mit.edu
jenny22 at mit.edu
alicew16 at mit.edu

Course Policies, continued

Lectures: Regular attendance is expected, MWF at 11:05 AM in 26-100.

Recitation Sections: There are two required recitations per week.

Recitation sections start Wednesday, February 3rd.

Please go to the recitation section assigned to you by the registrar. If that recitation does not fit in your
schedule, you may change your section once the classes begin through the class site:

http://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/7/sp16/7.013/index.html

If you attempt to register for a section but cannot do so, then that section is already full. No additional
students will be allowed in that section, so you must then choose another section.

Sections Time Room TA

RO1 MW1 26-204 Shi Yun Wang (Alice)

RO2 MW2 26-204 Jennifer Halford

RO3 MW2 26-210 Sahin Naqvi

RO4 MW3

RO5 TR10 26-204 Chris Ellis

RO6 TR11

RO7 TR10 26-210 Paritosh Gangaramani

RO8 TR11

R09 TR12 26-204 Azucena Ramos (Susy)

R10 TR1

R11 TR12 26-210 Cassandra Schaening

R12 TR1

R13 TR2 26-204 Jaeseok Park

R14 TR3

Grades:

Your overall course grade will depend on the following components:

Term Exams 3 X 100 pts = 300 points (Each is 17% of overall grades)

Final 1 X 200 pts = 200 points (32% of overall grades)

Problem sets 6 X 20 pts = 120 points (17% of overall grades)

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Course Policies, continued:
Exams: There will be three exams worth 100 points each given during the term from 11:05 AM to
11:55 AM and a comprehensive final worth 200 points given during finals week. The Final Exam will be
a 3-hour, cumulative exam, covering the entire course. No Make-up exams will be offered.

Problem Sets: There will be 7 graded problem sets, but only your best 6 problem set scores will be
used in determining your grade.

As a part of a pilot program, two out of a total of 7 problem sets will be online problem sets
individualized for each student. This program will include Problem sets 2 and 3 for this term. You will
be asked to login to the 7.013 MITx url using your MIT certificates to complete your problem set. The
grading of these two problem sets will be automated and you will be able to view and print your grade
immediately AFTER completing your problem set. You may be asked to complete a survey to provide
feedback on the online problem sets.

The remaining Problem sets will be posted at the current class site one week prior to the due date. The
solutions to these problem sets will be posted after the problem set due date. Completed problem
sets must be turned in to the cart outside room 68-120 before 10:50 AM on the due date. The
problem set box will be available outside 68-120 from 10.00AM - 4.00PM on Thursday and 9.00AM -
10.50AM on Friday of the weeks when the problem sets are due. Slide your solutions into the
appropriate TA's box.

If you are out of town, you have the option of scanning and emailing your completed problem set to Dr.
Sinha (dsinha at mit.edu). It will be graded as long as it is received on time.

If you fail to turn in one of the seven problem sets on time, then the late problem set will count as your
lowest problem set score, and will be dropped. If you fail to turn in two of the seven problem sets on
time, then a 0 will be assigned for the second late problem set.

ALL LATE PROBLEM SETS WILL BE SCORED AS A ZERO

Academic Honesty: Since problem sets will be graded, copying of problem set answers constitutes
cheating and is forbidden. While general discussions and collaboration on the problem sets is
appropriate, detailed discussion of specific solutions or sharing of answers is a violation of the trust
placed in all students in the class, each of whom is expected to produce their own unique set of
answers. Students who copy problem sets or allow their answers to be copied will be assigned
a 0 for that problem set, and may be assigned a 0 for all the Problem Sets. Any student that
commits an act of academic dishonesty regarding an exam or problem sets, such as copying or
altering an exam or a problem set prior to a request for a regrade, may be assigned an F for the
course.

Regrades of Exams: Please note that exams are randomly photocopied before they are returned to
the students. If you feel that your answer was graded incorrectly, please submit a written explanation of
your regrade request to Dr. Sinha. Regrade requests must be submitted by the deadlines
announced at the course website. Any exams or problem sets that are not collected during the term
will be disposed of on May 30, 2015.

Adding the course after the first day of class: If you add the course after registration day, you
are responsible for all the work that you have missed. Please see Dr. Sinha to find out what you must
make up.

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Tutors: Tutors are available for all students who wish to seek extra help either on a one-time or a
regular basis. The tutoring services are offered free of charge to all enrolled in 7.013. A list of
tutors is provided under “Materials” at the course website. Feel free to contact the tutors directly by e-
mail to arrange meetings; please specify the concept you want to go through during the meeting and
the date and time of the meeting in your email. The tutor available during that day and time will respond
to you. Please be sure to notify the tutors in advance if you will be unable to make a pre-arranged
meeting.

Forum: In addition to the tutoring service, you can also post your questions at the stellar class forum
that is monitored by the Corse Profs and Instructor. Be a part of an active and vibrant class!

Weekly Office hours: This list will be separately posted by the end of the first week once the classes
begin. Please come along with your questions and make use of the office hours!

Text Book: The required textbook is: Life, the Science of Biology, 10th edition/ 1st Custom Edition
for MIT by Sadava, Hills, Heller and Berenbaum. This is available at the MIT Coop. To keep your
cost down, we will be using a customized version of the text that contains selected chapters. All
chapters of the full textbook can be accessed online using the e-book packaged with your newly
purchased copy of the text.

Information on buying textbook: Please navigate to the following site for more information on
buying textbook.
http://web.mit.edu/thecoop/

1. Click on Enter the MIT COOP Site.

2. Click on Textbooks -> MIT -> Find your Textbooks
3. In the “Find Course Material” window, scroll down and click on Biology Department ->7.013 for Course ->
1 for Section -> find Materials.
4. You should be able to see the following table. Note: If you have COOP Membership you will get a 10%
discount. The COOP has offered to buy back the book (if kept in good condition and brought back with
the purchase receipt) at 1/2 the purchase price. You may also want to look at the option of buying the
textbook from a former 7.01 student.

WE WISH YOU SUCCESS IN THIS COURSE & WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU AT EACH STEP!