Your grade in this course will be based on homework and exams:
Homework ― 25%
Four exams (evenly weighted) ― 60%
Final exam ― 15%
Exams
You are responsible to prepare for and take four exams this semester.
Exam 1 will cover chapters 1, 2, and 3
Exam 2 will cover chapters 4 and 5, and appendices A1, A2, and A5
Exam 3 will cover chapter 6, 7, and 8, and appendices A3 and A4
Exam 4 will cover chapters 9 and 10
Please use the study guides to help you figure out where to focus your effort in preparing for these exams. Note: It is a department policy to retain all exams. Grades will be posted on Canvas. Exams will be available for you to look at during my office hours until the end of the semester.
Exams will be given in the testing center. Their policies require that the exam be scheduled over two days. As you’re setting your exam dates, please take a look at how busy they expect to be and keep in mind that you may have to wait if you choose one of the busier days.
Structures to memorize for exams
You should be able to draw all of the nucleotides, either separately or part of a DNA or RNA molecule. You should be able to draw Watson-Crick base pairs between nucleotides (or draw a short stretch of double-stranded DNA). You should also be able to draw all of the amino acids, either separately or as part of a peptide, and should memorize the relevant side-chain pKa values (to the tenths place) so that you can draw a peptide in its most abundant form at a particular pH or calculate an isoelectric point if N-term and C-term pKas are given to you. The study guides for the carbohydrate and lipid chapters include short lists of carbohydrate and lipid structures that I may ask you to draw from memory.
Final exam
You should schedule your final exam with me for sometime during finals week. We can’t use the testing center for that exam, so you will take it somewhere in a classroom in SC. The final is comprehensive, including Chapters 1-10 from the textbook. There is no ACS final for the first semester of biochemistry.
Due dates
Each homework assignment will be due at the time you take the exam covering the material in the assignment. We will meet during the first week of classes to schedule the exams and final. There is some flexibility to change exam dates if you find that you will need more time to prepare for a specific exam. However, I'm required to submit exam requests to the testing center at least five business days before the exam opens, so you will need to let me know at least that far in advance that you need to change an exam date. It's also very much in your best interest to divide the material fairly evenly over the semester and not to leave yourself too much work for the end of the semester.
Grading Scale
93% or higher - A | 80-82.9% - B- | 67-69.9% - D+
90-92.9% - A- | 77-79.9% - C+ | 63-66.9% - D
87-89.9% - B+ | 73-76.9% - C | 60-62.9% - D-
83-86.9% - B | 70-72.9% - C- | less than 60% - F
Please note: if you stop participating in the class partway through the semester and earn less than 60%, I will be required to give you a grade of UW instead of F. This can affect your financial aid. I’m not sure exactly how this works with independent study, and don’t want to find out. Please see my policy above about not pushing the work to the end of the semester.
Due dates