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Biology 2G03: Inquiry into Current Issues in Biodiversity

 
Biology 2G03: Inquiry into Current Issues in Biodiversity
Published by sinthusized
04-10-2010
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Biology 2G03: Inquiry into Current Issues in Biodiversity

I took this course with Dr. Quinn in the winter term of 2010.

Biology 2G03 was my first inquiry course at McMaster, and overall, I thought it was enjoyable and worthwhile.

The major project for the course is a 30 minute seminar on a topic in biodiversity of your choice. All other assignments led up to the presentation or branched off from the presentation.

The first assignment is an individual pitch presentation for a seminar topic. These are around 5 minutes and were worth 10% of your mark. From the pitch presentations, 5 seminar topics were chosen by the class and you would sign up for the topic you were interested in. Groups had to give two progress report presentations to the TA and the prof twice in the term and these were each worth 7.5 %. There was also hurdles forum in the middle of the term where groups shared and discussed their problems with the class. This was worth 5%. The final seminar itself was worth 20 or 25 % and there was also a research paper involved that investigated an aspect of your presentation in greater detail, being weighted 20 or 25 % . (Between the paper and the seminar, the one that you do better on will be worth 25 % while the lower score is 20% of your mark). Finally, 10 % of the marks came from two seminar critiques, another 10% for participation (attendance and group evaluations for how you contributed to the projects) and s learning logs had a weighting of 5%. There was also a bonus mark of 5% for thoughtful editing of a peer's paper.

Though the assignments may seem numerous, I thought the course was very manageable as the assignments generally were related to the seminar. All group members were responsible for producing the presentations however one person was randomly selected before the presentation to be the presenter for the progress reports. Similarly, two people from each group were randomly selected for the final presentation just a few minutes before.

I really liked that this was a small class, (less than 30 students I believe,) and so you got to know the prof and the class very well. Jim was very helpful in giving feedback and is a friendly guy. At the last day, we all went to the phoenix to celebrate the end of class which was also a fun way to end the course.

This course allows you to refine your research skills without much penalty for mistakes. You get plenty of feedback and advice that will be helpful for future projects regardless of the subject area. Also, I find that I have a greater appreciation for biodiversity at the end of the course as this project was generally self-directed learning.

I would recommend this course to anyone who enjoyed previous ecology courses and likes working in groups. I think everyone in the class would have positive things to say about it.

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Old 04-29-2010 at 04:35 PM   #2
manu
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So no final exam or tests? Is it similar in content to bio 2f03?
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Old 04-29-2010 at 05:17 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by manu View Post
So no final exam or tests? Is it similar in content to bio 2f03?
Course Outline: http://www.biology.mcmaster. ca/cou...02008 -09.pdf
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Old 04-29-2010 at 09:51 PM   #4
sinthusized
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Originally Posted by manu View Post
So no final exam or tests? Is it similar in content to bio 2f03?
With Dr. Quinn, there were no exams or tests. Basically, the whole theme of the course is producing a presentation based on an inquiry question and you are evaluated on different steps of progress and research you contribute to the final presentation. The course is quite different when it is run by Dr. Chow-Fraser though which seems to be more or less a rehash of ecology 2f03. I also know that the upper year ecology courses run by Dr. Quinn are similar to Bio 2g03.

Copy and pasted from syllabus on elm:

Grading Scheme
Pitch for seminar topic 10 (I)*
Hurdles Forum 5 (G)
Progress reports/update presentations 15 (G)
Group Seminar 20 or 25(G)**
Learning/research log 5 (I)
Participation/attendance 10 (I)
Final Paper 20 or 25(I)**
Critiques of seminars 10 (I)
Bonus (up to 5% for exchanging and editing papers) 5
* I and G refer to whether the grade assigned is an individual or a group grade. The critique represents a combined individual and group grade. Many of the “individual” grades carry a heavy component that relates to the efficacy of the group.
** 20 or 25 depending upon which component you do better at.; if you get a higher grade for the seminar, it will be worth a maximum of 25 and the final paper will be worth a maximum of 20 and vice versa.
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Old 03-06-2011 at 08:20 PM   #5
mcmasterrrrr
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Any more info? Anyone taken this in summer or recently?
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Old 03-23-2011 at 04:12 PM   #6
diya
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Hey I am in this class, this semester. I like this class. It's really interesting and would definately reccomend it to anyone that is interested in biodiversity, conversation and issuses.

I am pretty sure though that it's not offered every year. It is offered every other year.
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