BIOL-109 Syllabus

Course Syllabus:  BIOL-109 Spring 2018 syllabus -2.pdf

Course Description:  Fundamentals of Biology

Textbook Information:  Concepts in Biology, Open Stax (OER), can be found at: 

https://openstax.org/details/books/concepts-biology 

The textbook is meant to supplement your understanding of class concepts. OpenStax is open sourced and is regularly updated. Material covered in the book, but not lecture, will not be heavily emphasized on exams or assignments.

Course Learning Objectives:  

• To understand the fundamentals of biology with an emphasis on cellular, molecular, ecology, evolution, and physiology.

Student Learning Objectives: 

• Communication skills: 
  • Reading and writing - students will develop their ability to comprehend readings on biological subjects
  • Reading and writing - students will learn the basics of technical vocabulary of biology
• Thinking and reasoning:
  
  • Critical thinking - students will develop the critical thinking skills by evaluating scientific evidence to reach valid conclusions

Meet Your Instructor:  Dr. Dinh-Mahavongtrakul

Hello! My name is Dr. D and I am excited to be your biology instructor for this semester. I have long loved biology since a child and now get to spend my life hopefully inspiring wonder and appreciation of biology to SAC students! My background is in neurobiology and neuroscience - I received my undergraduate degree from UC Davis and completed my master's and doctoral degree at UC Irvine. I spent the last 10 years doing research, only to realize how much I enjoyed teaching, and here I am! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Looking forward to meeting you all!

When I'm not teaching, I enjoy reading (fantasy and sci-fi), running or hiking outdoors, gardening, doing art (photography, drawing, hand-lettering), experimenting in the kitchen (spicy food predominantly), or eating (french fries, soft/chewy cookies, CAKE).

Current obsessions: The Great British Bake-Off and doodling in my planner.