Textbook: The book
chosen by the instructors of BCHM 445 and 446 (next semester) is
Lehninger’s Principles of Biochemistry (POB) (Fourth Edition) by Nelson and
Cox. However, if you already own a different biochemistry textbook it is suggested
that you use the book that you have and do not purchase an additional one;
these are expensive books, and frankly, they are largely all the same. We chose
POB
because it is very up to date and has very extensive learning resources
available, but the texts by either Garrett and Grisham or by Voet and
Voet,
or any big, complete, and recent biochemistry text will work. If you have a
question if a particular text is appropriate for use by a
Biochemistry major, ask the instructor.
There
are going to be specific chapters or pages assigned in the textbook
corresponding to lecture topics, but here is a suggestion: rather than reading
the textbook as if it were a novel, you are encouraged to use the table of
contents and index of the book to find information that will supplement and
clarify the lecture and on-line materials. Text figures are especially useful.
This is an upper level course, and it is assumed that you are advanced enough
in your study of science to recognize when you need to supplement your understanding
of lecture material with text material. In general, use the objectives that are
presented with each lecture topic as a source of key words that you need to
learn about. If you are not confident that you are able to determine which
topics to read about in the text, consult with the instructor.
Online Syllabus:
The syllabus for this course is available online (…um…you are reading it now…).
There is also a Schedule that
contains all important dates (exams, quizzes, tutorials) and daily lecture topics.
Also included is information on Grading,
and for Graduate Students.
BIOCHEM 445 Resources Site: This Web site is restricted to students in this course.
Access to the class lecture notes and PDF files of the figures used in class,
exam archives and tutorial rooms, requires a password. The user name and
password will be announced in class. It is recommended that once you access the
Resources site, you bookmark that site so you can access it directly and will
not have to go through the main web site each time.
This site contains:
Exam Archive: All
RECENT 445 examinations are available in this folder.
It is important to note that each
year scheduling changes are made to the course and these changes are reflected
in the examinations. If we covered a topic in the lecture portion of the course
this year, and that topic is not included on that section exam last year, look
for questions about that topic on other exams.
Each of the old exam questions
points to important concepts in biochemistry that will be reflected in the
examinations that you take in this course. The old exams also indicate the
level of depth expected. You will notice that the answers to the questions are
NOT included; that is deliberate on our part. We want you to use the old exams
to determine for yourself how well you understand the material, not to try and
memorize old answers to old questions. You are welcome to ask the instructors
about the answers, after you have made an honest attempt to figure out the
answers yourself.
The most productive way of using
these exams to study is as follows: ask yourself, or members of your study
group, how you could ask an alternative question to address the same
biochemical concept, or how could you change the wrong answers to make them
correct, or how to change the stem of the question to make the currently wrong
answer correct. Use these exams as learning tools, not to cram for a test.
Lecture Notes: Lecture
notes and PDF files for each lecture topic will be available in the
"Lecture Notes" folder on the Resources Site. Most days the lecture
notes themselves will simply consist of Lecture Objectives, and an Outline of
that day’s topic; they will be labeled “445(topic) Outline”. The PDF files
(labeled “445(topic)” ) will always consist of the
figures used during the lecture (minus any duplications or illustrative
photographs). On those days that the students will need to access the notes as
the main resource to study for a quiz, the notes will be more extensive,
essentially a short chapter, on the specific topic.
The notes for each week will be
posted by the Friday afternoon before that week. You can download these files
(The PDF files tend to be somewhat large, and take a while to download) and
print them if you desire, to bring to class to help you take notes during the
lecture.
Homework Questions:
This folder contains a series of homework-type questions that can be used for
studying the biochemistry material. Though you are NOT required to turn the
answers in, it is HIGHLY suggested that you work through these questions, alone
or in a study group. These questions have a way of turning up on the quizzes
and exams…and, by working on them, you will be able to assess your own
understanding of the topics, and ask for help from the instructors if you do not
understand something.
On-Line Cooperative Learning Tutorials: Learning biochemistry is an active process that cannot be
accomplished successfully by you simply listening to lectures or reading texts.
To help you practice using your knowledge of biochemistry, we have designed a
series of problems for you to work on in small groups, called tutorials. These
tutorials will be entirely online and you will receive more instructions about
the tutorial requirements during the initial lectures of the course.
Participation in these tutorials
is a requirement of the course; along with taking the "exam cases"
(see below) during your assigned Discussion sessions, on-line participation
makes up the last credit of this four-credit course. It is NOT something to
ignore. Your performance in the tutorials will contribute to your final grade
in this course. The grade received for the tutorial component of the course is
NOT simply a participation score. Your contributions must help your group solve
the problem. Simply logging on to say something irrelevant or not reading,
considering and responding to the posts of others, will not receive a high
tutorial score.
To access the tutorials, click on
the “Tutorial” link in either the Home Page or the Resources site. This will take
you to the location of the "tutorial rooms". When you first enter
this page you will not be able to access your tutorial room. The first thing
you need to do is register. Follow the registration link on the top of the
tutorial room page. If you use your UNM user name your registration should be
activated within the day. If you select a different user name your registration
may be delayed. Once your registration has been activated and you log into the
site, you will have access to your tutorial room and group.
You should complete your
registration within the first week of class.
Browser issues: Both the resource
site and the tutorial rooms work with several browsers. It is strongly
recommended that you use Firefox as your browser. This is available free of
charge from http://www.mozilla.org. There are some issues with Internet
Explorer that are dependent upon your security settings. For MAC users,
Internet Explorer does not appear to work, however,
Firefox for MAC has been working without problems. If you are having problems,
contact Dr. Anderson (wanderson@salud.unm.edu).
In addition to receiving a grade
for participation in your group in solving the four tutorial cases, you will
each individually work through a practice tutorial case, and then, an
"exam case" that relates to the group and practice cases. The exam
cases are meant to test your ability to use the problem-solving skills that you
are acquiring. These exam cases will each be worth 10-20 pts, and they will be
given during your Discussion times during the weeks of the in-class section
exams. More information on these exam cases will be provided in class.
Faculty Office Hours:
The faculty and education associates are also available to help in your
learning of biochemistry. Do not hesitate to contact them if you have
questions. The biochemistry course covers a large amount of material. It is an
upper division course that requires you to review information of previous
courses and it integrates materials from biology, chemistry, and physics
courses with information that you brought into college. Students use different
methods to learn biochemistry and if you find that your selected method is
unsuccessful the faculty may have suggestions for a more productive method to
approach this topic. The easiest method to contact the faculty is through
e-mail, to either ask a specific question or to schedule a meeting. In this
course it is important to seek help sooner rather than later.