Florida International University
Department of Biological Science
Biscayne Bay Campus
Animal Physiology - PCB 4723
Dr. Richard Brinn
Updated January 9th
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Email: brinnr@fiu.edu When sending me an email please include course, student name and panther ID in the subject or your email might be deleted or end up in spam. Please keep an eye on your fiu email account since that is a major way we communicate with students.
Webpage : http://faculty.fiu.edu/~brinnr
Lecture Notes: All lecture notes will be posted as PowerPoint or PDF in Canvas before lectures. Please take a look at CANVAS frequently for all your courses.
Text: Animal Physiology, Fourth Edition – Hill, Wise and Anderson – Ed. Sinauer Inc. There is a case bound version and a loose leaf version. Both have the same content but the loose leaf is cheaper. Reading assignments: You will be required to read and understand several scientific articles during the semester and the book. Class Meeting Times and Room:
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 10:45 in Ac1 262
at the BBC Office Hours: Posted
in faculty.fiu.edu/~brinnr but can be scheduled by appointment f2f or on
zoom if student can't attend times and days listed. Please come pay me a
visit during office hours. I have some good stories to share and would
like to hear some of your stories. I lived for almost 2 years in the
Amazon for example. I really like to receive visits from current and
past students. Don't be shy
I will make sure your visit is very pleasant. Visit me early in the
semester when things are a bit slower and I sit in my office waiting and
no one show ups. We feel like a small community at BBC and we want you
to be a part of this Attendance: Please be prepared to participate in ALL the course as scheduled! Attendance is mandatory and students who miss more than 5 classes should expect to receive a failing grade. Not all material that is discussed in class will be found in the readings or slides on Canvas, yet the exams will include this content. Students will be graded on their participation, discussions and other class activities. The best way to convince your instructor that you don’t care about the class is to be late or absent. Habitual extreme lateness is rude, disruptive, selfish, and immature. The correlation between high grades and punctual attendance is very high in just about all classes. COVID 19: This course will continue to be held face to face unless otherwise stated by the university during the course of the semester. IN case the course does go online please be advised that classes may be audio and visually recorded and/or subject to course capture for future access by students in this course. Your attendance/ participation in this course constitutes consent to such recordings, which will only be used for educational purposes by students in the course and securely stored in University systems. If there is a concern regarding the recording and use of such recording, please contact FERPA@fiu.edu. IF YOU ARE NOT FEEELING WELL PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND CLASS. YOU WILL NOT BE PENALIZED FOR MISSING CLASS. I will be using our masks everyday this semester and I encourage all students to do the same. Please consider doing the same for all your classes and that way we can protect you and others in our community. I will have extra masks in class and will happily share them with all of you. P3 App Observance of Religious Holy
days: It is
university policy that instructors reasonably accommodate students
because of observation of religious holy days. The student shall be
given a reasonable amount of time to complete coursework and/or
assignments missed during their approved absence. The approved make-up
assignment must be equivalent in content, type, and grading scale to the
missed coursework and/or assignment.
A student who desires to be excused from class to observe a holy
day of his or her religious faith should notify all of his or her
instructors preferably upon receipt or access to the syllabus, and no
later than two weeks before the religious holy day. If a student feels
that an instructor has not complied with this policy, he/she may file a
complaint of discrimination with the Office of Equal Opportunity Program
and Diversity in accordance with FIU Regulation 105. This policy and
related procedures is included in the Student Handbook, Undergraduate
Catalog, Faculty Handbook, and Graduate Catalog Help: If you need additional assistance with the information presented in this course, seek the assistance of the professor. If the office hours on the Biscayne Bay Campus are inconvenient, other arrangements can be made. PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE SEMESTER TO SEEK HELP! Its my job to make sure we work together so you can absorb and understand the content from this course and I'm happy to help outside and inside the classroom but with over 100 students you need to take the first step to reach me. The Disability Resource Center: DRC collaborates with university faculty to provide inclusive learning environments. If you have a disability and plan to utilize academic accommodations, additional information may be found in the DRC's website: drc.fiu.edu. Sexual Harassment Policy: The Faculty Senate voted to require each professor to include a statement about this in the syllabus. FIU’s sexual harassment policy is available online: http://hr.fiu.edu/uploads/file/EOP/Sexual_Harassment_Policy_as_of_02-10.pdf Students Conduct:
Florida International University is a community dedicated to generating
and imparting knowledge through excellent teaching and research, the
rigorous and respectful exchange of ideas, and community service. All
students should respect the right of others to have an equitable
opportunity to learn and to honestly demonstrate the quality of their
learning. Therefore, all students are expected to adhere to a standard
of academic conduct, which demonstrates respect for themselves, their
fellow students, and the educational mission of the University. All
students are deemed by the University to understand that if they are
found responsible for academic misconduct, they will be subject to the
Academic Misconduct procedures and sanctions, as outlined in the Student
Handbook.
When we are in class
together we want to turn our focus to learning and away from the
distraction of our electronic devices. We want to support each other in
our learning and look forward to the opportunities our instructor
creates to work in groups. We value our instructor’s expertise and our
classmates’ experiences so we are considerate and choose not to engage
in side conversations or other disruptive behavior. Cheating or Plagiarism will
not be Tolerated! : Students caught cheating during an
examination or plagiarizing will be subject to the Academic Misconduct
procedures and penalties. Exams will be monitored by several instructors
and by classroom cameras when available. Anyone caught cheating (in any
form) will be removed from the class, will be given an "F" for the
course, and will have a formal Student Misconduct report filed with the
University. Examples of cheating include looking at other students
Iclicker while answering questions that are meant to be individual work
like article discussions. Bringing printed notes or notes acquired from
others is also considered cheating. You are allowed to bring hand
written notes with your handwriting only.
Emergency: This section covers situations that prevent you for attending the class or/and exams. For this course, “Emergency” is determined as an unpreventable event that prevents attendance to class or/and an exam. Emergency situations are: 1.Medical emergency with Medical Doctor’s note/emergency room. 2.Automobile accident with police report (lack of ride is NOT an emergency case). 3.Death of immediate family members. Emergency also includes natural events such as hurricanes, floods, or fires that causes the closure of FIU-BBC. Make-Up Exams: Make up exams will not be allowed unless you have a very good and official excuse, like a note from a doctor, hospital, parole officer, or court (not a mechanic). You must notify your Professor in advance or within 48 hours of the incident by email and present your original official excuse within 1 week. In any case, the make-up test will consist of the following essay question: "Please discuss the key material that we have covered in class since the last exam". You will be evaluated on your ability to determine what the most important ideas and concepts are and to present them clearly and concisely." You will have 1 hour to write your essay, closed book (no notes). If you arrive to an exam more than 30 minutes late, or after the first person finishes the test (whichever comes first) you will not be allowed to take the exam. You are only allowed one makeup per term. IMPORTANT : If you miss any exam on the scheduled dates you must send an email to the main professor within 48 hours after the exam and show proper documentation within 1 week to be eligible for a makeup. If these rules are not followed your grade will be a zero for that exam. Grades will be posted on canvas as a file as quickly as possible, so please allow 24 -48 hours. Incomplete Grades: An incomplete grade is a temporary symbol given by the instructor for work not completed because of serious interruption not caused by the student’s own negligence. In any case, more than half of the work of the course has to have been completed. An incomplete grade must be made up as quickly as possible, but no later than two consecutive semesters or it will automatically default to the grade the student earned in the course (which is normally an F in the absence of all work completed). There is no extension to the two consecutive semester deadline. The student must not register again for the course to make up the incomplete. In order to receive an incomplete for this class, valid documentation must be provided for the reason the student is requesting the incomplete. The reason, again, must be out of the student’s control.
Evaluations and Letters of Recommendation:
If you think you will be requesting an Evaluation or Letter of
Recommendation from me (or any other Faculty member), here are my
requirements. I must actually know you this means you have
attended office hours or appointments with me during the current
semester and we have had conversations about your goals and how you are
going about achieving them. You will need to continue to keep in
touch with me through visits (at least one per semester) where you will
update me on your progress. And if you are applying to Medical
Schools, you will need to have taken your MCAT exam before a letter is
written and sent. Schedule may be subject to change when deemed necessary.
Exams: There will be 3 major exams, article discussions and student presentations.
Learning Outcomes: Students that pass this course will be able to fully understand the scientific method, the process of scientific production and able to critically read peer reviewed scientific literature. Students will fully understand the several different physiological mechanisms used by animals to adapt to their environment. This course is evolutionarily based so the observation and understanding of differences between lower and higher vertebrates and their mechanisms will be deeply studied.
Extra Credit The exams and assignments listed above will be the only grades you will receive for the class. Extra credit assignments will not be allowed under any circumstances, so please do not ask if you can do one. Experience shows that the expectation of being able to do extra credit simply encourages students to take regular assignments less seriously, and allowing it is also unfair to students whose schedules don’t permit them to participate in it. Also, the time spent on extra assignments takes away from time needed to do better on subsequent regular assignments.
Grades:
Schedule may be subject to change when deemed necessary.
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