2009 Winter Term
Nucleic Acid Structure and Function
Mark Breakdown:
Midterm Test 1: 25%
Midterm Test 2: 25%
Group Project: 20%
- 5% for Attendance and Participation
- 10% for Written Answers to Questions provided
- 5% for Presentation
- EXTRA 5% for group with best presentation
Exam: 30%
Professors: Dr. Justin Nodwell and Dr. Yingfu Li.
My Thoughts on the Course:
Dr. Li was a decent instructor, he has a bit of an accent but nothing that you can understand. His slides are easy to read with diagrams usually taken out of the book and notes on the important things to know.
Dr. Nodwell is a good instructor, he takes his time teaching the material and uses diagrams he draws himself that are VERY easy to understand since they contain only the details you have to know and not the actual shape of the ribosomes for example. He recaps what he taught in the previous class to makes sure everyone knows the material and he takes A LOT of questions, I don't think anyone was denied to ask a question.
The course content was fairly heavy. It focused on the structure of nucleic acids and detailed transcription and translation in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The content was fairly easy to learn however there was the possibility of mixing up between the processes in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. It was also important to know all the processes and how to draw them including important reactions.
The lectures ended early almost a month before the end of the term. This allowed students to focus on their group projects to make the best presentation they could. They then presented to the professor and 2 TAs a weekish before the end of classes and the winning groups presented on the last week of class. Attendance was mandatory.
The exam only had 6 questions on the lectures material (3 from each professor and cumulative), a question on each article for a total of 4 and 15 questions on the article you presented. I thought the exam was pretty easy but the fact that it was only out of 25 means that each mistake would take out a big percentage of your exam mark.