Biology 211 Anatomy

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Surviving, and succeeding in, Anatomy and
Physiology
We want everyone in this course to do as well as
you possibly can. While there is a lot of new
material to learn, it can be mastered relatively
easily if you approach it in the right way. This
Powerpoint tutorial will guide you through the
process of finding information which will make
this course a lot easier for you. If possible,
you might want to open the course webpage
(address on the next slide) on one computer while
reading this Powerpoint on a second computer.

Dr. T
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From the webpage http//course1.winona.edu/etho
mpson/211.htm Select the Course Syllabus link
andREAD THIS SYLLABUS CAREFULLY! You are
responsible for ALL of the information it
contains. Pay particular attention to the
following a) How to contact Dr. Thompson
other instructors b) The textbook and other
materials you should have c) The types and
dates of exams d) How grades will be
calculated, including the curve e) The
course schedule
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Look carefully at the course schedule in the
syllabus. Week by week it lists a)
The lecture topics. We may fall behind a bit as
the course continues, but the sequence
will not change. b) The lab topics. You
can access the lab exercises through the
course homepage.
Be sure you read the appropriate exercise
thoroughly BEFORE you come to lab each
week or you will waste a lot of time when
you get there. c) The required reading
assignment for each week. Note that word
Required. You should complete the ENTIRE
reading assignment for each week BEFORE
the first lecture that week. You dont need to
master all the details of a chapter in
this reading, but you should get a solid
grasp of its terminology and general concepts.
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(Reading Assignments in the course
syllabus) Many students claim that they learn
more easily by waiting until after the lecture to
read the book. Thats wrong, and believing it
will have a seriously negative effect on your
grade in this class. Millions of years
(literally) of evolution have created a human
brain which most easily learns new material by
correlating it with things it already knows. By
reading the book first, you are gaining a basic
framework of the information we will be
discussing in lecture and lab. This includes the
major concepts and a first exposure to the large
amount of new terminology you will have to learn.
We will then use lectures and labs to
reorganize and expand on this information. We
have designed lectures and labs for this course
on the assumption that you have completed the
reading assignment, so waiting until after the
lecture to read this assignment will make your
work in this course a LOT harder.
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Scroll up the syllabus. Re-read the section
about attendance. While there are many courses
at WSU which you can pass without attending
lectures, this isnt one of them. You cant make
up for missed lectures by either reading the book
or getting notes from another student. a)
About 40 of the information I present in lecture
will not be in the book (remember I
assume you have already read it). Almost all of
the remaining information in lecture will
be organized quite differently than it
is in the book. b) Each person takes notes
which make sense to her or him and which
will stimulate memories of what he or she heard
in lecture (that is, your brain organizes
information as you hear it). Someone elses
notes will not allow your brain to do this, so
they will be completely out of context
for you. In general, getting class notes from
another person is of very little value to
you.
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Pay particular attention to what the syllabus
says about attendance at exams, and read the
linked information. Exams are an important
part of helping you learn Anatomy and Physiology.
I will post a set of the questions as an answer
key after each exam, and I will return your
answer sheets so you can compare your answers to
that answer key and identify areas you need to
study more. That means it is essential that
you attend exams when they are scheduled. Since
I post an answer key, I would have to write a
completely new exam in order to give you a
make-up. I will do this if it is evident
that missing the exam was completely out of your
control, but not if you were simply unwilling to
take the necessary steps to be sure you could be
there. Excused absences are pretty well limited
to things like hospitalization (not just going to
the Health Service), death of a close relative,
or an event over which you had no control (see
http//course1.winona.edu/ethompson/specialcircums
tances.htm . Note also that you will be required
to provide detailed documentation.
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On the syllabus, read the section about classroom
etiquette
Please note that you may not use your computer,
tablet, or cell phone during lectures. There are
two reasons for this a) we expect your full
attention to be given to the course material, and
you cant do that if you are online. Your
ancestors survived (and thus were able to
reproduce) because their brains focused on one
thing at a time, so the human brain evolved
to be very, very poor at multitasking.
We want you to do well in this class, and that
means paying attention. b) we want you to be
taking notes by hand, not on the computer. Many
studies have shown that students who take
notes on a computer do not really process
that information through their brains, so they do
much more poorly on exams compared to
students who take notes by hand. In fact,
they dont do any better than students who just
listen and dont take any notes at all. We
want you to do well in this class, and that
means processing the information through your
brain as you take notes on it.
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Return to the course homepage
http//course1.winona.edu/ethompson/211.htm
Click on the Powerpoints link
This provides copies of the Powerpoint slides I
will be using in lecture. These include
drawings, diagrams, charts, etc. but may not
include all of the text information.
You should print out these PowerPoints (please
select the grayscale option to give yourself
space to take notes) and bring them to class.
You can then add additional information and
make other notes relative to them.
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Be careful! Do NOT assume that having copies of
these Powerpoint slides is the same as taking
notes. It isnt. Since most of the test
questions for this course will be taken from what
I say, not what I project on the screen, you will
also need to be sure to take good notes of that
information as well (yes this will be very
difficult to do if you havent completed the
reading assignment before coming to class)
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Return to the course homepage
http//course1.winona.edu/ethompson/211.htm
Click on the Chapter Reviews link
This leads you, as you might expect, to a review
of each chapter in the Saladin text. While
these summarize what I think are the important
concepts of each chapter, they are most useful
after you have studied the material to help you
identify areas in which you are still weak.
They are less useful as study guides before
you study, and your grades will sink like a large
rock if you limit your studying to the things
which are in these reviews.
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Return to the course homepage
http//course1.winona.edu/ethompson/211.htm
Click on How to Study Effectively For This
Course
Read this page carefully. It includes a number
of things which will make this course a lot
easier for you. Humans learn different
types of information in different ways, so
the things which work for studying in your other
courses may not work for this one. There has
been a lot of good research into how the brain
learns the type of material contained in an
Anatomy and Physiology course, and I have
incorporated that information into this page. By
the time you reach college, you have developed
different strengths and weaknesses in how you
learn things. The earlier you find out what
things work for you and set up effective study
habits using those, the easier this course will
be.
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How to Study Effectively For This Course

• Interestingly you use the same parts of your
  brain to learn AP as you do to learn a new
  language or to learn to play a new musical
  instrument.
• Thus you should do well if you study the
  information in this course using some of the same
  skills and techniques as you would to learn a new
  language or to learn a new instrument
• Start with small amounts of relatively easy
  information
• Add additional and more difficult information to
  that
• Practice and repetition are essential
• Practice/study small amounts of information each
  time

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Return to the course homepage
http//course1.winona.edu/ethompson/211.htm
Notice that links to the laboratory exercises
are provided for the first few weeks, and the
exercises for later labs will be posted a couple
of weeks in advance. We will not be using a
published (and expensive) lab manual in this
course. Instead, we have prepared a series of
lab exercises which will be posted here. Before
each weeks lab you should print this out, read
it ahead of time, and then bring it to lab.
These often contain references to your Saladin
textbook, so you should bring that book to lab as
well.
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Return to the course homepage
http//course1.winona.edu/ethompson/211.htm
Click on the Lab Safety Contract link We
require safety in the laboratory at all times.
Print out that contract, read it, sign and date
it, and return it to your lecture instructor or
lab instructor. Failure to follow this policy
typically results in your being asked to leave
that laboratory session for the day, but serious
violations can result in a failing grade for this
course.
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Return to the course homepage
http//course1.winona.edu/ethompson/211.htm
Click on the Cadaver Use Agreement link We
have two cadavers on loan to us from the
University of Minnesota and we require all
students, staff, and faculty to follow certain
procedures. During the first week of lecture
we will view an orientation video from the
University of Minnesota explaining the use of
cadavers and possible problems which may arise.
After you view that video you will need to print
out that agreement, read it, check the
appropriate boxes, sign and date it, and return
it to your lecture instructor or lab
instructor. Failure to follow the policies
outlined in that agreement may result in your
being asked to leave that laboratory session for
the day or it may result in your permanent
removal from the course with a failing grade.
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Return to the course homepage
http//course1.winona.edu/ethompson/211.htm
Click on the How Dr. Thompson Writes Exams
link in which I describe the types of questions I
use and the ways in which I use each
type. Sample questions of each type are
given. This will be most useful to you as an
exam approaches, but it would be a good idea to
read through it before then to get an idea of
what you should expect to see on exams.
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Return to the course homepage
http//course1.winona.edu/ethompson/211.htm
Click on the links to the WSU Academic Integrity
Policy and How to
Avoid Plagiarism All students at the university
are expected to understand the Academic Integrity
Policy and follow it in all of their
courses. Failure to do so can result in lower
scores, lower grades, and even suspension from
the university for serious or repeated
violations.
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Thats the end of this introduction to this
tutorial to help you find information on the
course homepage and to help you succeed in this
course. Please refer back to it as often as
necessary. The next slide summarizes some
of the keys to success in an AP course. Many
more are found in those resources just discussed
on the course homepage.Once again, we want you
to succeed in this course and we will do
everything we can to help, but the bottom line is
that your success depends on how much and how
well you study, and how well you use your time.
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Keys to succeeding in AP

• 1. Study in relatively short blocks, 30 - 40
  min, with breaks between
• 2. Use different methods of study reading,
  writing, discussing, etc.
• 3. Be sure you understand concepts - dont just
  memorize
• 4. Constantly ask yourself how does structure
  relate to function?
• 5. Go back-and-forth frequently between notes
  and the textbook
• 6. You cant fall behind - even for a day
• Repetition, repetition, repetition!
• You have studied a subject enough when you can
  explain it completely to someone else without
  using notes. If you cant do this, you havent
  studied enough.