The site was originally designed for students, both prospective and current, in my classes. The resources here may also be of interest to others -- to students taking similar courses elsewhere, or to those just wanting to explore on their own.
For prospective students, the site provides some basic information to help evaluate the course. These include a syllabus and some sample materials, including tests.
For current students, the site provides a variety of materials, mainly optional supplements to core class materials. These include practice quizzes, sample tests and Internet resources.
Some materials, including practice problems (quizzes, tests, other), Internet resources and file downloads, may be of interest to students taking similar courses elsewhere, or to those exploring on their own.
Instructional material on some topics is available. There is no attempt here to write a textbook. When I choose to write a page on a specific topic, it is because I want to expand on something beyond what is in the textbook. Such pages, then, are oriented toward specific needs that I perceive. Some of these pages may well be useful to students taking similar courses elsewhere. These pages are listed on individual Course pages.
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I teach courses in chemistry and molecular biology/biotechnology.
The chemistry courses are introductory "survey" courses. Introductory chemistry (Intro Chem; X11) is approximately equivalent to a year of high school chemistry; it is at the level generally required or recommended before taking regular university level General Chemistry ("Chem 1" at UC Berkeley). Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry (Intro Org/Biochem; X402) introduces organic chemistry and biochemistry at a similar level. Together these courses comprise what is often referred to as "chemistry for health science students" (e.g., nursing students).
The molecular biology course (X107), is an upper division course, with suggested pre-requisites of college level biology and chemistry.
Biotechnology in the News (BITN) was offered in Fall 2003, in Berkeley. This short course is intended for the general public; no science background is required. The purpose of the BITN course is to help the general public understand some of the scientific issues behind news stories involving biotechnology. There are no plans to continue this course, but the web resources will be maintained and expanded.
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The resources at this site are available for public (non-commercial) use. (They are copyrighted materials, and are not to be distributed for profit.)
I appreciate that some people do not have convenient access to traditional classroom courses, or may prefer to study on their own. The resources here could be useful to some students doing independent study. However, they are all intended to complement a textbook (which is listed in the course syllabus) -- not replace it. With some adjustment, the resources could easily be used with other, similar textbooks.
I welcome comments and questions from all site users; that is good feedback about the site materials. Specific questions about site materials, including practice problems, are always welcomed. If you are interested in assistance with working through a substantial amount of material, please inquire.
On some pages you will see text in a box of this color. Such text is particularly intended for "visitors" -- people using resources at my site for other courses or for personal study.
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The textbooks for each course are listed in the course syllabus, which is linked to the course page. Along with the textbook information is a link to information about buying the books, either from the regular college bookstores, or online.
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For the most part, you can consider that the site has three levels of pages...
Some of the content pages are useful for more than one course. Thus the links may actually be considerably more complex than the above list suggests. However, if one thinks of that simple structure, it will generally guide you.
The actual file names do not correspond to the hierarchy discussed above. That discussion above is intended to guide a visitor to this site about the logical organization of the site, not the file structure.
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Typically, a visitor to the site enters at the top level (Site Home Page, or "Courses Page"), then chooses a middle level page (for an individual course), then chooses a specific lower level (content) page for that course.
At the bottom of each page are links back to the home pages for the appropriate individual courses, and also to the Site Home Page (Courses Page) with its master listing. If you are desperate, go back to the Site Home Page (Courses Page), and "start over".
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The ad can be minimized or closed by using the usual Windows buttons at the top. There is also a "Close" button on the ad.
For printing, it is best to close the ad.
(Remember, the ads pay for the site.)
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It is probably best to bookmark either the Site Home Page (Courses Page) or the home page for individual courses. These are the least likely to change. Content pages may change from time to time. However, during a particular semester, current content pages will rarely be removed, so bookmarking any page will probably work ok during a particular semester.
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How often pages are updated varies widely.
One section of the Site Home Page (Courses Page) lists "Recent Changes." This section lists major changes, especially those that may be of immediate or wide interest.
Chapter handouts are updated 2-3 times per year, mainly with new references. (Any errors that are called to my attention will be corrected right away.)
Most pages show the date of the last update at the bottom.
On some pages, I note new items, in red, with a note such as NEW, date added. These "new" alerts generally stay up for one year. I am mainly doing this with the pages that list Internet Resources.
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I keep no records of use of the web site. Pages that I post do not use cookies or counters, or any other device to record usage in any way. The company that hosts the web site includes advertising, which is how they are able to provide free hosting. As part of this, they do use cookies. I do not know what records are kept by them. I do have access to some simple site usage statistics, showing the number of "hits" per page (with no report of where the hits are from).
I do receive your IP address whenever you submit a form from the site.
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Each page has a link at the bottom for contact information. See bottom of this page for an example. Some pages also include a direct e-mail link to me.
Other contact options, including an option available for those without e-mail, or who wish to leave anonymous comments or questions, are on the Contact page. There is a link to the Contact page at the bottom of each page.
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Depends on the question. Once may be enough. I will try to respond to all comments and questions appropriately. That may involve changing something at the site, or may involve posting better information. All feedback welcomed!
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Home page for Intro Chem (X11) Organic/Biochem (X402) Biotechnology in the News (BITN) Molecular Biology
Last update: December 20, 2008