2024 Bio 40A

 

Jeff Schinske <schinskejeff@fhda.edu>

Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 1:49 PM

 to me

Dear Winter 2024 Bio 40A Students,

I hope this note finds you well in the midst of the winter holiday season!  I'm excited to meet you on January 9th to begin an exciting journey through the realm of anatomy and physiology (A&P)!  I'll be in touch in the new year with more information about class, but wanted to share a few thoughts with you now. 

Over many years of teaching A&P, I've worked hard to build a class experience that emphasizes learning and retention, and reduces memorization (which we often just forget!) and stress.  The result is a class without any traditional, high-stakes tests or exams.  Instead, I closely monitor progress during every class meeting and through each activity to ensure we all meet the lofty goals for the course. 

I hope this sounds exciting!  I think it makes for a rich and productive learning experience without unnecessary stress and anxiety that could otherwise prevent us from learning well.  However, it means that this class relies heavily on everyone regularly participating in class and on Canvas - perhaps more so than other classes where performance on a few, big exams is the emphasis.  We meet on campus just one day per week for lecture and lab, which means we have a total of only 11 meeting days during the quarter (12 if including finals week).  If you know in advance that you will need to miss multiple class meetings, that could present a major challenge to success in the course.

With all of this in mind, I would encourage you to check your calendar for Tuesdays between January 9th and March 26th to ensure you expect you will be able to attend those days.  If it looks like you will miss multiple Tuesday sessions in that time range, we should talk about that in advance and decide whether the course will work for you.  Feel free to reply to this email to discuss this further.  I understand unexpected events like illnesses or emergencies might arise during the quarter and we can discuss those when they come up.  For now, I just hoped you might take a look for any planned absences that you anticipate will keep you from class.

Thanks for signing up for Bio 40A!  I look forward to learning alongside you in 2024!