Objectives. The course is about the biology of weeds and invasive plant species: the evolution of weed life histories. It will feature evolutionary trade-offs of many kinds within individual, specific weed species. The role of selection by environmental and human forces, adaptation to agricultural disturbances, and consequential shifts in weed flora are emphasized. Students learn factual information, and then synthesize this information in a dialogue among class members.
Keeping Up-To-Date. 517 is a steady stream of activity every week. As such you need to keep yourself informed by regularly checking the schedule page is primarily a guide to reading assignments for the weekly exams.
Classroom. The 517 classroom meets twice a week on Skype (internet free phone). The instructor will initiate the conference call to all enrolled students. Students should inform the instructor well in advance of any absences.
Grading. You will be graded on the following course activities. The
points and percentages of each will be known as each activity comes up. In general:
-weekly examinations, 60% of the final grade;
-weekly discussion questions, 40% of the final grade.
Each student will prepare a weed project to be agreed upon during the semester.
Examinations. There is one exam per week and its based on the weeks reading assignments:
-Exams will be sent each week by the instructor to you
by email as MSWord documents.
-Save the exam on your computer when you receive it.
-Fill in the correct answers to each question.
-Save your completed exam on your computer.
-Send it back to the instructor as an email attachment by the
deadline.
Exams will be short and medium length fill-in-the-blank, and will be
entirely based on assigned materials. No trick questions. My goal is to have you read the
material in advance, then to take the exam and go over the material and discover the
answers. The expectation is that everyone will score above 90% (or better) every week if
you are reading and exploring all the reading material. Go for 100% every week. Your
exam answers will serve as the basis for our weekly class discussions.
Exam Honor System
Exams are open book, open web site. You must take the exam by yourself.
Absolutely no communication should be made with other students or persons about the exam
until after it is completed, submitted and graded.
