Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Hello Future Microbiology Students!

• Are you ready to learn in a supportive, encouraging class environment where students actively participate during class (discussions/group activities)?
• Are you excited to come to campus for IN-PERSON lectures and labs?
• Are you invested in coming to class prepared and ready to ask questions?
• Are you ready to work hard, value academic honesty, and strive to do your best to learn and grow as a person and student?
• Are you excited to learn about microbiology and its many applications in your daily life and future career?
• If so, then this class may be for you!!!

Some important information about the course:

 - Lecture will take place IN-PERSON at Rock Creek Campus (Building 7, rm. TBA) on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am-11:50am.  Lectures will primarily be live in person, but a few will be flipped (where you watch a recording at home) followed by in-class activities that will reinforce the content of the lecture you watched.  All lecture material will be posted in our course webpage on D2L.  Class sessions may include discussions of lecture material, group and partner work, and guided drawings of structures/processes or concepts maps/flowcharts. 

- Lab sessions will be IN-PERSON at Rock Creek Campus (Building 7, rm. 132) on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30pm-1:50pm. 

- Student help hours will be offered each week on Zoom or in-person by appointment.  In person help will take place in Building 7, rm. 202. 

- A schedule of lecture topics/textbook chapters and lab readings/activities will be provided in the course syllabus (click here (PDF) or here (infographic) for examples of the syllabus, just remember that it is subject to revision).  Homework assignment and quiz/exam due dates are also included in the syllabus.

- You will take two midterm exams for lecture in-person during class time.  The final exam will take place according to the PCC final exam schedule for our class time.  This date and time will be listed in the syllabus.  You must be available to take the exams at the scheduled time (rare exceptions may be possible), so please plan your schedules accordingly. 

- Lecture quizzes will take place ONLINE and will be open in D2L for several days prior to the submission deadline. 

- Lab quizzes and the lab practical exam will be given during lab in-person. 

- You are encouraged to buy the e-text version or used copies of the textbook (Bauman – Microbiology with Diseases by Taxonomy) to keep costs low.  Used copies of the 5th or 6th editions of the textbook are preferable to earlier editions.  Pearson Mastering Microbiology is NOT required for this course, so don't bother buying it.  

- You are expected to read the assigned textbook chapters prior to class so that you are prepared to participate in discussions of those topics.

- A note about prerequisite overrides: I do not typically give prerequisite overrides.  The only exception is if a student can document (with an unofficial transcript) that they have a prior degree in biology or have taken equivalent prerequisite courses at another college or university and passed with a grade of C or better.  If you have not yet taken BI 112 (or BI 211 and BI 212) and haven’t taken it at another school, I will not give you an override, so please don’t ask me to do so. 

If this class sounds like a good fit for you, I hope you will register, and I look forward to seeing you in class soon!

- You are required have internet access and to have access to a computer or other device with a webcam and microphone.  You are also expected to have access to word processing and presentation software like Microsoft Office (Word or PowerPoint) or Google Suite (Docs and Slides).  A printer is also highly recommended.  

- Lectures and Labs will be IN-PERSON at Rock Creek Campus.