CSC 448 Spring 2020 Schedule
Table of contents
Schedule
I cannot stress enough that consideration is available for any health or extenuating circumstance that you experience this quarter. Please reach out to me at any time for any reason. Consideration includes but is not limited to individually modified due dates. In other words, do not let this course take priority over your health.
We will be using a hybrid asynchronous/synchronous model this semester. To be more specific, the weekly labs and assignments are to be completed individually and asynchronously. I will be designing these labs to be automatically graded. Students are encouraged to post anything other than direct solutions (and of course appropriate material). The due dates for asynchronous activities are strict. If you fall behind for health or other pandemic related concerns please reach out to me. Otherwise, I have to keep the deadlines strict so that the material can build on each week.
I want to say a few words about my world. Monday is honestly my best day for generating new material, lectures, meetings, etc. I am the primary caregiver for my three small children Tuesday-Friday as my wife is in pediatrics, and she is needed during this pandemic. This does not mean I won’t be prioritizing this course. It just means that life is crazy and weird and random Tuesday-Friday. It also means that I have a lot to cram into Monday. If we support one another during this time, I honestly believe we can grow our humanity during this challenging time. Throughout the quarter you’ll definitely get a glimpse of my day-to-day world.
How did we pick the order on the schedule? I have endeavored to pick an order that will allow us to approach the data analysis needed during this pandemic. As such, it skips around a lot, and when necessary we’ll have to fill in material from previous chapters on the fly. Most of each chapter stands alone, but not all.
Below is our tentative schedule. It is subject to change, but any changes will be reflected here.
Synchronous Zoom Meetings
- 4/6 - Syllabus and Discussion
- Weekly Monday morning zoom link. Password in Canvas, and you will be auto-assigned to breakout groups./a>
- Weekly group meetings
Week 1 (Staring Monday 4/6)
Syllabus
Chapter 1 - Where in the Genome Does DNA Replication Begin? (Algorithmic Warmup)
Week 2 (Staring Monday 4/13)
Chapter 7 - Which animal gave us SARS?
- Online chapter
- Author videos
- Instructor video
- Another video by textbook authors about additive evolutionary tree construction
- Lab 2
- Project 2
Week 3 (Staring Monday 4/20)
Chapter 3 - How do we assemble genomes?
- Online chapter
- Author videos
- Instructor video
- String reconstruction video by book authors. They have more videos on Youtube from the chapter as well.
- Lab 3
- Project 3
Week 4 (Staring Monday 4/27)
Chapter 5 - How do we compare DNA sequences?
Week 5 (Staring Monday 5/4)
Chapter 10 - Why have biologists still not developed an an HIV vaccine?
Week 6 (Staring Monday 5/11)
Chapter 9 - How do we locate disease-causing mutations?
Week 7 (Staring Monday 5/18)
Chapter 11 - Was T. Rex just a big chicken?
Week 8 (Staring Monday 5/25)
Chapter 6 - Are there fragile regions in the human genome?
- Author videos
- Instructor video
- Lab 8
- Project: From here on out, please contribute to our combined project effort in the many ways outlined during this quarter.
Week 9 (Staring Monday 6/1)
Chapter 6 and Project
- Project: From here on out, please contribute to our combined project effort in the many ways outlined during this quarter.
Other
Useful material not covered directly above.