ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Course opening lecture

Outline Course objectives Assessment Grading Quizzes Presentations Essays Exam ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Course objectives Encompassing annually varying topics in molecular physics, biophysics, and molecular quantum mechanics, this course gives fundamental knowledge of biological molecules and physical insight into biological systems. ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Assessment Maximum total points: 80 Oh, but there’s more! Online quizzes: 10 points Presentation (20 min): 25 points 10 points from course staff 10 points from peer review 5 points for giving accurate feedback Essay (3-5 pages): 25 points Exam: 20 points Oh, but there’s more! Extra points for attendance: 1 point / session Extra assignments for additional compensation points Exercises from the course book ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Grading Points Grade 73 - 5 65 - 72 4 57 - 64 3 49 - 56 2 41 - 48 1 ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Quizzes 2 quizzes/week x 5 weeks = 10 quizzes The number of quizzes may need readjustment based on the number of students enrolled on the course! 2 quizzes/week x 5 weeks = 10 quizzes 1 course point/quiz x 10 quizzes = 10 course points Max. 2 attempts/quiz Questions are easy to answer after reading the corresponding chapters from the course book R. Cotterill, Biophysics: An Introduction, Chichester: Wiley, 2002. E-book available (see “Course home page”) Deadlines always before the corresponding lecture The 1st quiz on chemical binding opens today at 14:00 The quizzes will still most likely sum up to 10 course points. ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Presentations 20 minutes (+ roughly 5 minutes of discussion!) The number of topic areas may need readjustment based on the number of students enrolled on the course! 20 minutes (+ roughly 5 minutes of discussion!) Topics already listed on MyCourses (see “Schedule”) Scheduler for selecting your topic opens today at 14:00 Each topic has a fixed time slot You can also suggest a new essay and presentation topic (see “Course main page”) Custom topics have to be approved by the course staff Date and time will be selected by the course staff Remember to sign up to the correct peer review group Usage of the PowerPoint template is encouraged Read the handout on designing a good presentation The scheduler will be opened as soon as possible ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Presentations Peer review in MyCourses Grade and comment all the presentations in your own topic area Assessment criteria Mastery of the subject (relative weight 3) Organization Visual aids Presence Overall impression (relative weight 2) Each criterion should be assessed on a scale from 0 to 5 (with 0.25 increments) Printed peer review handouts will be available during presentations One must still use the online peer review tool afterwards Same criteria used by the course staff ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Presentations Points for “accurate” peer review Grading will be two-fold: Automatic grading by MyCourses calculated by comparing the peer grades to average peer grades If your peer review grades (on a 0-5 scale) match closely the average grades given by all the peer reviewers, you will get higher peer review grades, and vice versa (for more info, click this link) Manual grading by the course staff If you have a well-justified reason why you should have gotten a better “grading grade”, contact the course staff You must upload your presentation slides to MyCourses as a discussion forum attachment before your designated presentation time No fiddling with USB flash drives, etc. ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Essays 3–5 pages – not more, not less Essay topic = Presentation topic Usage of the Word template is encouraged Check the Academic Writing in English website If you’re short on time, focus on improving cohesion “Given-new” principle Focus Topical progression “Light-heavy” principle Signposting Topic sentences ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Essays Peer review in MyCourses Assessment criteria: Grammar & spelling Style Setting the scope & goals Command of the topic (relative weight 3) Comprehensibility (relative weight 2) Relevancy and organization Conclusions References Exam questions (?) Each criterion should be assessed on a scale from 0 to 5 (with 0.25 increments) The students are required to come up with 5 exam questions with model answers on their given essay topic After peer review, essays are Graded by the course staff using Turnitin Shared with all the other students The essays will (most likely) be shared via a discussion forum element in MyCourses ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Essays Points for “accurate” peer review Grading will be two-fold: Automatic grading by MyCourses calculated by comparing the peer grades to average peer grades If your peer review grades (on a 0-5 scale) match closely the average grades given by all the peer reviewers, you will get higher peer review grades, and vice versa (for more info, click this link) Manual grading by the course staff If you have a well-justified reason why you should have gotten a better “grading grade”, contact the course staff ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017

Exam Pen and paper – closed notes, closed internet The exam is composed of 2 parts Questions prepared by the students (1 per essay) – 10 points max. Essay (2 pages) – 10 points max. A list of essay topics (most likely 8-10) will be provided before the exam Essay topics will be based on the course book Exam questions and their model answers are shared to other students in the same document with the essays as well as on an online wiki page (see “Exams”) ELEC-E3260 Biomolecules L Thursday the 5th of January, 2017