Overall Philosophy
What You Will Learn
What Will Happen
in Class
What
Will Happen in Problem Sessions
If You Have Difficulties
How Can You Best Use the Resources
of the Course?
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at a glance
Overall Philosophy:
The fact that you are at this school is indicative that
you have achieved a significant level of academic success. You obviously
know how to get the job done... and yet we are going to ask most of you
to change the way you would ordinarily approach this class. Is this crazy?
Many of you will be confused at first at what we wish you to do. You will expect us to present you with a panoramic view of the genetic arts and to guide you throught the most important concepts that need to be mastered. No doubt, concepts are important and panoramas are exciting - and we will try our best to keep them coming - but to our point of view, they are largely beside the point. To us, the course will have been successful not if you have mastered a body of knowledge by the end of the course, but if in twenty years time you have the tools to master a new body of knowledge, one that we can scarcely imagine.
Thus far, we have described no more than the goals of a liberal arts education: learning the ability to learn what you need to learn, when you need to learn it. Fine in theory, but what does this mean in practice? To us it means that we will focus this course not on the abstract concepts of genetics, but, as much as we can, on the application of genetics to the problems of life as we know it (and sometimes life as we do not know it). Life, however, is messy. Multiple choices? Rare. Lists of important facts? Hard to come by. The most difficult part of solving a problem is more often than not the struggle to understand the true nature of the problem itself.
To encourage you to practice skills that, we believe, are more usful in real life, this course will be based on problems. To be sure, there is a textbook, but its role will be to help you solve problem sets that will be assigned at regular intervals. In addition, you will be asked to read original research articles that, we hope, will provide you with a realistic context for the concepts you pick up.
It is confusing not to have a clear list of things to be learned. We know that - boy how we know that! Confusion is an inescapable part of real life at the edge.It is our fondest wish that by the end of this course you will have been at some point profondly confused... and have seen how you could work through that confusion to a satifactory conclusion. We who work in science live in a perpetual state of confusion. This is normal. We hope that you will come to appreciate that confusion need not be feared and that you can avoid paralysis by working at the borders of the puzzle, confident that the obscure pieces will eventually find their attachment sites.
While confusion is normal, despair is not, and much of what follows is intended to provide you with a number of strategies to employ when you believe you have encountered an obstacle that you cannot sumount by yourself.
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What You Will Learn:
We have two broad goals in this course. One, we want
to immerse you in the incredible field of study known as genetics. We will
do this mainly through problem solving, the very thing geneticists do every
day. Geneticists attack questions, figure out ways to answer the questions,
and learn something new from their analysis. Two, we want to help you develop
good problem solving skills as you learn genetics. Life, now and forever,
will present you with new problems. You will need to figure out what the
problem deals with, what you need to know to solve the problem, finding
the information, and finally solving the problem. These skills will continually
benefit you.
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What Will Happen
in Class:
In order to maximize the benefits you obtain from lectures,
you need to do some preparation before class. First, read the assigned
material. This will be your first contact with the key concepts of the
lecture. As you go through the material, use the study questions to help
you identify what you do and don't understand. Write down any other questions
you might have about the material. Bring your questions to class and make
sure that any questions or concepts you had trouble with are addressed.
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What
Will Happen in Problem Sessions:
Problem sessions are class times we set aside solely
for dealing with problems. Before you come to a problem session, you need
to do some preparation in order to get the maximum benefit. Work your way
through the appropriate problem set, paying particular attention to the
starred (*) problems. You can do this on your own or as part of a group,
whichever works best for you.
During problem sessions, you will work in an assigned group. Bring to the group your specific questions concerning the problem set. Go over the starred problems first until your group is satisfied with the answers, then move on to other problems if time permits.
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If You Have Difficulties:
When you have questions with the material covered in
lecture, bring them to class and be sure to ask us. When you have questions
with the problem sets that you could not answer outside of class, bring
them to your group on problem session days. If you do not get satisfaction
from these options or if you are uncomfortable with them, please bring
your questions to one of us, Brad or Jeff, or to one of the TAs.
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How Can You Best Use the Resources
of the Course?
How best to use: the text,
the
class, the problem sessions, us
outside of class
The text: We suggest that you read the text as a novel early on, making an outline for yourself of what is contained in it but feeling no obligation to understand every detail. Then, proceed to the problem sets. If you find you do not know enough to answer a problem, consult your outline to see if there is anything there that might direct you to the appropriate insight. Read what you need to read to answer the problem, and then go on to the next problem. This directed, piecemeal approach works for many but not all.
Return to: Genetics home, Course at a glance, Top of the Page, Best Use of Resources
The class: You will be happiest, we believe, if you ask the resources available to you to do what they do best. Texts are good at covering the broad range of topics and providing you with an organized reference to a variety of useful facts. Live humans are best at addressing your specific problems. Let us do that. For us to have problems to address, you must bring them with you to class. If you come unprepared, at best you'll be entertained, and frankly, there are a lot better sources of laughs. Keep up with the reading and the problems!
We recognize, however, that there are likely to be times when you are so lost that you have difficulty formulating any question at all. In such cases, let us know as soon as you can before class (e.g., the day before). Talk to us, drop us a note or e-mail, or send an armed pose if you like, but LET US KNOW!
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Problem Sessions: Most Monday classes will be devoted to problem sessions (see Schedule of Events). Problem sessions are an opportunity for you to make progress within the nurturing context of a small group aided by an experienced guide. On problem session days, the class will meet in groups of about seven. You will be expected to come with whatever concerns you like - regarding problem sets, an assigned article, or anything else - but you should have paid particular attention to a small number of specific problems, announced the previous week and shown on the Schedule of Events. Your group should set as a primary goal to come up with answers to the designated problems that all of us will be doing that day. If you cannot do so, then the group should collectively decide on a question that, if answered, might get the group past the roadblock. There will generally be two instructors and two T.A.'s wandering around to answer your questions, confirm your answers, and lead you through the error of your ways.
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Us outside of class: Both instructors and all T.A.'s will maintain office hours to meet with individuals or groups. That is six periods spread throughout the week. If you have unsatisfied concerns and find yourself unable to meet during these allotted periods, please call ahead or send an e-mail message to set up an appointment. If you come to one of our offices outside of office hours, you will still be treated like an honored guest, but please accept the possibility that we may very painfully have to ask you to visit another time. We love you all, but we also love those in our other classes, and love to have something to say when we must stand in front of classes. Unless you wish us to conduct sing-alongs (and be warned, we sing very badly), we need considerable time to prepare for these classes.
Some students have found communication with us by e-mail is a satisifying alternative to seeing us in real life. Oh well. Actually, e-mail can be very effective for some purposes. If you have just finished a problem set at three in the morning and want some confirmation that you got things right, please do not call! Sending an e-mail message will very likely get you a response within a day. Send an e-mail to Brad, Jeff, Andrew, Caroline, Courtney, Tracy, or Zeke.
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Genetics home, Course
at a glance, Top of the Page, Best
Use of Resources