| Notice to online readers: This is a "fishbowl" wiki. Only current students of my Biology 102 class may edit the articles as part of their class assignments. |  |
Students: You can link back to the class web page here: Biology 102
Genetics practice worksheets
If you need more help, try: Making Sense of Genetics Problems
Because this is the first time most of you have used a classroom Wiki as a regular assignment, expect some rough spots as well as some successes. As with everything else in education, and life in general, you will get out of this wiki as much as you put into it. So please participate fully.
How to participate
First you will need to register. Click on the "Edit this page," above (blue button). The first time you do this, you will be asked to register. Please use your own name for your username so I know who has made contributions. You may use any email addresss (I recommend, however, using a "throwaway" email, such as a Yahoo or Hotbot account, because your email address may show up in the coding of the page and could be picked up by spam robots). The password is in your syllabus.
Your favorite browser on your home computer will usually remember your sign-in information, so you may not need to type it in when you return to the page to work on the questions. However, if you use a different computer, you will need to type in your sign-in information.
Once you are in edit mode, you will see a box in which you can type. This is where you will edit the homework and class notes pages.
When you are finished editing, click "update" at the bottom of the box to save your changes. If you do not click "update," your changes will not be saved.
The rules for class notes
You will be responsible for taking notes during two classes. For most classes, there will be at least two note takers.
Note takers will work to take notes as accurately and completely as possible.
Following class, the note takers will type their notes into the wiki space provided. If you are the first person to type in class notes, just type in all your notes, or cut and paste from your word processor. If you are not the first, look over what has been entered, and add any information that you have.
Class notes should be posted no more than two days after the class.
I will keep a close eye on the notes to correct any inaccuracies. I may also post links to documents and presentations.
Students who miss class may use these notes to catch up. Students who need a notetaker will have an online source readily available.
The rules for homework questions (not for summer term):
Each week, a set of questions will be posted. Some will come from the textbook, others will come from other sources, such as current topics in the news.
Each week, each student is expected to make a fair and substantial contribution to answering ONE of the questions for EACH chapter. You do not have to write the entire answer. Others who want to work on the same question will also contribute to the communal article. Most people will contribute a few sentences.
Notice that this is NOT a bulletin board. It's a communal writing project, and is probably not something you've experienced before. Adding comments such as, "I agree," or, "Good point," isn't part of the process. Instead, people work together to write an article on the topic of the question. Besides adding to the text, you can consult sources besides the book and add helpful links.
Corollary of the "this is not a bulletin board" rule: Please read the chapter BEFORE posting an answer. You are expected to post a reasonably scientifically accurate reply, not an just an opinion, and certainly not just something that you make up.
How much is "enough?" Look at the amount that others are contributing, and try to match that. Come back later and see if there is more that you can add or elaborate on.
You may edit other people's entries, including correcting errors and elaborating on what others have said. That is part of the communal nature of wikis. As editing occurs, you will notice that the voice of the article that the contributors produce will take on a sort of "encyclopedic" nature, where phrases such as, "I really think..." become "Some people think..."
Support your opinions with facts. Feel free to link to other websites, so long as they are reliable sources of information. You may also cite pages in your textbook or other print sources.
At the end of the week I will check the articles that have been produced. I will be tracking the changes, who makes the changes, and what is actually changed. If your "contribution" is changing "and" to "or" or something equally trivial, I will know!
If you're not sure what a wiki article should look like, see Wikipedia. Find an article you are interested in, and see what it looks like. Then click the tab at the top that says "history." You can see who has worked on the article and what contributions they made.
If you want to know how to format text, click on the "Wiki style" link when you are in edit mode. A new window will open up with formatting instructions.
Introduction
WhatWikiIs - history and explanation
WikiStyle - find out how to edit wikis
SandBox - play around here to figure out how to edit wiki pages
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