CLAS 205 G: Bioscientific Vocabulary Building From Latin and Greek

CLAS 205 G — Bioscientific Vocabulary

Autumn 2024

Instructor: Suh Young Choi

Email: atobdura@uw.edu

Office Hours: Monday 11am-12pm, Wednesday 9am-10am on Zoom (note that the Monday and Wednesday links are different!)

Anonymous Feedback Form: here!

Department Course Coordinator: Professor James Clauss

Email: jjc@uw.edu

Required Text:

• None; all readings will be hosted on our course website

Recommended Reference Texts:

• Donald M. Ayers, Bioscientific Terminology: Words from Latin and Greek Stems (The University of Arizona Press)
• Any reputable English dictionary with etymological entries, such as The American Heritage Dictionary (3^rd), or Webster’s New World Dictionary. (Oxford English Dictionary used to be great, but now you've got to pay for half their stuff...)
• Online resources:
  Google dictionary (google “define + word”)
  Online Etymology Dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com)
  Merriam-Webster Dictionary (https://www.merriam-webster.com)

COURSE AIMS:

Anyone interested in the biological and natural sciences will more than likely run into Greek and Latin stems at some point in their studies. (You saw at least four in "biological and natural sciences" alone!) This course is designed to help students master the scientific vocabulary of their particular field by a study of the Latin and Greek roots that are used to create the majority of scientific terms. In addition, you will explore science and medicine in the Ancient Mediterranean, as well as how the Greco-Roman scientific tradition has contributed to modern methods of scientific inquiry and theory. In other words, how come modern science is so full of ancient language?

This course has four primary goals:

1. To improve your understanding of bioscientific vocabulary through pattern recognition and practice with word formation
2. To give you familiarity with Greek and Latin stems and their meanings so you can identify and interpret unfamiliar terms
3. To introduce you to high-level concepts relating to the Latin and Greek languages, and to the role that the Ancient Mediterranean has played in shaping modern science
4. To provide a framework for discussing scientific topics and technical jargon

You will learn to assess the meaning of words by breaking them down into component parts that derive from Latin and ancient Greek. By the end of the quarter you should be at ease in interpreting rare medical or scientific terminology.

How can I be successful in this course?

CLAS 205 requires a great deal of memorization. Keep in mind that this is first and foremost a vocabulary class, and you will need a systematic way to memorize a lot of new vocabulary each week. You should also make sure to keep up with assignments and review the contents of each lesson regularly.

But I don't know any Latin or Greek!

That's OK! In fact, that's expected-- you don't need to know any Latin or Greek to succeed in this class. (That's also why I'm here as your instructor!)

CLASS STRUCTURE:

All readings, problem sets, and project materials are hosted on our course website. Since this is an asynchronous, online course, you will be largely responsible for pacing yourself and keeping track of the readings and assignments. We will only be using Canvas for the syllabus and gradebook. While assignment due dates will appear on Canvas, these will be turned in through Gradescope, so make sure you're able to log in and access this course there! (You should have received an enrollment notification prior to the start of the quarter. If you haven't, please contact me immediately!)

Office hours will be used as an optional, synchronous space to go over class materials. I won't be lecturing during these sessions, but we'll use that time to answer any questions you have about the assignments, concepts, or practice material. For privacy reasons, I will not be recording office hour sessions. Office hours begin in Week 2 (from 9/30).

Please use the discussion board for content questions. Many of you might have the same question, and it'll be easier for me to answer those on Canvas rather than through email. You're also free to ask and answer each other on Canvas. I will not answer content questions over email. That being said, if you have questions about grades or private matters, please send an email.

Email policy. I will try to answer all emails as soon as possible, with an initial response guaranteed within 24 hours (unless an emergency happened that has left me unable to respond in that timeframe). To help me find your communiques and respond faster, please include [CLAS 205 G] in the subject line of your email.

Please keep in mind that our e-mail correspondence is a public record according to RCW 42.56, the Washington State Public Records Act, and I have the right to share it with my supervisor or other authorities if I think it is necessary (more information at https://itconnect.uw.edu/work/appropriate-use/public-records-act/).

Learning looks different for everyone. There's not one right or wrong way to learn and memorize all the vocabulary for this class. Some students in previous quarters have found flash-cards, tables, charts, or other tools like Quizlet helpful. Don't be afraid to try different study strategies throughout the quarter to figure out what works best for you! 

GRADING:

Grading breakdown:

Checkpoints: 10 x 10 = 100 points

Learning Reflections: 10 x 2 = 20 points

Projects: 4 x 40 = 160 points

Midterm: 60 points

Final: 60 points

---------------------------                                                                       

Total: 400 points

Gradescope Due Dates: Although all graded assignments are due at 11:59pm, there is a 15-minute grace period on Gradescope in case of technical difficulties or slow internet connections. This is not meant to give you extra time to work on assignments. The submission window closes at 12:15am, which means that if you submit at 12:15, it's too late! 

Checkpoints: Checkpoints are weekly, short review quizzes that test your mastery of the vocabulary for the lessons they are assigned to. They are worth 10 points each, and you may submit them on Gradescope as many times as you'd like before the deadline. You will be able to see your scores (but not the correct answers), so you can try as many times as you want to get a perfect score. They are released week-by-week, so you will only be able to see one checkpoint at a time.

Learning Reflections: Along with checkpoints, you will submit a weekly learning reflection that engages with your understanding of the lesson concepts (not just the vocabulary). Each lesson is accompanied by a pool of reflection questions, from which 5 will be chosen for each learning reflection. These are graded on a completion-with-effort basis. These questions are designed to be open-ended, with no right or wrong answers, but I do want to see that you have put some thought into your answers! These are released in tandem with checkpoints, so you will only see one at a time.

Projects: There will be four projects, worth 40 points each, given over the course of the quarter, and they are semi-cumulative. These are longer assignments that combine your mastery of the vocabulary with a specific application in the natural sciences. These are submitted through Gradescope and are open for a period of two weeks each. You may submit as many times as you like, but you will not see your score upon submission.

Exams: Both the midterm and final will be open-book, open-notes. They are take-home exams that are open for a period of 3 days on Gradescope (see calendar for details). You may return to these exams as often as you want, and you can submit as many times as you'd like before the deadline. While the nature of the material is inherently cumulative when it comes to memorizing bases and practicing word breakdown strategies, the midterm will focus on material from Units 1 and 2; the final will focus on material from Units 3 and 4.

Pre- and Post-Course Surveys: At the beginning and end of the quarter, I will post two optional (but recommended!) surveys on Canvas. These are worth 3 bonus points each and help me learn about your goals and expectations for this course, along with how I can best help you or structure this course to support your learning. These surveys are not the same as course evaluations. The Pre-Quarter Survey will be open until the end of Week 2, and the Post-Quarter survey will be open from the beginning of Week 11 to the end of Finals Week.

GPA Conversions:

Final GPA may be calculated from your points using the table below:

4.0: 400-381      3.0: 320-312      2.0: 230-221      1.0: 139-120

3.9: 380-371      2.9: 311-302      1.9: 220-211      0.9: 119-109

3.8: 370-366      2.8: 301-293      1.8: 210-201      0.8: 108-98

3.7: 365-361      2.7: 292-284      1.7: 200-191      0.7: 97-87

3.6: 360-356      2.6: 283-275      1.6: 190-181      0.0: 86 or fewer*

3.5: 355-351      2.5: 274-266      1.5: 180-171

3.4: 350-345      2.4: 265-257      1.4: 170-161

3.3: 344-337      2.3: 256-248      1.3: 160-151

3.2: 336-329      2.2: 247-239      1.2: 150-141

3.1: 328-321      2.1: 238-231      1.1: 140-131 

*Note: In order to pass this class, you must receive 87 points or greater.

Rounding Policy: The nature of Canvas scoring may result in you ending up with a final score that has a decimal. All decimal-places are rounded to the nearest whole number. This means that 0.49 goes down to 0, and 0.50 goes up to 1. No exceptions will be made.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

University of Washington students are expected to practice high standards of academic and professional honesty and integrity as outlined here: http://depts.washington.edu/grading/pdf/AcademicResponsibility.pdf

While you are welcome (and encouraged!) to discuss course concepts and practice material with your classmates over the discussion boards, you may not work in groups on any of the checkpoints, learning reflections, or projects. You most certainly may not collaborate on exams! The following are examples of permitted collaboration:

• Discussing lesson content with peers or me, verbally or through text
• Working collaboratively on answers to non-graded practice problems
• Posting and/or answering questions on the Canvas discussion boards
• Discussing approaches to project problems at a high level (e.g., discussing ideas for open-response questions without talking about specific details)
• Asking me over email or in office hours about assignment problems or course concepts that you're stuck on
• Using generative AI to paraphrase any wording on the projects to better understand the problem you're being asked to solve, or to generate ideas for open-response questions
  • Rationale: Because of the nature of how generative AI models scrape data from publicly accessible sites, I assume it'll only be a matter of time before some AI model stumbles across the CLAS 205 book site anyway. However, I write checkpoints, learning reflections, and exams quarter-to-quarter in places that are purposefully not publicly accessible. Copying/sending any part of these assignments into AI models isn't just a breach of academic integrity; it's also a violation of privacy.
• Sharing or co-creating study resources such as flashcards or Quizlet accounts to practice vocabulary
• Using a dictionary, encyclopedia, or other reference to look up the meaning of an unfamiliar term without specifically looking up roots

The following are examples of prohibited collaboration:

• Looking at another person's submission on a checkpoint, learning reflection, project, or exam at any point for any reason for any amount of time. This includes your classmates, friends outside of class, coworkers, former students, family members, online resources (such as Chegg and other homework forums, chatrooms, and social media), or AI-generated solutions (such as those generated by ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.)
• Showing or providing your submission on any assignment to another student at any time in any format for any reason, including posting your work on the internet
• Having another person (including me!) "walk you through" any assignment problem, or walking another person through work that they submit, either verbally or through text. This includes classmates, friends outside of class, coworkers, former students, family members, online resources, or AI tools (as above).
• Copying full definitions from a dictionary outside the vocabulary index provided for this class (including root-by-root breakdowns from etymological dictionaries)

If you discuss any assignment with one or more classmates, you must specify with whom you collaborated in the provided text box on Gradescope. If you used generative AI at any point in your work, you must also specify what tool you used and include a transcript of your prompts and the AI's response. Any work found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy or found to have used AI tools without citation will be penalized and may result in a 0.

DON'T SUFFER IN SILENCE

 As your instructor, the most important thing to me is that you are learning, and that you are learning well. Learning vocabulary, especially for highly technical jargon from two different languages, can be difficult (especially in a self-paced, online course)! I also recognize that you have a life outside this class that includes things like jobs, familial commitments, health concerns, and many other things beyond your control that could impact your performance in this class. The sooner I am made aware of any situation, the sooner and more easily I can provide you with accommodations and/or resources.

While some amount of struggle is natural and can be healthy for learning, please let me know if you are getting stuck on practice problems or find it difficult to keep up with the course content. I am here to help!

SCHEDULE

A suggested schedule of lessons is given below. Note, you are not graded on lesson completions, but you are expected to turn in graded assignments on the day they are listed here. Graded assignments are given in bold text.

I reserve the right to modify the syllabus.

IMPORTANT UW POLICIES:

The UW's Religious Accommodations Policy: “Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.”

The UW's Student Conduct Code: "The University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121) defines prohibited academic and behavioral conduct and describes how the University holds students accountable as they pursue their academic goals. Allegations of misconduct by students may be referred to the appropriate campus office for investigation and resolution. More information can be found online at https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/."

Access and Accommodation: Your experience in this class is important to me. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.

Further resources:

• UW Campus Food Pantry: Provides UW students, staff, and faculty with nonperishable groceries and
  select fresh produce for no cost.
• Counseling Center: Resources for students seeking counseling.
• Let’s Talk: Free, confidential, informal drop-in counseling service at UW.
• Leadership Without Borders: Resources for undocumented students.
• International Student Services Office: Visa and immigration advising for international students on F or J
  student visas.
• Safe Campus: How to report violence or threats to the safety of yourself or others.