1. Eastern Promise Advanced Biology Course Guide (Bi102)

Overview:

Eastern Promise is a collaboration between BMCC, the InterMountain Education Service District, and school districts in Eastern Oregon. The program creates additional opportunities for high school students to earn college credits and while still in high school. Thus the class will be equal in rigor to a college course. This means a larger amount of time spent outside of class, a larger volume of content and a larger breadth of material on exams.

Proficiency-Based:

Credit will be awarded based on the student’s understanding of the material. This proficiency in the material will be demonstrated through his/her scores on two midterm exams and a final exam. Exams will come from a pool of questions that is created and reviewed for rigor by the participating institutions. Instructors will participate in the Eastern Promise Biology Professional Learning Community (PLC) to continual review and improve the course in terms of instruction, materials, labs, and exams.

Note

One exam per term can be retaken to have original score replaced, retest must be an original assessment.

Course Outline:

These percentages will be a guideline for both allotting time during the course and for the percentage of questions on a given exam. There will be 200 total questions per class (Bio 101-103).

Biology 102

• 20% (40 questions) Taxonomy
• 20% (40 questions) Microbiology
• 20% (40 questions) Immune System
• 20% (40 questions) Botany
• 20% (40 questions) Ecology

Exam Design:

There are three levels of questions, roughly corresponding to easy, medium, and hard. Test questions will be divided up in the below format with “Synthesis/Evaluation” being the “hard” questions.

Midterm Exams: 50 Questions

• 35 Questions from “Knowledge/Comprehension”
• 10 Questions from “Application/Analysis”
• 5 Questions from “Synthesis/Evaluation”

Final Exam: 100 Questions (50 questions of new material, 50 questions of previous material)

• 70 Questions from “Knowledge/Comprehension”
• 20 Questions from “Application/Analysis”
• 10 Questions from “Synthesis/Evaluation”

Labs:

BMCC requires 8 hands-on activities per term to fulfill the laboratory portion of the course. While this is not individually graded as part of the EP credits, successful completion of laboratory activities and related journals or reports is required to receive credits.

Course Guidelines:

There will be two sets of credits awarded: high school and college. The high school grade will be assigned by journal checks (see next page for additional information) and a larger number of exams while the college grade will be computed only using scores from three of the aforementioned midterms and final. Students will register for the course at Blue Mountain Community College (BMCC) in the term they will take the class’ final. If a student receives an “F” for the course, that grade will go on the college transcript. There is also the option to drop from the college course while still earning high school credit. Refer to the yearly schedule of dates/deadlines for more information.

High School Grading Guidelines:

Open to your own assessment ideals. If students “fail” the exams for the College credit, but do well in other components of the course, their high school grade can and should be different.

Sample Grading Rubric:

Science can be broken down into two elements: knowledge and process. In this class, you will work to master both aspects. While there is a large body of scientific knowledge that is important to understand, this class will also focus on the scientific process of asking questions in a systematic way; then backing up conclusions with data, observations, and clearly reasoned arguments. The scope of this class will be guided by state and national standards as well as relevant local examples. To evaluate both my teaching and your progress you will be assessed using two types of assignments. These assignments will be weighted as follows: journals- 50% of the grade and tests- 50%.

Type of Work	Score	Weight	Weighted Score
Journal	97%	.50	48.5
Tests	86%	.50	43.0
	Total	1.00	91.5 = A

Journals:

Students will participate in a wide variety of activities, from student-directed laboratories to group projects. All of your work will be organized into a spiral-bound notebook we’ll call a “journal.” Journals will be kept throughout the year and will be graded at least every ten school days. During these activities you will practice and be assessed on conducting research, using observational skills, following safety protocols, analyzing data and defending conclusions. This assignment will be used to gauge your progress in the class and will be evaluated based on effort, completeness, and accuracy.

Tests:

Tests can be given regularly. These assessments will be given in a wide range of formats ranging from short answers and essays to demonstrations and projects. The ultimate goal of this course is for you to master the scientific knowledge and processes presented in class. Journals and in-class assignments help students get to that point, while tests illustrate their level of mastery. Completing every assignment is important, but so is doing well on tests.

Absences/Late Work:

If you miss an assignment or test it is your responsibility to make arrangements to complete this work. Not all labs can be done at a later date. In this case, you and your teacher will determine an alternative assignment. There is very little room for late work in this class. All late assignments will be accepted for half credit unless you make prior arrangements.

Note

All of the above guidelines are subject to change and alternative arrangements can be made on a case-by-case basis.