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Biol 3400: Vascular Plant Taxonomy: Course Format

Much of the lab time will be spent looking at plants, but some of it will be used to develop skills in writing keys and paragraphs pertaining to the core material of the class. Because the class is taught during winter semester (I find myself unable to call it spring semester), you will be working largely with pressed, dried plant specimens. We shall supplement the dried plant specimens with fresh material from the greenhouse and local stores whenever feasible.

Lecture time will be used (surprise) for lecturing by me, but also for questions and answers, writing practice, and development of the concepts and knowledge that has been presented in lab. Attendance for the midterms is, of course, mandatory.

Attendance at the lectures is expected but, if you are unable to attend one day, borrow notes from another student and go over them before the next laboratory period. One year I had a student who was unable to attend any of the lectures. She came out #2 at the end of the quarter. She was also the only student who made a point of going over the lecture material each week (she had notes from a friend) and asking me questions about those points that were not clear to her. Going over notes, writing down questions, and then asking the questions really does help if done more than one day before a test.

Teaching Philosophy

A university course is not just about learning ideas, theories, concepts, and facts; it is also learning about how to learn. For this reason, I will not pre-digest all information for you; I will not provide you with a list of the important points to know; I will not give you a chart summarizing the characters of individual families. I do encourage you to do these things, and to come to class and lab with questions that arise from trying to do so.

You best strategy is to go over what your notes, both lecture notes and lab. notes, within 48 hours. If there are points that are not clear, have a question ready for me at the start of the next class session. I will answer, to the best of my ability, questions asking for clarification of something that I have said - but you have to ask the question. I will do my best to make the material intelligible and interesting, but an explanation that works well for one person may mean nothing to another. It is easier for me to understand your problem from your questions than my guesswork. Ask questions. This requires going over your notes after each class.