Cell Biology Lecture (MB_E MSc) - Description and requirement

Requirements

 

Department:Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology, Cell Biology Division

Recommended semester: 1st year 2nd semester.

Prerequisites of the course: No prerequisites.

Teaching staff: Prof. Dr. György Vereb and the members of the Department

Education manager: Enikő Nizsalóczki (e-mail: cellbioedu@med.unideb.hu)

 

Aims of the course: The course gives an overview of the functional anatomy of higher eukaryotic animal cells with examples of the paradigmatic molecular mechanisms. Students successfully com-pleting the course will have acquired an active professional vocabulary minimally required for study-ing biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, histology and physiology. In addition, the course aims to provide a thorough knowledge base which serves to understand the functions and dysfunc-tions of the human body in their broader context. 

 

Course synopsis: Structure and constituents of eukaryotic cells, the most important cellular func-tions: membrane transport, vesicular transport, cell signaling, cell division (mitosis, meiosis), differ-entiation, cell death

 

Material to be studied: 

Compulsory sources: 5th ed. of Essential Cell Biology (Alberts et al.,Garland Publ Inc. 2019. ISBN-13: 978-0393-6803-62). Chapters 1 and 11 through 20 are studied in depth during the course. Chapters 2 through 10 contain explanations for basic molecular concepts. There is additional core material that is available only in the lectures. 

 

Cell biology Lab Notes: the currently required, up-to-date version is available at the course home page (@ elearning.unideb.hu).

 

Recommended: The in depth full-text version of the course material can be found in: 

Lodish et al.: MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY, 7th edition, W. H. Freeman, 2013, ISBN-13: 978-1-4292-3413-9; Alberts et al.: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE CELL; 6th edition, Garland Publ. Inc., 2015, ISBN 978-0-8153-4453-7; 

The 4th editions of these are also available online:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21475/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21054/

 

Knowledge that will be examined in this course is comprised in the slides presented in the lectures.  It is recommended to download these slides before the lectures and take notes on them during the lecture. Slides of central importance will be marked accordingly.

 

Course home page: https://biophys.med.unideb.hu/en/node/635 

https://elearning.med.unideb.hu/

 

 

Type of exam: Final exam

 

Exemptions: In order to get exemption from the complete Cell Biology course, the student has to apply to the Education Office. Applications for exemption from part of the courses are handled by the Department. The deadline for such applications is Monday on the second week of education. No application will be considered after this date. The following documents have to be submitted to the Educational Advisor: 1. application with an explanation why the student thinks that he/she is eligible for an exemption; 2. certificates about the courses the student has taken; 3. a reliable description of the curriculum of the courses taken. Applicants may be interviewed before the decision is made. 

 

Requirements:

 

1. Lectures: Attendance of lectures is indispensable for acquiring the knowledge required to pass, understanding which parts of the material have the highest importance, and finding the proper sources for preparing for the exam.

 

2. Seminars: Students should attend the seminars together with those in the General Medicine Course. A suitable class should be selected based on the timetables posted on the department website / eLearning. Students should also make efforts to write SCTs, SOQs and do a presentation in order to get bonuses during the semester.

Seminars serve to discuss the lecture material. Use them well, study the material be-fore the seminar and arrive with your questions. Maximum two absences are permitted. Students must attend the seminars with their assigned study group. Students may sign up for one short inter-active presentation during the semester. The teacher will choose the topics/questions on the spot and the presenter is required to explain the topic. This requires the in depth knowledge of all the topics presented at the lectures and studying the relevant textbook chapters. The presentations are graded on a scale of 0-5. This grade counts toward the bonus points earned during the semester. 

 

3. Labs: Labs are done under a separate subject code and need to be passed for acquiring a signature in for this course. 

 

4. Self-control Tests (SCT-s):

There will be at least two SCT-s. The dates and topics (covering the whole material) for SCT-s are announced in the beginning of the semester. Test and essay questions are scored on a 0-100% scale, averaged for the SCTs (=SCTave) and this average is used for offering exemptions and bonus points towards the final grade (see 5.2 and 5.4.1.). Similarly to the final exam, basic questions (on minimally required knowledge, part A) and in depth questions (part B) constitute the SCT. As opposed to the final exam, both A and B parts are evaluated in SCTs and contribute to the SCT score regardless of their value.

Writing the SCTs is not compulsory; SCTs cannot be made up for, even in the case of a justified absence. Missed SCTs contribute a score of 0 towards SCTave. 

There will also be short online quizzes (SOQ) at the beginning of each seminar, covering all the material that is scheduled for discussion in the given seminar. The best 10 scores of these SOQs will be averaged (SOQave) and converted into bonus points and used when determining offered grades (see 5.4.1).

 

5. Final Exam (written):

 

5.1. Parts of the Final Exam. The exam is a written exam of two parts (A and B). 

Part A of the written test is a minimum level test. It consists of a set of 10 true-or-false questions about basic cell biology knowledge (1 point each) and 5 questions asking for a brief description of basic terms (molecules, concepts). These terms are listed among the key-words published on the subject’s website. The answers are scored on a 0-2 scale in increments of 0.5 points.  The student has to score 16 or above out of the total 20 points in part A to pass. Below 16 points the grade of the exam is a fail (1) and part B is not marked.  For writing Part A, 20 minutes are allocated. A successful passing of Part A (or exemption from writing Part A, see 5.4.2) is valid for B and C exams throughout the given exam period, but not in consecutive semesters.

Part B is a 90 minute complex exam, including short essays (~20-25% of the total score), fill-in, short answer, multiple choice, relation analysis, sketch-recognition, term-recognition, as well as simple choice and true-or-false questions.  

 

5.2. Calculating the exam score. As per 5.1., exam score is only calculated if Part A is passed.

 

1. % result of Part B expressed as points, 100 points maximum. If score on Part B is greater or equal to 50%, the following bonus points are added to the score of Part B:

2. Presentation grade, 5 points maximum

3. Average % result of SCTs (SCTave): 

    4 points for reaching 30%, +1 for each additional 10% reached,10 points maximum

    Total:115 points maximum 

 

N.B. Bonuses are only valid in the semester they were obtained.

 

5.3. Assigning grades to exam scores

 

Part A below 16 points: fail (1)

 

Exam score (see 5.2.):

below 60 points: fail (1)

60-69.9 points: pass (2)

70-79.9 points: satisfactory (3)

80-89.9 points: good (4)

reaching, and above 90 points: excellent (5)

 

Cell Biology “C”/last chance Exam Procedures:

If part A is passed or if part A below 14 points, grading of the written exam proceeds exactly as in  "A" and "B" chance exams.

If part A is between 14 and 15.5 points, Part B will be marked and, if the result is at least a pass, the student will be audited in an oral session. (If the result of Part B is also a fail, the final mark will be a fail as in  "A" and "B" chance exams.)

 

5.4. Exemptions

 

5.4.1. For those who achieve SCTave >=50% at the self-control tests, a final grade offering score is calculated as follows:

 

1. SCTave % expressed as points, 100 points maximum

2. Presentation grade, 5 points maximum

3. Result of short online quizzes (SOQave, of the 10 best %scores). 

    4 points for reaching 30%, +1 for each additional 10%, reached 10 points maximum

    Total:115 points maximum

 

Grades are offered as listed under ”5.3. Assigning grades to exam scores”. (Part A is considered to be passed in this case without writing a Part A test.)

 

5.4.2. Those who achieve SCTave >=66% at the self-control tests and do not accept the offered grade calculated as under 5.4.1. and therefore  take the final exam, are exempted from Part A of the written final exam during the given semester.

 

6. Rules for repeating the course

 

6.1. Repeaters taking again a regular Cell Biology course need to attend seminars and can do presentations as regulated normally (see 2.). We encourage repeaters to write the SCTs since this is the only way to receive bonuses and exemptions based on SCTave scores.

 

6.2. Repeaters can apply for a Cell Biology exam course in the third semester if they have taken at least one exam in the previous exam period and in that exam have passed the minimum requirements (Part A), and have scored at least 35% on Part B). The above items 1.-4. and 6.1. are irrelevant to the exam course and consequently no bonuses can be earned during the exam course. Otherwise the final exam proceeds as detailed under 5. If Part A is passed in the exam, the % result of Part B expressed as points is converted to a grade as per 5.3.

 

 

 

Last update: 2023. 06. 21. 12:03