BIOL 470: Schedule for week of March 23-27

Chris Muir
Last updated on Mar 29, 2020 3 min read

Summary

This will be our first week of class completely online. Please be patient and flexible; I will do likewise. Please let me know if you are having issues learning remotely so we can address problems right away. This schedule is tentative and subject to change.

Assignments:

  • Fill out survey by Monday, March 23 @ 5 PM HST. Link: https://forms.gle/a3gAVGEp8eTSMoex6

  • Laulima Discussion on blog/paper readings (due Midnight on Tuesday, April 1)

    • Go to Laulima, click “Discussion and Private Messages”, then “Class Discussions”. Post under " Phylogenetics and COVID-19 readings"
laulima-discussion

Readings:

Schedule

Note that on Monday, class will meet synchronously on Google Meet meet.google.com/osn-ieyh-jjx. Class will be recorded and posted online if you are unable to attend. Remaining instruction will be asynchronous, meaning you can work at your own pace and desired time.

In general, I strongly recommend attending synchronous meetings if you can. I also recommend establishing routine times that you work on asynchronous assignments. A routine will help you develop good work habits, keep you engaged in the class, and prevent you from having to cram later.

Monday, March 23

  • Dr. Sandy Kawano will talk about her reseach on natural selection in Hawaiian gobies.

  • We will go over questions and concerns about online instruction

  • After class, I will post your Midterm Exam 2 grades and send out the key.

Wednesday, March 25

We will return to phylogenetics, this time using DNA and other molecular characters to make inferences about evolution.

  • Read chapter 8 from textbook, plus a paper and blog post on using phylogenies to understand the origins of COVID-19. See links in the “Readings” section.

Note that these readings are highly technical and I don’t expect you to understand much of the detail. Focus on the questions that motivated the study, the evolutionary approaches the authors used, the main conclusions, and remaining uncertainty.

  • Discuss video and readings for 1 participation point. Go to Laulima, click “Discussion and Private Messages”, then “Class Discussions”. Post under “Phylogenetics and COVID-19 readings”

Friday, March 27

  • Finish reading Chapter 8 and additional readings

  • Study online module on the multispecies coalescent (link TBA, might be weekend or next week)

  • Continue discussion on video and readings from Wednesday

  • Activity: simulate multispecies coalescent using genomic data and compile results with class (will be up later today, so work on over the weekend or early next week)

biol470 teaching

Related