Physics 174 Syllabus, Fall 2011

Welcome:

Welcome to Physics 174, an introductory half-credit seminar intended mainly for freshmen and sophomores that will give an introductory overview about what is biophysics, and discuss why biophysics is an exciting interdisciplinary frontier of modern science.

Note: Physics 174 is one of two biophysics required for the Biophysics major, the other course being Physics 414, which most students would take their junior or senior year.

Time and Place

The course will meet once a week on Tuesday afternoons from 4:25 PM to 5:45 PM in Room 299 of the Physics Building. The first class will be Tuesday, August 30.

Prerequisites:

There are no formal prerequisites. The recommended background is knowledge at the AP level or higher in biology, physics, calculus, and chemistry, with biology and physics being more important than calculus and chemistry. The more you know about all these subjects, the more you will get out of the seminar. However, it is ok if you don't know one or more of these subjects well since the seminar will be set up such that students with different backgrounds will collaborate and so help each other gain the information they need.

What You Need:

1. A computer with access to the Internet and a modern browser like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. You will need to access the 174 webpage, the Duke Sakai website, and various websites and multimedia files mentioned in class.

2. There are no required textbooks for this course. However, given the interdisciplinary nature of biophysics and the breadth of topics covered this semester, you should own a small personal library of hardcover textbooks corresponding to material covered in Duke introductory freshman courses in physics, chemistry, biology, and calculus. If you don't have copies of such books, you can purchase inexpensive used copies via amazon.com.

   I also encourage you to look at the two introductory biophysics texts (see below) that I have placed on reserve in Perkins library. Either book would make a good reference if you plan to become a biophysics major and would be a good choice to purchase at the beginning of the semester as another helpful reference book. The book by Rob Phillips et al is probably a bit more readable and accessible to the average 174 student.

Grading

Your final grade for the course will be based approximately on the following components with indicated weightings:

Course Component	Percent of Total Grade
Attendance	20%
Group final presentation and paper	20%
Weekly blog	60%

1. Attendance:

   As a half-credit course that meets only once per week, there are only 14 classes over the semester. Further, many classes will involve class discussion, group collaborations, and guest presentations. For these reasons, I ask that all students attend all the classes to get full credit. If you are not able to attend a class, please email me in advance and provide a reasonable excuse such as illness, religious observance, or involvement with some official Duke activity.

2. Weekly blog:

   All students will be required to write at least two full pages (at 300 words per page) per week in a weekly blog regarding what they have heard in lecture, read about in supplementary reading, discussed with a classmate in class, or thought about in some other context (related to biophysics of course). The blog is a key way that you show me that you are actively and creatively thinking about what is discussed each week in class.

3. Course project:

   Each group will collaborate to produce a 20-25 page paper, including figures and references, about some topic related to biophysics that the group finds interesting. Each group will also prepare a 15-minute presentation to the class about their paper. Each member of a group will get the same grade for the paper and presentation.

Office Hours

Although I will not have official office hours for this course, please feel free at any time to make an appointment to meet with me. You can email me at hsg@phy.duke.edu, call me at my Physics number 919-660-2548, or talk with me in person. I will do my best to meet with you as soon as possible after your request.

Also feel free to send me an email at any time concerning the course. I do read and reply to email during evenings and weekends.

If you are in the Physics building, you can also drop by my office Physics 097, I would enjoy the chance to talk with you.

References

The following two books will be on reserve in the Perkins Library for supplementary reading. These are commonly used books in current introductory undergraduate biophysics courses like Physics 174 at Duke.

1. Physical Biology of the Cell by Rob Phillips, Jane Kondev, and Julie Theriot (Garland Science, 2008).

2. Biological Physics, Updated Edition, Philip Nelson (W. H. Freeman, 2007).


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