FAQs – especially about how the course is run

Some FAQs

Common questions:

Is this course right for me? (If you want a science elective and you are comfortable with chemistry and biology, then yes.)

Is it easy? (It all depends on your background – it is detailed – probably not considered easy.)

How much Chemistry do I need? (At least 1st year – and you’ll need your 1st year notes.)

How much Biology? (Recommended 1st year Biology.)

Do I need to go to lectures? (Yes, mandatory attendance.)

Are all the lecture notes on the web? (Most of the lecture notes are on the web but not all )

What if I have problems with the biology and chemistry?

Do students generally enjoy the course? Yes, the general comment is that they are glad they took the course. Most really enjoy the challenges of the Poster Presentation.

A special note – you are required to attend all lectures.

What is covered (but also see the full course outline)? After a 6-8 lecture introduction about where metals take part in biology, we spend 3 weeks on the inorganic chemistry of metals (what do we need to know about iron for example), then we summarise the biological chemistry important to metal-based reactivity (major components – amino acids, nucleic acids, proteins, DNA), then we discuss the key experimental techniques used in bioinorganic chemistry because these techniques will be mentioned in the literature you read in assembling your poster. We then begin an element by element description of the biological chemistry of iron, cobalt, magnesium, zinc, the toxic metals lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, and, finally, the therapeutic uses of platinum, gold and silver.

What is the structure of the course? There are three lectures each week (9:30 - 10:20 MWF), detailed lecture notes are on the web and each set will be released 1 week before we cover the material. .

Over the last 7 weeks of the course, you will be assigned to a team of 2 to prepare and present a “Poster” on a topic chosen from a list I provide (see the Late Breaking News section). Your team will be responsible for assembling information from the library and the web, printing up a 12-15 pages and displaying your poster in the Lower Ground Floor of Chemistry. In the last week of term your team will take part in assessment via an interview at which you describe your work and answer questions about the topic.

Questions concerning material shown on posters from other teams must be answered on the Final Exam.

This part of the course requires teamwork! You must meet with your team outside class-time in November, you do need to be able to collaborate and be able to offer meeting times that fit everybody’s schedules.

There is a single mid-term exam. There is no make up test, if you have an academic conflict I will be happy to discuss options BUT only in September, after that the only option will be to carry the marks to the final exam. The Final Exam will be 3 hours in the Christmas exam period.

Both exams are multiple choice.

Is it easy to get great marks, because I really need high 80s for my med school application? The mark you obtain depends on how much work you do. This is not a light course. You must attend lectures, the inorganic chemistry may be new to you, the biological chemistry may be new to you and will require outside reading, the material includes mainly descriptive work, however, at the beginning of the course we do discuss and include calculations on equilibrium, kinetics. Many students enjoy the poster part of the course and receive very high marks; however, if you visit the Lower Ground Floor in Chemistry, you will see that this takes a lot of time.

Is a book really required? There are a number of books available in the library – because of their cost and lack of complete coverage for this course, I do not require you buy a text book – the printed notes I provide are very detailed and complete with reference data to allow you to find further information in the recommended text books that are in the library. I will follow the recommended, optional textbooks (the best, 2nd edition of Kaim, Schwederski & Klein (KS&K)- in the book store ISSN: 1939-5175, and also Bertini et al., and Lippard and Berg). See the Introduction Lecture notes for full details. All the recommended books are in the library.

What is the evaluation method? There will be one term test 25%, the Poster Assessment (30%), and the final exam (45%).

What do you do in a Poster Presentation? Does it take a lot of work? The best thing to do is to visit the Lower Ground Floor in Chemistry, you will see that the best ones must have taken a lot of time. You will be scheduled for a 30 minute interview at which your team presents the poster and answers questions. Your overall appearance, knowledge presented on the poster, and your answers to questions provide the mark.

What do need in in your background to enjoy this course the most? First year Chemistry (the old Chemistry 1100/1200 or 1301/1302) is essential as the prerequisite, high school biology really is necessary, or better first year biology. Many in the class are taking or have taken biology or biochemistry courses and find the biological material straightforward. Having a good Biology background from high school, or having taken 1st yr Biology will be an asset. If in doubt please contact Dr. Stillman by e-mail.

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