Plant Pathology: Academic Programs: Courses / Syllabi

PATH 4100/6100 - Topics in Plant Pathology

Topics and methods in plant pathology with different topics offered each semester. Topics may include new areas of research in plant pathology.

Instructor - Elizabeth Little
Credit Hours - 1-4 hours (repeatable for maximum 8 hours credit)
Course Offered - Fall, Spring, and Summer Semesters

Non-Traditional Format:

This course is also offered through the University System of Georgia Independent and Distance Learning (IDL).

Prerequisite:

(PBIOL 1210-1210L and PBIOL 1220-1220L) or (BIOL 11-3-1103L and BIOL 1104-114L) or (BIOL 1107-1107L and BIOL 1108-1108L) or permission of department.

General Information - Spring Semester 2006

Course goals: To provide an advanced science course designed specifically for education majors and in-service teachers. Lecture and lab content will be presented in a framework that will facilitate transfer of critical concepts and techniques back to the pre-college science classroom. Lecture material will provide students with an understanding of the life cycles and ecology of the microorganisms associated with plants, the use of biotechnology and genetics in plant pathology, the role of plant pathology and agriculture in our everyday lives, and plant health management. Lab exercises will train the students in the use of various lab techniques and will incorporate experiments that satisfy some of the criteria in the Georgia Department of Education Performance Standards.

Lectures: Mondays, 5:45 – 8:45, Room 2104 Plant Science Building

Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth Little, 3311 Plant Sciences Building
Phone: 542-4774, E-mail: elittle@uga.edu

Readings:
Text: Plant Diseases: Their Biology and Social Impact, G. Schumann
Lab Supplement: Learning Biology with Plant Pathology, J.E. Carroll

Grading: Two in-class exams 100 pts. Each (200 total)
Final exam 100 pts.
Discussions, participation 100 pts
Project 100 pts. (undergraduate) 200 pts. (graduate)

Total 500 pts. (600 pts. graduate students)

The exams will cover the scientific content of the course as covered in the lecture and lab on Monday nights.

Make-up Exams and Quizzes: In order to retake a missed exam, students must have a legitimate, documented excuse and make every effort to contact the instructor prior to the test to be missed.

Instructions for Discussions:
Discussions will encompass topics on the social impacts of plant pathology, agriculture, etc.
Participation in the discussions is part of your grade. Participation rules:
Students will be assigned to groups of four or five students.
For each discussion the instructor will post the topic and questions to consider at the beginning of the week in a designated section of the discussion board.
Each student will post their initial comments on the discussion board by Wednesday of that week.
Students will post a reply by Friday to each comment within their group using the "reply" option to the message they are answering.
Each student will post a response on the topic by the following Tuesday based on the comments they received from fellow students.

Grading of discussion postings:
Each discussion is worth a possible ten points. Points will be awarded based on the number of responses and the quality of responses. While the minimum number of responses as outlined above serves as a framework for discussion, students are encouraged to freely discuss the topic beyond the minimum requirements. This is a learning experience and the goal is to generate some lively interactions. Discussion postings should be well thought out but not too lengthy. A paragraph or two is sufficient. A thoughtful and original posting will receive the maximum number of points. A response such as "sounds good" or "I agree" will not benefit your fellow students and will not receive any additional credit.

Instructions for Project:
Each student will prepare a teaching module for use in the K – 12 classroom (age groups: K-4, 5-8, or 9-12) using concepts related to the course. Web pages will be available on the WebCT to post the project and students will give short presentations at the end of the course. Further details will be provided.
Graduate Students, in addition to the project, will research and report on how their project and three other lab units from the course can be designed to meet Georgia Performance Standards and National Science Standards.

Date / Lecture / Readings in Schumann text
01/09 Introduction to Plant Pathology - Chapter 1
01/23 Introduction to Fungi - Chapter 2
01/30 Important Fungal Diseases - Chapter 3
02/06 Introduction to Bacteria - Chapter 4
02/13 Genetics and Genetic Engineering - Chapter 5
02/20 Exam 1, Epidemiology, Management - Chapter 6
02/27 Pesticides - Chapter 7
03/06 Soilborne Pathogens - Chapter 8
03/13 Spring Break
03/20 Fungi in Food - Chapter 9
03/27 Rusts and Tree Diseases - Chapters 10. 11
04/03 Exam 2, Viruses, Phytoplasmas - Chapter 12
04/10 Abiotic Diseases - Chapter 13
04/17 World Hunger - Chapter 14
04/24 Student Presentations
05/01 Student Presentations/Review
05/05 Final Exam, 7 p.m.

The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

Academic Honesty
The University of Georgia seeks to promote and ensure academic honesty and personal integrity among students and other members of the University community. Academic honesty is vital to the very fabric and integrity of the University of Georgia.
Academic honesty means performing all academic work without plagiarizing, cheating, lying, tampering, stealing, receiving assistance from any other person or using any source of information that is not common knowledge (unless that assistance or use is authorized by the person responsible for supervising that academic work or fairly attributed to the source of assistance or information).
To preserve and enhance the University's academic honesty policy, the Student Government Association proposed a student Honor Code that was approved by the University Council in May 1997. The Honor Code appears on the University's application for admission and states, "I will be academically honest in all of my academic work and will not tolerate academic dishonesty of others." All applicants for admission to the University must sign this statement as part of the admission process.
Specific regulations governing student academic conduct are contained in the policy manual, A Culture of Honesty, and these should be read to avoid any misunderstanding. All members of the academic community are responsible for knowing the policy and procedures on academic honesty.
Students and faculty who believe that an act of academic dishonesty has taken place should contact the Office of the Vice President for Instruction, (706) 542-4336. For more information, see http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/academic_honesty/academic_honesty.htm