PLANT SPECIATION AND EVOLUTION
Winter 2008
(PBIO 475: call # 05325; PBIO 575: call # 05332)

Professor: Harvey E. Ballard, Jr. , Porter 406, (740) 593-4659
E-mail: ballardh@ohio.edu
Lectures: MWTh, 12:10-1:00pm, Porter 417
Office hours: MW, 1:10-2:00pm; additionally by appointment

Policies--Expectations, Lecture_and_discussion_attendance, Cheating, Weekly_readings

Coursework, Activities and Grading --Everybody, Term papers, Lectures, Discussions, Exam_review, Grading_scale

"La Policia son sus amigos" (A final word)

Course_topics--Web_notes

Course content and objectives
Evolution is the process of origination and proliferation of the biodiversity of life through time. I arbitrarily delimit four subject areas at the organismal, cellular/molecular, and lineage levels that underlie different aspects of evolution and/or represent detectable consequences of evolution. These are: (1) genetic changes at the molecular or population level, including "microevolutionary" processes; (2) generation of heritable phenotypic variation, and speciation; (3) adaptation, selection, and evolution of breeding systems and life-history traits; and (4) lineage-level phenomena ("macroevolution"), including phyletic trends, changes in tempo, evolutionary radiations, and global biogeographic patterns.

In this course we will cover key topics in each area, following the order given above. I will provide primary information through lectures, and you will supplement your understanding with assigned reserve readings from a diversity of book chapters and research journal articles. I will include abundant examples from different plant groups (and some animal groups) and, wherever possible, expose you to the research methodologies and analytical approaches of researchers who attempt to develop or test particular evolutionary hypotheses or models. The goal of the course is to give you insights into the myriad of interrelated factors contributing to and maintaining the remarkable organismic diversity of life on earth. In a very real sense this course is organized as a synthetic "capstone" course, in that it will integrate a variety of subjects from your previous courses. Because it will rely heavily at times on plant organ terminology, if you have not had a beginning PBIO course or haven't had one in awhile and feel "rusty" with plant structure, basic processes or fundamental genetics, please see me very early on if you need help to review or catch up. I'll be happy to provide you with any extra help you need to keep up with the course material.

• Punctuality at lectures and laboratories.
• Proper preparation for lecture and laboratory, and a display of enthusiasm and competence.
• Clear and organized presentation, and succinct answering of questions.
• Respectful treatment of individuals, acceptance of divergent opinions and belief systems, and willingness to admit when I am wrong or do not know something.
• Full leadership in classroom discussions and satisfactory introduction to and guidance of laboratory exercises.
• Well-balanced examinations to test your knowledge of major points without terrorizing you, dwelling on pointless trivia or providing meaningless "busy work".
• Interesting laboratories giving graduate students hands-on experience.
• Fair and objective grading of exams and papers.
• Adequate help outside of class, in office hours and other available appointment time.
• Expression of maturity and a sense of humor!

The expectations you should have of me run parallel--I should be punctual, well organized and properly prepared for class and lecture; respectful of your input, viewpoints and opinions; I should prepare reasonable and complete examinations and give you adequate help and time to study for them; provide a meaningful and rewarding laboratory experience; and grade fairly and give academic feedback to you often. If I'm not doing these things adequately, please let me know.

I will do my best to help you gain an appreciation for evolution by summarizing the wealth of information concerning plant evolution and assisting you in digesting it; by answering your questions and striving to engage your thought processes and engender enthusiasm from you about plant evolution. If both of us do our part, we'll both learn alot and we'll have a fun time sharing the course!

Lecture and discussion attendance: Attendance at lecture and discussion is mandatory--you must attend regularly, unless you are desperately ill, or you or one of your family has died. As adults, I leave it up to you to show up regularly, and I don't take attendance. I simply expect you to be there.

Cheating: Don't even think about it. Give yourself plenty of time to study for the exams, and participate fully in the grad student project if you're a grad student.

Weekly readings: I have not identified a required text for the course (none in existence really treat all aspects of plant evolution satisfactorily). Instead, my lecture notes and assigned readings will supply all the information for lecture topics, discussions and examinations in the class. For the first 4 weeks I will assign 1-2 papers for you to read outside of class each week, and we will meet on Thursdays at the Front Room Coffeehouse to discuss the readings, and to cover any other topics you want to talk about. PLEASE COME PREPARED TO DISCUSS THE READINGS, and bring your questions and difficulties with the material if you have them. During the last 6 weeks I will request that you all select one recently published (or classic) paper each week of your own concerning a topic I (or a grad student) have covered during lecture, and study it well enough to hold a cogent brief 5-10 minute mini-presentation on it, and answer questions about it. Grad students may choose some of these topics to pursue at greater depth for their term paper or seminar presentation.

Coursework, Activities and Grades
Everybody: Everyone will take 2 exams, the second one being the non-comprehensive final. Each exam covers roughly one half of the term's lecture material, and each counts for 100 points of the course grade. Questions will be a combination of short answer and brief essay. I will provide students with numerous questions ranging from 5-20 points; students must answer a core set of questions worth 50 points and then may select their favorites from other questions, for a total of 100 points. Students have responded very enthusiastically to this "buffet-style" approach to exams, so I continue the process.

Undergraduate students will also prepare an 8-10 page review paper exploring a particular narrow topic of their choice at some modest depth. Grad students will choose one of these two options: (1) a 15-20 page in-depth review paper of an evolutionary topic of their choice; or (2) a 45-minute sophisticated Powerpoint seminar (with 5 minutes of discussion and questions) in a class period during the 8th, 9th and 10th weeks, on a topic of their choice (see "Grad students " below for more details).The review papers or lectures count as an additional 100 points.

The total potential points for the course is 300. The final letter grade will be based on the points you have accumulated for the two exams and the project (review paper or lecture), divided by 300.

Term papers: Students must give me the general topic of their review paper in class on Thursday of 3rd week, 24 January; this accounts for 10 points toward the paper. You will later give me a polished and complete first version in class on Thursday of 8th week, 28 February, which is good for 40 points. I will redistribute papers to every student anonymously, and students will take their adopted manuscript home to give it a careful and thorough anonymous peer review, which is worth 10 more points. Students will write only the last four digits of their social security number on the back of the last page of the paper they reviewed, and then will return that paper to me in class on Thursday of ninth week, 6 March. I will take the weekend to examine each peer-reviewed paper myself, will give points for the review and for the first version, and will return the edited first version to the authors in class on Monday of tenth week, 10 March. Students must make suggested changes and turn in the final version of the manuscript to me at my office no later than the final exam date, 12:20pm, Monday, 17 March, for the final 40 points. These deadlines are also noted in the "Course Topics" section at the end of this webpage. To reiterate: paper topic = 10 points, first complete version = 40 points, anonymous peer-review = 10 points, revised version = 40 points. NOTE: I will take 5 points off your paper grade, at any stage of the process, for each day that you are late in meeting a deadline.

A complete version includes a reasonable and specific title, the name of the student, a summary paragraph introducing the topic, a body of well written text broken into several sections each with its own subheading, and a Literature Cited section at the end. The paper must utilize at least 3 published journal article or book sources for undergrad review papers and at least 5 sources for grad papers. Web sources are not permitted. All pages must be numbered, with 1" margins on all sides. The title of your review paper should be at the top of the first page, all in capital letters, with your full name centered and two lines below the paper title. Please break the text up into a series of sections for easy reading, each headed by a subtitle in bold. Use any standard format for literature citation; note that a Literature Cited section gives only those references you actually used in writing the review paper. Also, wherever you present and discuss facts or concepts that are not "common knowledge" to the field across most or all of your sources, you should cite the literature source for that particular piece of information in the text itself; use the "Author, Date" style of in-text citation [e.g., Ballard and Kowal (2001)]. The body of the paper--the text between the title/student name and the Literature Cited section--must equal at least 10 double-spaced pages.

Lectures: Grad students who choose this option will prepare a sophisticated Powerpoint presentation that thoroughly explores a topic they choose (including any I have tentatively scheduled to present myself) during Monday or Wednesday class periods in the 8th-10th weeks. The seminar should be polished and practiced, and extend about 45 minutes, allowing for 5 minutes of questions and discussion (which you will lead). Audience participants will evaluate your performance with an objective critique sheet, and the class scores will largely determine your seminar grade. You must utilize at least 5 published journal article or book sources. Web sources are not permitted. You should include figures or tables as empirical evidence from various studies that highlight particular points, rather than making the lecture wholly general (use some of my lectures as a guide). Sources of images and data should be properly cited on individual slides, and references should be cited fully at the end.

Discussions: We will meet every Thursdays (including the first week) in the Front Room Coffeehouse on the 4th floor of Baker Center, to discuss weekly readings I assign you (in the first 4 weeks) or which you choose (in the last 6 weeks), except for Week 6 when you will take the first exam. We will learn together how to critique evolutionary research publications and share our developing experience on various topics (including free-form discussion of new ideas you might have). The assigned readings for the first 4 weeks are classic papers I have selected to exemplify major topics or themes covered during early lectures. During each of the last 6 weeks you will be responsible for identifying a recently published journal article or book chapter interesting to you on a topic somewhat related to subjects we are covering that week. You must study it well enough to give a 5-minute mini-presentation of it to the group, briefly describing the authors' hypotheses or intent, general methodologies used, some specific results, and the general consequence of the study. Point out any technical issues or concerns as well. This will be your chance to "strut your stuff" and lead brief discussion on cool approaches (or critical problems) in modern plant evolutionary literature.

Exam review:  I will hold have a formalized exam review session on one of the evenings during 5th week for Exam 1 and during 10th week for Exam 2 (the final), scheduled on a day and time to suit the greatest number of people. But I will also be available to everyone during office hours and by appointment throughout the term.

Grading scale:

Points	Letter Grade
276-300	A
270-275	A-
264-269	B+
246-263	B
240-245	B-
234-239	C+
216-233	C
210-215	C-
204-209	D+
186-203	D
180-185	D-
<180	R.I.P.

Contrary to the above, I am here to help you--to get through the course and enjoy the process. I want you to learn the material and appreciate it with the enthusiasm and wonder that I do! If you are having difficulties with the material itself, come see me as soon as you encounter problems, or call or e-mail me and set up a time to go over material at your and my earliest convenience. Waiting until the day before an exam is weeks too late! For simple, single questions, call or e-mail me; for complex questions or several questions, we'll schedule an appointment.

I am concerned that you have a worthwhile experience here at OU in spite of any personal or academic roadblocks you might have to face along the route, both during and beyond the Evolution course. Please feel free to meet with me to discuss PBIO courses, plant biology or evolution and systematics generally, academia, or personal issues impacting on your ability to negotiate this course or your degree program. Or just join me over a cup of coffee or tea to discuss the fate of the world! I may or may not have answers or experience for particular problems (although you might be surprised at the issues I've had to work through myself). Nevertheless, having a concerned "ear" available when you need it is always comforting, and can be very helpful.

I also utilize my contacts around the country and the world, in various institutions and agencies, to help set up employment and internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. I keep abreast of graduate botany programs and faculty in my areas of interest. I'm happy to write letters of recommendation and make phone calls or send letters on your behalf--if you are a decent student!

Web notes: To help you to study the lecture material more effectively and ease your burden of note-taking--but not to absolve you from attending lectures--I will link my lectures to the itinerary above the day before I present each lecture. I will also link PDFs of assigned readings to the itinerary above, where possible.

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