Wayne T. McCormack, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine University of Florida College of Medicine Gainesville, Florida "Principles of Immunology" Course Info

Course Overview     "Principles of Immunology" (GMS 6140) is a 3 credit graduate level course offered each Fall semester. Students may also enroll in any combination of the following three course sections as individual courses (1 credit each):     GMS 6031 - Molecular Immunology     GMS 6032 - Mechanisms of Host Defense     GMS 6033 - Immunity in Health and Disease
Prerequisites     The prerequisite for IDP students is GMS 6001. A previous course in immunology is not required. Please note that course material builds during the semester, therefore students with no previous immunology courses are encouraged to take sections in sequence or to take the entire course (GMS 6140).     Non-IDP students may enroll with permission of the course director, if they have an adequate background in cell and molecular biology. Please e-mail Dr. McCormack at mccormac@pathology.ufl.edu with the following information:  your name, UFID, student status, department, and a brief description of your genetics, cell and molecular biology background.
Objectives     Our goal is to provide an understanding of the experimental basis of the fundamental principles of immunology, and to enhance your skills in the interpretation of experimental data and in experimental design in the field of immunology. The course is designed with the intention of providing appropriate training for first- and second-year graduate students in biomedical sciences. We have organized the course with the following components:      1.  Lectures will be presented by faculty members with research and/or clinical expertise in the relevant areas. Your lecture notes and handouts will be your most important study tools.      2.  Course material is organized in roughly the same sequence as the textbook, which provides more detailed material about each lecture topic.  To get the most benefit from both the lectures and textbook, you should read the assigned chapters BEFORE each lecture.      3.  You should periodically consult the textbook Appendix 1 material "Immunologists' Toolbox" throughout the semester in order to become familiar with immunological techniques (especially if you are not already using such techniques in your own research).
Textbook     The textbook for these courses is "Immunobiology, The Immune System in Health and Disease", by Janeway et al. (7th edition, 2008), published by Garland Science, and available in the Health Science Center Bookstore.  Older editions of the book are around, but this edition has some major revisions.  Immunology is still a fairly rapidly changing field, so older editions will be incomplete and/or wrong about some topics.  I strongly recommend buying the latest edition.   It is imperative that you read the assigned chapters BEFORE coming to class, as lecturers will assume that you have done so!
Course Material Handouts, Powerpoint presentations, and other course material will be posted at a ModuleCore web site.  Login using your Gatorlink ID and password.  All registered students will automatically be enrolled at the site during the first week of classes.
Team-Based Learning Sessions These sessions will consist of the following activities: It is imperative that you arrive on time, as the first activity is timed. Individual Readiness Assurance Test:  ~5-10 minutes, 5 multiple-choice questions, based on reading and/or lecture material, closed book, to be answered on Scantron sheets and turned in immediately.  Please come to class prepared! Group Readiness Assurance Test:  ~5-10 minutes, same 5 MCQ answered as a team on IF-AT scratch-off cards, open book. Group Activity:  ~25 minutes, problems to be solved as a team, open book, with a few MCQ for immediate feedback and a few graded. Group Discussion:  ~5-10 minutes.
Grading     For students enrolled in IDP modules (GMS 6031, GMS 6032, GMS 6033), grades will be determined by performance in team-based learning sessions and one exam.  For students enrolled in GMS 6140, the final course grade will be determined by performance in team-based learning sessions and all 3 exams.      Exams will be closed-book.  They may be considered "cumulative", in the sense that the material builds on itself during the course of the semester.  Material covered on exams will be derived primarily from lecture material from that section of the course, i.e. not obscure details from the textbook.  Questions for each exam will be prepared and graded by the instructors from that section of the course.  Many exam questions will focus on experimental design and data interpretation.  Examples of last year's exams will be posted.      The first two exams will be given in the evenings.  Exams are designed to be completed in 2 hours, but students will be allowed up to 3 hours to complete the exams.  The final exam will be administered during final exam week on Monday.      For final grades, activities will be weighted according to as follows:             Team-based learning sessions 25%                Contribution of Individual RAT scores, Group RAT scores and Group Activity to be determined by class vote           Exams 75%  Final letter grade  cutoffs will be based on the final class score distribution, and will be set no higher than the following:           A 85%, A- 80%, B+ 75%, B 70%, B- 65%, C+ 60%, C 55%

         Last updated:  7/30/09    wtm