Teach Genetics Using TopHat
Designed with conversational lectures and engaging wet/digital labs
This book follows recommendations from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) “Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education” document. The concepts are simple and are meant as a core of concepts, rather than a dictionary of terms.
The 15 chapter textbook includes three, five chapter sections (The Central Dogma, Transmission Genetics and Population Genetics) and each chapter includes assignable assessment questions.
Lectures match the textbook and include in-class discussion quizzes.
Three section exams and a final exam are included. Many questions include multiple versions, providing reasonable exam security and longevity. Three practice exams that closely follow the in-class exams are included.
Student resources include a total of 19 subject-specific worksheets, 7 crossword and 7 word search puzzles that can be printed as in-class or take-home assignments.
Lab Materials are organized in both 8- and 12-week lab schedules, which include introduction to pipetting, colony PCR and sequencing, gene description, PCR primer design, Human DNA extraction and restriction digest protocols. Protocols are provided digitally to allow modification for your specific needs.
Instructor Resources include detailed course setup directions, a sample syllabus, answers to homework and puzzle exercises and lab set-up instructions with catalog numbers and cost.
Overview of TopHat Course
Many of the resources listed on this website are available as an integrated course offered through TopHat. The core material is taken from the Genetics textbook and is used to create both an online textbook and online lectures (with integrated quizzes). The text is broken down into three sections, which include the central dogma, transmission (Mendelian) genetics and population genetics. In addition to the text material, four digitally administered exams (central dogma, transmission, population and cumulative) are also available. Wet labs can also be run through this course, with 6 multi-week labs that can be digitally submitted and include 8 and 12 week execution timelines. These are wet labs, but can be run in a purely digital format (as was done during the pandemic) with the loss of about 30% - the hands-on stuff, of course! Student resources are extensive and include three full practice exams, 20 printable worksheets, 13 crossword/word search puzzles and downloadable Power-point lectures.
