NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE

COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE AND INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Course title: Microbiology for Non-Science Majors

Course prefix, number, and section number: BIOL 2420 Section 343

Semester/Year of course: Spring 2026

Semester start and end dates: January 12, 2026 – May 9, 2026

Modality (Face to face/Synchronous or Asynchronous online/Online): Asynchronous Online

Class meeting location, days, and times: Asynchronous Online

Lab meeting location, days, and times: Asynchronous Online

Semester credit hours: Lecture 48 hours Laboratory 48 hours

Course description: This course covers basic microbiology and immunology and is primarily directed at pre-nursing, pre-allied health, and non-science majors. It provides an introduction to historical concepts of the nature of microorganisms, microbial diversity, the importance of microorganisms and acellular agents in the biosphere, and their roles in human and animal diseases. Major topics include bacterial structure as well as growth, physiology, genetics, and biochemistry of microorganisms. Emphasis is on medical microbiology, infectious diseases, and public health. This course covers basics of culture and identification of bacteria and microbial ecology. This course is primarily directed at prenursing and other pre-allied health majors and covers basics of microbiology. Emphasis is on medical microbiology, infectious diseases, and public health.

Course prerequisites: None

Purchasing Course Materials

Starting in Spring 2026 NCTC is partnering with Barnes & Noble College (BNC) to make purchasing course materials easy and affordable.  When students register for classes, they are automatically opted in to the Lion Book Bundle which will provide students first day access to course materials.  In this program students are charged $24 per credit hour ($96 for a 4-hour class) as a fee on their NCTC student account. (This is labeled as “Book Fee” on NCTC invoices). Students may choose to opt out of this program, but would then be required to purchase needed class materials on their own. If opting out, students would receive a refund on their NCTC student account. Students may choose to opt out starting one month prior to classes beginning through the first week of class. Students might benefit from opting out if they are enrolled in classes that use OER (free course materials).  Note: The Lion Book Bundle applies to all classes a student is registered for in a given semester (both 16-week and 8-week). A student must either opt in or out for ALL classes—not each class individually.  If you want to take advantage of the Lion Book Bundle, no action is needed as students are automatically opted in.  If you would like to opt out of the program, you must go to the Opt-out page.

Click here for more information: Lion Book Bundle information

Required Course Materials:

INCLUDED in the Lion Book Bundle:

• Connect Online Access for Microbiology Fundamentals: A Clinical Approach

NOT INCLUDED in the Lion Book Bundle:

Some materials are required for the course, but are not included in the Lion Book Bundle. 

• A Laboratory Manual for Non-Science Majors Microbiology PDF (Located in your course)
• Colored pencils
• Computer
• Microphone
• Web-camera
• Reliable Internet Connection

Students should have all the necessary materials by the start of the course. Homework assignments are due within the first week of class. Students concerned about having access to course materials should contact the instructor in the first week of the course. Failure to obtain the course materials is not grounds for extended due dates. 

Name of instructor: Mrs. Sherry Smith

Office location: Gainesville Campus Room 419

Telephone number: (940) 668-7731 ext. 4350

E-mail address: sherrysmith@nctc.edu

Office hours for students:

Monday: AP Tutoring via WebEx 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Tuesday: On Campus Office Hours 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Wednesday: Microbiology Tutoring 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm; On Campus Office Hours 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Thursday: Virtual Office Hours Via WebEx 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

SYLLABUS CHANGE DISCLAIMER

The faculty member reserves the right to make changes to this published syllabus if it is in the best interest of the educational development of this class. Any such changes will be announced as soon as possible in person and/or writing.

SUMMARY OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

List of graded assignments:

Lecture Contact Hour Assignments (15%)

Lecture Homework (15%)

Unit Lecture Exams (25%)

Laboratory Contact Hour Assignments (10%)

Laboratory Exams (20%)

Comprehensive Final Exam (15%)

Final grade scale: 

A = 90% - 100%

B = 80% - 89%

C = 70% - 79%

D = 60% - 69%

F = 0 % - 59%

Extra credit is not given, as bonus questions are offered to all students throughout the semester. Grades are not rounded as a result of bonus opportunities.

Late work policy:

Late work is not accepted. Students are expected to complete all assignment by the designated deadlines indicated in the course schedule (located in the Canvas Course “Getting Started” module). Failure to submit an assignment on time will result in a “0” for the assignment.

(Additional details regarding this course’s grading and late work policy are provided in the Course Policies & Assignments Handbook Syllabus Addendum (BIOL 2420 Online) (Spring 2026) located in your Canvas Course)

SEE CANVAS FOR THE COMPLETE COURSE CALENDAR, OUTLINE, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF GRADED WORK, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIAL.

COURSE POLICIES

Academic Integrity Policy:

Consequences for academic dishonesty in the course may include:

1) grade (“0”) on the assignment. If the assignment is within a group in which the lowest assignment is dropped, the assignment will not be able to be count as a dropped score. It will count as part of the grade.

2) A “Scholastic Dishonesty Report Form” will be submitted regarding the incidence.

3) Students may be dropped from the course with a failing grade (letter grade of “F”)

(Additional details regarding this course’s academic integrity policy are provided in the Course Policies & Assignments Handbook Syllabus Addendum (BIOL 2420 Online) (Spring 2026) located in your Canvas Course)

Artificial Intelligence Policy:   AI Use is Prohibited

This course assumes that all work submitted by students will be generated by the students themselves, working individually or in groups. Students should not have another person/entity do the writing of any substantive portion of an assignment for them, which includes hiring a person or a company to write assignments and using artificial intelligence tools (from UMass Amherst Center for Teaching and Learning)

(Additional details regarding this course’s policy for the use of AI are provided in the Course Policies & Assignments Handbook Syllabus Addendum (BIOL 2420 Online) (Spring 2026) located in your Canvas Course)

Attendance Policy:

Simply logging in to an online course does not constitute attendance. The U.S. Department of Education calculates the last date of attendance by the last time a student participated in an online discussion or made contact (interacted) with a faculty member, and this standard is applied to online courses.

Lecture

This course requires 48 lecture contact hours during the semester. In a traditional face-to-face course, these would be met by coming to a campus lecture that would total 3 hours each week.  We are responsible for meeting the same number of hours as those traditional courses, which do not include outside reading and studying. This course will have the required lecture contact hours met viewing lecture videos with quizzes and weekly reflection activities in Canvas. Your activities will take approximately 3 hours per week to complete for the contact hours to be met. As with a face-to-face course, this does not include your reading and study time needed to be successful. Students are required to complete both items for attendance credit. Failure to complete these components of the course is equivalent to skipping a lecture class and thus is grounds for being dropped from the course.

Lab

The required 48 contact hours for lab will be met in the online environment. Students that come on campus to complete labs meet the contact hours by attending 2 ½ laboratory sessions. As a student in this online course, you will be assigned virtual lab activities and laboratory manual assignments. Students should expect the assignments to take approximately 2 ½ hours weekly. This is the time that you would meet if you were coming to campus for the lab. Failure to submit these is the equivalent of missing a laboratory session.

It is the responsibility of the student to amend their professional/personal schedule to meet the class expectations. Students who are absent from class in excess of 2 calendar weeks or more than 9 hours of instruction may be dropped from the course. Students who elect to quit working in the course or who decide to no longer attend are required to complete the drop slip with the registrar’s office. Students who fail to participate and complete the drop slip will accumulate a grade of “0” on all incomplete assignments.

The instructor also retains the right to dismiss any student who exhibits behaviors distractive to the learning environment (i.e., talking while the instructor is providing instructions/lecture, entering or leaving the room while the instructor is providing instruction/lecture, disrespectful to other students or the instructor, etc.).  In the case of online interactions, disrespectful conduct/interactions with classmates in discussions, or team-based activities meets these criteria.

(Additional details regarding this course’s attendance policy are provided in the Course Policies & Assignments Handbook Syllabus Addendum (BIOL 2420 Online) (Spring 2026) located in your Canvas Course)

Withdrawal Policy

A student may withdraw from a course on or after the official date of record. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete a Withdrawal Request Form.

Last day to withdraw from the course with a “W” is: March 30, 2026

Student Learning Outcomes:

Lecture Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course the student will be able to:

1. Describe distinctive characteristics and diverse growth requirements of prokaryotic organisms compared to eukaryotic organism.
2. Provide examples of the impact of microorganisms on agriculture, environment, ecosystem, energy, and human health, including biofilms.
3. Distinguish between mechanisms of physical and chemical agents to control microbial populations.
4. Explain the unique characteristics of bacterial metabolism and bacterial genetics.
5. Describe evidence for the evolution of cells, organelles, and major metabolic pathways from early prokaryotes and how phylogenetic trees reflect evolutionary relationships.
6. Compare characteristics and replication of acellular infectious agents (viruses and prions) with characteristics and reproduction of cellular infectious agents (prokaryotes and eukaryotes).
7. Describe functions of host defenses and the immune system in combating infectious diseases and explain how immunizations protect against specific diseases.
8. Explain transmission and virulence mechanisms of cellular and acellular infectious agents

Laboratory Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of the course the student will be able to:

1. Use and comply with laboratory safety rules, procedures, and universal precautions.
2. Demonstrate proficient use of a compound light microscope.
3. Describe and prepare widely used stains and wet mounts, and discuss their significance in identification of microorganisms.
4. Perform basic microbiology procedures using aseptic techniques for transfer, isolation and observation of commonly encountered, clinically significant bacteria.
5. Use different types of bacterial culture media to grow, isolate, and identify microorganisms.
6. Perform basic bacterial identification procedures using biochemical tests.
7. Estimate the number of microorganisms in a sample using methods such as direct counts, viable plate counts, or spectrophotometric measurements.
8. Demonstrate basic identification protocols based on microscopic morphology of some common fungi and parasites.

Core Objectives:

COLLEGE POLICIES

ADA STATEMENT

NCTC will adhere to all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Office for Students with Disabilities to arrange appropriate accommodations.  See the OSD Syllabus Addendum.

AI STATEMENT

Absent a clear statement from a course instructor, use of or consultation with generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other similar technologies shall be treated analogously to assistance from another person, agency, or entity. In particular, using generative AI tools to substantially complete an assignment or exam is not permitted. Students should acknowledge the use of generative AI (other than incidental use) and default to disclosing such assistance when in doubt.

When students use generative AI to replace the rigorous demands of personal engagement with their coursework, it runs counter to the educational mission of the college and undermines the heart of education itself. Artificial Intelligence, large language models, and technologies hold promise for deploying knowledge in service to others and accelerating the discovery of new knowledge. However, such technology poses new challenges to pedagogy and to integrity. Within the context of the teaching mission of the college and consistent with the Student Code of Conduct, the authority to define the appropriate use, study, and deployment of these technologies rests with the faculty.

Individual course instructors, in coordination with their divisions, set policies regulating the use of generative AI tools in their courses, including allowing or disallowing some or all uses of such tools. Course instructors will set such policies in their course syllabi and clearly communicate such policies to students. Students who are unsure of policies regarding generative AI tools are encouraged to ask their instructors for clarification.

STUDENT HANDBOOK

Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the Student Handbook.

STUDENT SERVICES

NCTC provides a multitude of services and resources to support students.  See the Student Services Syllabus Addendum for a listing of those departments and links to their sites.

QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or COMPLAINTS