Human Parasitology is a course designed to teach the fundamentals of diagnosis, treatment, pathology, transmission, and control of human parasites. A large portion of the above is learned simply by knowing the life cycles of the parasites in question and, thus, how to break the chain of infection. Therefore, much of this course will concentrate on the basic life-cycles of parasites. There is nothing tricky about this course; it's pretty much straight memorization. Some people like the format whereas others do not. However, please realize that lack of study time almost always translates directly into poor exam performance.

As you will note from the schedule below, the class is divided into four main groups: Platyhelminthes [Digenes (flukes/trematodes) and Cestodes (tapeworms)], Nematodes, Protozoa, and Arthropods and other Phyla. An exam will follow each of the four main groups, comprising 400 total points. The final is comprehensive; about 50% will be comprised of Arthropods and other phyla and the other 50% from general material throughout the earlier part of the semester. Grading will be 90% (A), 80% (B), 70% (C), and 60% (D). The yearly class average is generally about 80%, so the course will not be curved.

For those of you opting to take the laboratory portion of the class, lectures have been designed to keep fairly close pace with the laboratory sessions, at least whenever possible. The laboratory manual for Biology 546 is also on-line, and you may wish to look that material over even if you are not enrolled in that course. Please have the lab book, or some facsimile, in your possession prior to coming to your first laboratory. NOTE: Biology 545 and the laboratory, Biology 546, are separate courses. I don't know why, but that's the way they have always been. You are NOT required to take the laboratory; it is optional. However, you MAY NOT take the laboratory without being concurrently (or previously) enrolled in the lecture portion of the course (or a parasitology course elsewhere).

Exams will cover lecture material and assigned text chapters. I have provided some web-based sample exams (see below), although be advised that the format and content change somewhat year to year. I may or may not assign additional articles for you to read, and if I do then they too will be covered on the exams. Per University policy, rescheduling of the exam can be achieved if you have two or more other exams in courses with a catalog number LOWER than 545 within 24 hr of the parasitology final (graduating seniors may take the exam early, however). NOTE: A significant portion of this course is moving towards web based material. I expect ALL students in BOTH the lecture and laboratory portions of the course to have examined each and every figure associated with the on-line image tutorial. Asking you to ID any one of the web based images from a photograph on an exam is a distinct possibility. Additional images that should also be useful can be found at the Animal/Human Parasitology image library continually being updated.

Over the years, I've corrected a lot of exams and I've seen a lot of students come and go. I'd like to offer the following advice on doing well in this course:

1. Leave no space blank on your exam. Playing the statistics, you have more of a chance of scoring some points by guessing rather than leaving the space blank.
2. Don't check off your incorrect answers on exams. I don't know why, but many students mark their unsure or wrong answers with some form of notation. If you don't point the question out, you might get lucky and the professor could pass over it.
3. Attend class regularly. Not only can you take notes over material discussed in class, but valuable hints are given about test questions during many class periods.
4. Don't try to skip an exam by saying "I don't feel prepared." That translates into "I haven't studied enough." This excuse seems to be growing in popularity, but is simply stupid and will not be accepted.
5. Don't skip exams. Its easy to fail the course if you skip exams.
6. Study. Nothing beats knowing the answers on the exams.
7. And finally, if you opt to drop the class, just go over and drop it immediately... don't put it off and forget. I don't know why, but every year I have students that stop coming to class fully intending to drop... then they forget! I then get a call during finals week; they want to postpone their final plus take 2 make-up exams the following semester. Don't pull this stunt!

As far as miscellaneous stuff goes, please note the following: First, turn off all cellular phones and beepers before coming into the classroom. To re-emphasize, TURN OFF THE CELL PHONE. These are very distracting to myself and other students when they go off. The sole exception to the rule are those individuals involved in emergency services, who understandably may need to be contacted during a class period. Second, don't talk when I talk. If you must have a discussion with someone else during lectures, then please take the conversation into the hallway. Third, should you miss a class, I do not wish to be notified and I wouldn't remember you missing anyway. My memory is terrible and I take no attendance. However, you are responsible for any and all announcements/course changes I make on those days, and I may not repeat material. If you need to get copies of the lecture notes, then ask a friend in class. It is NOT my responsibility to supply you with lecture notes. Fourth, should you miss an exam due to a valid excuse such as illness, you will be permitted a make-up exam within 1 week of returning to class. These exams are more in depth and are exactly twice as long as those regularly scheduled. Hangovers are NOT excused illnesses. If you have scheduled events that take you out of town on test day, for instance athletics, military exercises, etc., please make arrangements ahead of time and exams can be taken early. The desire for an extended vacation or lengthy weekend are NOT valid excuses so don't bug me about them. Fifth, I give no extra credit. Typically, extra credit is a reward for poor performance and allows for lower failure rates, making schools and teachers look better. What I do expect is that all students in the biological sciences at Kansas State University will strive to achieve the highest level of educational success; and that they will graduate from this institution smarter and better able to problem solve than we faculty were at a comparable stage in our careers. In effect, only an "A" should be acceptable as a grade in any of your classes. Sixth, and this may be a no-brainer but I make the statement due to past experience, don't crack gum in class. Enough said. Finally, I am NOT interested in hearing about how you were unable to study effectively because your love life went bad or your spouse left you. I don't know why students always want to talk with professors about their love life but I am probably the least qualified person in the entire state of Kansas to give such advice. Hire a good lawyer.

OK. Enough of the "don'ts." Below is the specific, but tentative, schedule for the class. The key word here is TENTATIVE; occasionally we may run a lecture or two ahead or behind of schedule. For those of you who miss a class, please obtain lecture notes from another class member; do NOT expect me to supply you notes or repeat a portion of the lecture. The only course where I have developed web-based lecture note outlines is Animal Parasitology (Biology 625), and simply because of the large volume of material. I find, however, that students tend to rely on this web based material so heavily that they fail to take their own notes and end up performing quite poorly on exams. Nonetheless, these outlines may occasionally be of use concerning those parasites shared between humans and animals so feel free to explore that web site. SUGGESTION: Never, ever, loan someone your notes without being present when they photocopy them. Should the borrower drop the class, it is likely you will never see your notes again. This happens virtually EVERY year and it is not my responsibility to circumvent the natural selection process and provide you with a set of supplemental lecture notes.

This course will also utilize K-State on-line. I plan to make all powerpoint lectures available on-line immediately after each class, as well as some assigned readings in .pdf format. This is the first year I've used K-State on-line and placing material into this program is not particularly straight forward. Therefore, please have a little patience while I muddle through it.

Tentative 2007 course outline

JAN. 12 - Introduction to the course (please view statistics on parasitic infections in humans)

JAN. 15 - University Holiday (no class)

JAN. 17 - Introduction to Platyhelminthes [Ch. 13]

JAN. 19,22,24,26,29,31 - Digenes [Ch. 13,15-18]

FEB. 02,05,07,09 - Cestodes [Ch. 20,21]

FEB. 14 - [WED.] LECTURE EXAM #1 (100 points) Digenes & Cestodes

FEB. 12,16,19,21,23,26,28; MAR. 02,05 - Nematodes [Ch. 22-30]

MAR. 07 - [WED.] LECTURE EXAM #2 (75 points) Nematodes

MAR. 09,12,14,16 - Protozoa [Ch. 4-11]

MAR. 19-23 - SPRING BREAK!

MAR. 26,28,30; APR. 02,04,06,09,11,13,16 - Protozoa (cont.)

APR. 18 - [WED.] LECTURE EXAM #3 (100 points) Protozoa

APR. 20,23,25,27,30 - Arthropoda [Ch. 33,36-41]

MAY 02,04 - Miscellaneous phyla and other stuff [Ch. 31,32,35]

MAY 11 - [FRI.] 11:50 am COMPREHENSIVE LECTURE FINAL (125 points)

also... SEPT 17 - Cassandra Peterson (aka "Elvira") born in Manhattan, Kansas in 1949!

Things NOT to learn in college (by R.J. Riggins)

Some notable biologic events during Spring semester

07 January 1873, Samuel Stein received patent #134,570 for his invention of the "Burial-casket"
08 January 1823, Alfred Russel Wallace born (co-founded natural selection)
08 January 1942, Steven Hawking, one of the most incredible minds in history, born
11 January 1814, James Paget born (discovered Trichinella)
26 January 1873, Louis Pasteur receives patent #135,245 for "Improvements in the process of making beer," which describes the process of what is now known as "pasteurization"
10 February 1885, William E. Upjohn receives patent #312,041 for his invention "Making pills"
12 February 1809, Charles Darwin born (co-founded natural selection)
15 February 1564, Galileo Galilei born
21 February 1866, August Paul von Wassermann born (invented Wassermann test for syphilis)
27 February 1900, Felix Hoffman receives patent #644,077 for "Aspirin"
04 March 1865, Henry Baldwin Ward born (founder of the American Society of Parasitologists)
13 March 1925, infamous "Butler Act" (Tennessee House bill 185) passed which prohibited the teaching of evolution in all Universities and public schools in Tennessee. It also served as the basis for the Scopes Monkey trial in the same year. The act was repealed on 13 May 1967.
14 March 1854, Paul Ehrlich born (Nobel prize winner, developed first effective syphilis treatment)
14 March 1879, Albert Einstein born (proposes relativity, which tells us that all births and deaths throughout time should occur as simultaneous events)
28 March 1893, Marie Tucek receives patent #494,397 for her "breast supporter" invention
18 April 1955, Albert Einstein dies of aortic aneurism (his brain vanishes after being removed by pathologist Dr. Thomas S. Harvey. Twenty-three years later the remaining portions of the brain in formalin, and tissue sections, are discovered in Wichita, Kansas by a reporter from the New Jersey Monthly; still in the possession of Dr. Harvey)
05 May 1925, High school teacher John T. Scopes is arrested by Dayton, Tennessee police for teaching evolution in public schools
13 May 1857, Ronald Ross born (discovered anopheline transmission of malaria)
17 May 1749, Edward Jenner born (discovered vaccination; use of cowpox against smallpox)
19 May 1987, a patent lawyer using the pseudonym/polinym "Chet Fleming" of St. Louis, Missouri receives patent #4,666,425 for a "Device for perfusing an animal head" (i.e. keeping a severed head alive). He even publishes a 461 page book in 1988 termed "If we can keep a severed head alive..." The patent was revoked in 1989
23 May 1707, Carolus Linnaeus born (invented modern taxonomy)
25 May 1948, Andrew J. Moyer receives patent #2,442,141 for a "Method for production of penicillin"
16 June 1902, Barbara McClintock born (received the Nobel prize for her discovery of transposable genetic elements)

Some previously asked questions (really!) and my answers

1. Question: Can I add the class?
2. Answer: Absolutely.

3. Question: Can I drop the class?
4. Answer: Absolutely.

5. Question: Is the final comprehensive?
6. Answer: Yes. About one-half will be over the material presented since the last exam, and the other one-half will be from material that you were tested over previously. Concentrate on the new material, and then on your 3 mid-semester exams, and you "should" do OK.

7. Question: What will I need to know for the exam?
8. Answer: Everything I said in class plus the assigned reading material. Questions on an exam represent only a sample of what you are expected to know in this class, NOT the totality.

9. Question: I'm not doing very well. Do you give extra credit?
10. Answer: No. Sorry. You're in college now. Extra credit is a reward for poor performance.

11. Question: How hard should I study?
12. Answer: That depends upon what grade you want in the class. Each of you retain information differently, but my suggestion for any class is know all material thoroughly. If you are just going over your notes a few hours the night before an exam, then I'll tell you right now its not enough. On average, I'd suggest at least 20-25 hours of studying over a 10-12 day period before each exam.

13. Question: I missed class last week and can't find the class notes on-line. Where are they?
14. Answer: I do not post notes for this course on-line.

15. Question: Should I buy the textbook?
16. Answer: Buying the textbook is up to you. Most people have told me that it helps them understand the material better. The authors present methods of conveying information that may well be superior to my own.

17. Question: Do I have to come to class?
18. Answer: That's up to you. It's your money and your grade. Many studies have shown poor grades are often correlated with lack of class attendance. In this particular class, over 50% of the students who've failed also stopped coming to class regularly.

19. Question: I have been missing classes and doing poorly on the exams because I am a member of the men's cheerleading team. I need to practice a lot with the girls and it conflicts with my study time. Is there some way I can receive extra credit since I am a pre-med major and need an A in this class?
20. Answer: Perhaps a no-brainer, but no.

21. Question: I broke up with my new boyfriend, just like when I took this class last year, and am so distressed that I can't take exams again. Won't you just pass me this time?
22. Answer: No.

23. Question: I'm getting married at the end of the semester and I'll be moving to a new state. I haven't had much time to study because of all the wedding plans but if I don't pass your class I won't be able to graduate and I won't be here next year to retake the course. Won't you just pass me so that I can graduate?
24. Answer: No.

25. Question: I did poorly on the exam because I had a hangover. I partied all night in Aggieville before the big exam, and even though I know its my fault won't you let me throw out this exam or do some extra credit work?
26. Answer: No.

27. Question: Why don't you teach parasitology the same way they do at the Vet school? I took it over there and I thought they did a much better job than you do here in Biology.
28. Answer: I guess you shouldn't have flunked out of Vet school then.

29. Question: Will you supply us a list of what we are supposed to know for the exams?
30. Answer: No. That's what the lectures and reading material are for. You are supposed to know everything I said in class, plus the reading material in the book, plus the information on the website.

31. Question/Statement: But it must be the right answer. I wrote it that way in my notes. ("This is a classic statement that I get virtually every year")
32. Answer: Take better notes.

33. Question: Can I take one of the microscopes home?
34. Answer: No.

35. Question: I haven't done very well on the exams. Is there any way I can get a higher grade?
36. Answer: Study longer. In order to study the minimal amount of time, many students try to outguess the instructor about what he or she will put on an exam. If you guess poorly, then your performance on the exam will likely be poor. Study all the material throughly and you should perform well nearly all of the time. Again, in any science class, 20-25 hours of studying minimum over a 10-12 day period before every exam. If you want an "A" then 30 or more hours of studying may be necessary.

37. Question: I had a mental block, but I really knew the answer. Can't you give me at least some points for the question?
38. Answer: No. An analogous situation (and this IS a true story) was when my sister went to get her driver's license at age 16 and hit another car while pulling into the parking lot of the motor vehicles department. They didn't give her any extra points for that (needless to say, she failed to get her license that day).

39. Question: I am a member of the men's baseball team and will be gone on two of the exam days. Can I take a couple of the exams early?
40. Answer: Yes. No problem whatsoever.

41. Question: Will you photocopy all of the class notes for me?
42. Answer: No.

43. Question: Why don't you have in-class review sessions?
44. Answer: Because they would be very short and simply consist of the following: Know everything I said in class plus the reading material.

45. Question: I e-mailed you a bunch of questions, so why didn't you respond?
46. Answer: I receive what I consider an excessive amount of e-mails, often numbering 50-100 per day. Although many of them are spam that has gotten past the filters, most of the remainder are work related. Manuscripts or grants to review, letters of recommendation to write, surveys to fill out, reports that are due, etc. Unless your e-mail can be answered in a sentence or two right away, the unfortunate result is that it sometimes gets buried in my in-box and forgotten. Sorry.

47. Question: I have 2 other exams on the same day as this one. Can I take the exam early?
48. Answer: Yes. No problem.

49. Question: Would you take 20 dollars to raise my test grade?
50. Answer: No.

51. Question: My husband says that I'm spending too much time studying and not paying enough attention to him and his career. He feels that women don't need to be in college and wants me to drop out of school and get a full time job to support him while he gets his B.A. degree. What should I do?
52. Answer: Have you considered divorce?

53. Question: I object to the use of the word "evolution" in this class and my other biology classes. It goes against my beliefs.
54. Answer: Evolution, which is a change in gene frequency in a population over time, is not a belief. It is the cornerstone of modern biology and represents knowledge based on scientific method; thousands of carefully controlled scientific studies published in refereed journals. Knowledge is based on scientific method; belief is everything else. Evolution is even accepted by many theologists and major religious groups. In fact, evolution has been recognized as valid even by the catholic church since 1950, and reaffirmed not to be in conflict with religious beliefs by Pope John Paul II in 1996. Evolution is totally neutral in respect to divinity and only conflicts with ones beliefs if one wishes them to conflict.

55. Question: I loaned my notes to the guy sitting next to me, but he dropped the class and I don't know his name or how to get hold of him. What can I do?
56. Answer: That's your problem. Never, ever loan your notes to someone you don't know well as they may very well drop the course and take your notes with them. Check out Wendy Northcutt's Official Darwin awards website to see if you qualify.

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