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Mellon College of Science – Learning Objectives Samples

03-410 Genes, Drugs, and Disease (Gordon Rule) (excerpt)

Recognize the structures of amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids.
Predict the net charge on ionizable groups at any given pH.
Predict, in qualitative terms, the role of molecular forces in stabilizing protein-drug complexes and the potential effect of chiral centers on drug activity.
Construct expression plasmids for the expression of potential drug targets in E. Coli.
Interpret DNA sequencing data.
Given an amino acid sequence of a protein, design the gene for expression of a protein,.
Given the target of a drug in polymer biosynthesis (e.g., protein synthesis), predict the effect of that drug on bacteria or viral growth.
Explain the relationship between the binding sites of drugs and their biological activity.
Infer the most likely pattern of inheritance from a pedigree and predict the probability of inheriting a genetic disease.
Relate deficiencies in amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and nucleotide synthesis to genetic diseases.

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

correctly utilize mathematical relationships of chemistry and recognize under which conditions and situations they apply
apply multiple chemical concepts to solve problems, including problems not explicitly encountered before
apply and connect previously learned concepts in order to derive new concepts

Identify the key chemical features and characteristics of basic food ingredients and explain how these properties affect and determine their handling, use, and taste.
Analyze and compare ingredients, recipes and protocols and be able to predict the purpose of and test the effectiveness of ingredients in recipes and dishes.
Use scientific principles to produce dishes using novel techniques and explain how they were constructed.
Exemplify the scientific process and inquiry driven research by designing, implementing, and documenting experiments.
Work effectively in a laboratory groups.

At the end of the class, students should be able to:

Relate artistic effects created by using pigments, changes in the aspects of artworks over time, and restoration methods to physical and chemical properties of inorganic pigments.
Know the characteristics of, and take practical advantage of, the properties of a wide range of artist’s pigments.
Use and read different color measuring systems and describe the relationships between them.
Be able to make and use egg tempera paints in a variety of ways
Communicate and collaborate effectively across the art & chemistry disciplines.

Solve problems using matrix techniques and algorithms.
Recognize and recall major linear algebraic definitions and theorems.
Develop short but rigorous proofs of true mathematical statements and construct counterexamples for false statements.
Apply major linear algebraic theorems to prove other results.
Interpret linear algebra techniques and results as geometric operations and structures in 3-dimensional space.

Solve mathematical models (given as such or obtained from real life problems) by using multivariate analysis techniques: vector operations, matrix operations, integration in various coordinate systems, optimization methods.
Interpret and analyze the results in the context of the problem (for example, what is the significance of the value of the Lagrange multiplier in an optimization problem, does a negative value make sense for an area.)
Formulate real life problems (word problems) into mathematical language, and solve them by using multivariate analysis techniques.
Recognize situations in which multivariate analysis concepts can be applied to economics, biology, statistics (or other fields), and identify which concepts and techniques are necessary to solve a specific problem.

By the end of the semester, students should be able to do all of the following:
articulate the behavior of quantum 2-state systems (e.g., the spin degrees of freedom of a particle); &n\ bsp;
use matrix mechanics to calculate properties of systems with spin angular momentum;
calculate the time-evolution of a 2-state system using Schrodinger’s equation;
carry out basic calculations related to systems of two spin-1/2 particles, such as the hydrogen atom;
use wave mechanics in 1 dimension to describe continuous degrees of freedom such as position and momentum for a quantum system; and
describe the basic quantum approach to observables such as angular momentum, energy, position, and momentum, including the difference from the classical approach.