CJ40/ Spring 2001 Forensic Science

TR 10:40-11:55 am Room 318

Topics to be Covered | Report Writing | Lab Work | Interesting Links
Text: Criminalistics by Richard Saferstein 7^th ed.
Forensic Crime Scene

Course Goals

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to forensic science.  You will learn the basic principles involved in the science of investigating a crime, however small or big.  Scientific basis for evidence collection will be discussed.  There will also be some laboratory work involved in this course.  You will learn the scientific method including experimentation and concluding from the experiments.

Course Requirements

Reports:          reports will be assigned during the course of the semester.  The topic and due date will be announced in the class.

Lab Reports:   any lab work conducted during the class will be accompanied by the submission of a lab report.  You will be advised on how to write a lab report in the beginning of the class. 

Exams:            there will be one mid-term and one final exam. The final will be a comprehensive exam.  It will be a crime scene which will involve laboratory work.

Class Participation:             

1.      Attend class regularly and be prompt. Class attendance is part of class participation, which is a portion of your grade. Roll will be checked at the beginning of each class period. Since tardy entry to a class disrupts the class, students late for class will receive a reduction in points.

2.      Due to abuses by students in past semesters, there will be no excused absences. You are either present or absent. To partially make up for an absence, the student must submit to the instructor by the next class meeting the student attends, an essay of one to two pages in length, summarizing the assigned reading for the class period missed. The essay may be submitted in any of the formats allowed for written assignments (discussed below). IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STUDENT TO MAKE UP ANYTHING MISSED IN CLASS.

3.      Be prepared for class. This means that you have read any assigned reading and are prepared to discuss it. Daily quizzes may be given at the beginning of class. Tardy arrival at class will result in missing the quiz. Quizzes may not be made up. This course will consist of class discussion, small group discussion, group work, and outside activities. You are expected to take part in the discussions and group work. Your in-class participation is another portion of your grade.

Course Policy

Attendance:    it is Park University policy to academically withdraw a student from class if absent for two consecutive weeks of classes.

Plagiarism:      plagiarism is prohibited.  The penalty for plagiarism is severe. 

Tardiness:       absolutely no late reports, class or lab, will be accepted.

Make-up Exam: there will be no make-up exam.

Comments

• You are strongly advised to do the following: 

• Read ahead of time. 

•  Attend ALL classes. 

• Complete all assignment given in the class.   

• Keep exam days free of any other commitment as there will be absolutely no make-up exams. Exam dates have been set in the syllabus, unless an absolute emergency arises (from the instructors point of view) none of those dates will be changed. 

Generally there will be a review session before each exam. You are encouraged to bring you problems to these sessions and clarify any doubts. The day the exam is handed back, the common problems in the exam will be discussed, please make sure you attend these important sessions. Students should without hesitation request for study sessions at any time and they will be scheduled according to time available. 

Grading Policy

20%      1 mid term exam   6^th March ; the exam will be one hour long, not comprehensive. 

30%      1 final exam.  During the final week of classes, starting Tuesday.  NOTE: it may take to both Tuesday and Thursday to finish the final exam.  The final exam will be a final crime scene you have to solve using all the information you have acquired during the semester. 

15%      Class Reports: the topics and dates of submission of reports will be announced in the class

20%      Lab Reports: will be assigned in the class throughout the semester.

15%      Class participation: attendance, participation in the class and general etiquette 

Please note: You will be informed ahead of time any changes made in the above schedules.

Unexcused absence of 6 lectures will result in a F in the class 

Grading scale

TOPICS TO BE COVERED (anticipated)

     LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS AND REPORTS

10%     Data

5%       Conclusions

5%        Technique: neatness of lab report and lab bench, punctuality, quizzes (pre or post lab).

• You must always wear goggles/glasses in the lab.   These will be provided to you during lab sessions.
• Absolutely no eating, drinking or smoking in the lab.

• You should consider taking the lab another time if you are pregnant.

• No shorts or short skirts in the lab.

• Always wear shoes in the lab.

• PUNCTUALITY IS A MUST. All lab instructions are given during the first few minutes of class, hence if you miss those you will either not know what to do or you will disturb your colleagues.

• You will not be allowed to do the lab if any of the above are not followed.

 Comments:

Working in the lab: 

• Everyone is expected to be cautious and take their work seriously in the lab. 
• There should be no pranks or running around in the lab. 
• It is always better to look around and move, you may be safe yourself but you might hurt your neighbor.
• Always call the instructor to your bench, do not carry around samples around if possible.

Punctuality in the lab : Most instructions and safety precautions for the lab are given in the beginning of the lab session hence it is mandatory that everyone be punctual to the lab. Anyone late by 5 mins might consider not coming to the lab at all that day. The door of the laboratory will be closed after the first five minutes of the lab session.

Submission of Lab reports : Lab reports will be due by the next class meeting.  Late lab reports will be accepted and certain percentage of points will be deducted depending on the number of days that it is turned in late. A zero will be given for any lab report not submitted.

Late by

     1 day - 25%

     2 days- 50%

     3 days- 75%

     5 days- no credit (week after the report was due)

Any excused lateness will be have points deducted according to the nature of the excuse.

Make up Labs: There will be absolutely no make up labs.  

Final exam will include laboratory work.

INTERESTING LINKS

Chemistry in Context Book: http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/chemistry/cic/

Dr. Schmalleger's Page: http://talkjustice.com/links.asp?453053915

Crime Scenes: http://www.crimescene.com/

Forensics: http://forensic.to/forensic.html

Armstrong Forensics Lab: http://www.aflab.com/index2.htm