Katherine Plasencia Marte’s Profile Student Toggle navigation

The BIO1101 lab­o­ra­tory course is an in­tro­duc­tion to lab­o­ra­tory tech­niques and their ap­pli­ca­tion to the un­der­stand­ing of gen­eral bi­o­log­i­cal con­cepts. It fo­cuses on the fun­da­men­tal prin­ci­ples of bi­ol­ogy, in­clud­ing tax­on­omy, struc­ture, re­pro­duc­tion, hered­ity, de­vel­op­ment and evo­lu­tion. The con­cepts of mol­e­c­u­lar bi­ol­ogy and DNA fin­ger­print­ing using rep­re­sen­ta­tive plants and an­i­mals are in­tro­duced. The course also in­cludes the use and care of the mi­cro­scope. Learn­ing Out­comes: Upon com­ple­tion of the BIO1101 lab, the stu­dents will be able to: 1.​To learn to be ob­ser­vant and to de­velop and sharpen those ob­ser­va­tional and crit­i­cal think­ing skills through in­quiry.. 2.​To dis­ci­pline your­self to de­velop good record-keep­ing skills, re­quired to be suc­cess­ful in any ca­reer you plan to pur­sue. 3.​To learn to think an­a­lyt­i­cally about the ob­ser­va­tions you have made – to be able to: a.​analyze a prob­lem and focus on a hy­poth­e­sis to be tested. b.​determine the best way of test­ing the hy­poth­e­sis, and using cre­ativ­ity to solve prob­lems, in­clud­ing in­ter­pre­ta­tion of data. 4.​To com­mu­ni­cate your find­ings about the processes stud­ied and re­sults ob­tained in ways ap­pro­pri­ate to the bi­o­log­i­cal sci­ences, both in writ­ten and oral for­mats. 5.​To be­come fa­mil­iar with the use of com­put­ers to gather, dis­cuss and an­a­lyze data 6.​To work on col­lab­o­ra­tive pro­jects and also in teams.

The BIO1101 laboratory course is an introduction to laboratory techniques and their application to the understanding of general biological concepts. It focuses on the fundamental principles of biology, including taxonomy, structure, reproduction, heredity, development and evolution. The concepts of molecular biology and DNA fingerprinting using representative plants and animals are introduced. The course also includes the use and care of the microscope. Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of the BIO1101 lab, the students will be able to: 1.To learn to be observant and to develop and sharpen those observational and critical thinking skills through inquiry.. 2.To discipline yourself to develop good record-keeping skills, required to be successful in any career you plan to pursue. 3.To learn to think analytically about the observations you have made – to be able to: a.analyze a problem and focus on a hypothesis to be tested. b.determine the best way of testing the hypothesis, and using creativity to solve problems, including interpretation of data. 4.To communicate your findings about the processes studied and results obtained in ways appropriate to the biological sciences, both in written and oral formats. 5.To become familiar with the use of computers to gather, discuss and analyze data 6.To work on collaborative projects and also in teams.

So­ci­ol­ogy is the field of study that takes up to ex­plain so­cial, po­lit­i­cal, cul­tural and eco­nomic phe­nom­ena in terms of so­cial struc­tures, so­cial forces and group re­la­tions. The course in­tro­duces stu­dents to sev­eral so­ci­o­log­i­cal top­ics, in­clud­ing so­cial­iza­tion, cul­ture, the so­cial con­struc­tion of knowl­edge, in­equal­ity, so­cial strat­i­fi­ca­tion, so­cial in­sti­tu­tions such as re­li­gion, gov­ern­ment, fam­ily, race and eth­nic re­la­tions, poverty and de­viance, among oth­ers. So­ci­ol­ogy is the art of ask­ing ques­tions; big ques­tions such as “What is race?” or “How class struc­ture and so­cial strat­i­fi­ca­tion im­pacts peo­ple’s lives?”, “How cul­ture mat­ters?”, “Why states go to war?”, or more de­tailed and fo­cused ques­tions, like: “Why work­ing class chil­dren get work­ing class jobs?”, “How fast food chains im­pact Amer­i­can fam­ily re­la­tions?”, “How the so­cial media im­pact com­mu­ni­ca­tion?”, “How col­lege ed­u­ca­tion has changed over the past decades?” Ac­quir­ing the con­cep­tual and method­olog­i­cal tools to ad­dress more broad but also nar­rower so­ci­o­log­i­cal ques­tions of that kind is one of the main ob­jec­tives of this course. While so­ci­ol­ogy as­sumes that human ac­tions are pat­terned, it also sug­gests that in­di­vid­u­als have ample of room to change their con­di­tions and di­rect so­cial change. In that sense the quest to un­der­stand so­ci­ety is im­por­tant and al­ways ur­gent, for if we can­not un­der­stand the so­cial world that we live in, we are more likely to be over­whelmed and ul­ti­mately in­ca­pac­i­tated by it. As a spe­cial­ist, the so­ci­ol­o­gist sys­tem­at­i­cally gath­ers, processes and an­a­lyzes in­for­ma­tion with the ob­jec­tive to pro­vide in­sights into what is going on in a sit­u­a­tion, pre­sent al­ter­na­tives and often as­sist pol­icy-mak­ers in mak­ing in­formed de­ci­sions and for­mu­lat­ing poli­cies. So­ci­ol­ogy how­ever, and the so­ci­o­log­i­cal imag­i­na­tion is not the pre­rog­a­tive solely of spe­cial­ists. So­ci­ol­ogy, fur­ther than being a dis­ci­pline, a field in so­cial sci­ences, it con­sti­tutes a mode of think­ing. Think­ing so­ci­o­log­i­cally is also di­rectly re­lated to act­ing so­cially. An im­por­tant ob­jec­tive of this course is to learn how to think along­side oth­ers, con­nect our con­di­tion to those of oth­ers and un­der­stand the im­por­tance of not only think­ing but also act­ing col­lec­tively. The course, in ad­di­tion to the the­o­ret­i­cal texts as­signed for read­ing and analy­sis, in­cor­po­rates jour­nal­is­tic ac­counts of so­cial is­sues, au­to­bi­ogra­phies, mem­oirs, oral his­to­ries and ma­te­ri­als like pho­tographs and film, in order to en­cour­age stu­dents to ex­per­i­ment with orig­i­nal so­ci­o­log­i­cal re­search. Learn­ing, also, to apply so­ci­o­log­i­cal lan­guage and con­cepts to events and sit­u­a­tions we en­counter daily, like ‘so­ci­o­log­i­cal lo­ca­tion’ (iden­ti­ties like race, gen­der and class) and ‘so­cial in­sti­tu­tions’ (or­ga­nized en­ti­ties that struc­ture so­ci­ety, like ed­u­ca­tion and re­li­gion) is of key im­por­tance. By the end of the course, stu­dents should be well on their way to de­vel­op­ing their own ‘so­ci­o­log­i­cal imag­i­na­tion.’

Sociology is the field of study that takes up to explain social, political, cultural and economic phenomena in terms of social structures, social forces and group relations. The course introduces students to several sociological topics, including socialization, culture, the social construction of knowledge, inequality, social stratification, social institutions such as religion, government, family, race and ethnic relations, poverty and deviance, among others. Sociology is the art of asking questions; big questions such as “What is race?” or “How class structure and social stratification impacts people’s lives?”, “How culture matters?”, “Why states go to war?”, or more detailed and focused questions, like: “Why working class children get working class jobs?”, “How fast food chains impact American family relations?”, “How the social media impact communication?”, “How college education has changed over the past decades?” Acquiring the conceptual and methodological tools to address more broad but also narrower sociological questions of that kind is one of the main objectives of this course. While sociology assumes that human actions are patterned, it also suggests that individuals have ample of room to change their conditions and direct social change. In that sense the quest to understand society is important and always urgent, for if we cannot understand the social world that we live in, we are more likely to be overwhelmed and ultimately incapacitated by it. As a specialist, the sociologist systematically gathers, processes and analyzes information with the objective to provide insights into what is going on in a situation, present alternatives and often assist policy-makers in making informed decisions and formulating policies. Sociology however, and the sociological imagination is not the prerogative solely of specialists. Sociology, further than being a discipline, a field in social sciences, it constitutes a mode of thinking. Thinking sociologically is also directly related to acting socially. An important objective of this course is to learn how to think alongside others, connect our condition to those of others and understand the importance of not only thinking but also acting collectively. The course, in addition to the theoretical texts assigned for reading and analysis, incorporates journalistic accounts of social issues, autobiographies, memoirs, oral histories and materials like photographs and film, in order to encourage students to experiment with original sociological research. Learning, also, to apply sociological language and concepts to events and situations we encounter daily, like ‘sociological location’ (identities like race, gender and class) and ‘social institutions’ (organized entities that structure society, like education and religion) is of key importance. By the end of the course, students should be well on their way to developing their own ‘sociological imagination.’

This work­shop fo­cuses on help­ing new stu­dents tran­si­tion to col­lege life, and specif­i­cally to City Tech. The work­shop will en­hance the New Stu­dent Con­nec­tion with ad­di­tional in­for­ma­tion, ac­tiv­i­ties, and var­i­ous op­por­tu­ni­ties to con­nect with fac­ulty, staff, and cur­rent City Tech stu­dents. In ad­di­tion to learn­ing how to ac­cess a va­ri­ety of col­lege ser­vices and re­sources, stu­dents will de­velop per­son­al­ized plans for their col­lege ca­reer.

This workshop focuses on helping new students transition to college life, and specifically to City Tech. The workshop will enhance the New Student Connection with additional information, activities, and various opportunities to connect with faculty, staff, and current City Tech students. In addition to learning how to access a variety of college services and resources, students will develop personalized plans for their college career.