Syllabus

Course Information

Course Description:

General Information

Teacher: Dr. Thomas Artiss

Office Hours: I generally do not keep regular office hours. However, I am typically in the core at my desk if I am not teaching. See my schedule for my frees. You may also email me with questions and I usually get back to you within hours, even on weekends and evenings (with some exceptions). It is also advisable that you email me to set up an appointment if you want to talk mono-et-mono.

E-mail: thomas.artiss@lakesideschool.org

Topics

This course will be a lab-based, hands-on course. Students will learn modern forensic methodologies and will invoke the application of scientific methods to solve legal problems. This course will focus on collection and analysis of crime scene evidence (such as serology, toxicology, entomology, odontology and trace evidence), and explore lab analysis techniques, (such as chromatography, DNA analysis, fingerprinting, and hair and footprint analysis). Forensic scientists are also required to testify in court about their methodologies and analysis of evidence. As such, you will be required to clearly and concisely explain the results of labs and techniques you use, and explain the significance of your results in lab reports. Finally, mock crime scenes will be investigated and real case studies analyzed.

Interdisciplinary relationships

Forensics is a diverse field, and rarely are forensic scientists “generalists” – people who specialize in all aspects of forensic science. Forget what you see on CSI (insert city here). Forensic scientists don’t wear pumps to a crime scene, they rarely interview suspects or make arrests, and they are not experts in all areas of forensic investigations. Rather, forensic experts usually specialize in one or two branches of forensic investigation. A botanist may be an expert in forensic botany. An entomologist, forensic entomology. Chemists may specialize in forensic toxicology or arson and bomb analysis. People with expertise in physics may focus on firearms and ballistics or blood spatter analysis. It would be impossible to survey all areas of forensic science in a semester long high school course. Rather, we will explore a range of fields, topics and methodologies to give you a sense of the diverse fields of study in forensics. Nevertheless, forensic science is an applied scientific discipline, and your success in this course will require you to apply your basic understanding of physics, chemistry, biology and even math to explore the range of topics surveyed.

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Text (Required):

Forensic Science, 1st Edition. Jackson, A.W. and Jackson, J.M. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 2004.

Additional Texts of Interest:

Hidden Evidence: Forty true crimes and how forensic science helped solve them. Owen, David (2000). Firefly Books, Ltd. (Amazon Link)

The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World’s Most Baffling Crimes. Evans, Colin (1996). John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (Amazon Link)

The Official Forensic Siles Casebook. Dowling, Paul. (2004). ibooks, inc. (Amazon Link)

Murder 2: The Second Casebook of Forensic Detection. Evans, Colin. (2004). John Wiley and Son, Inc. (Amazon Link)

The Forensic Casebook. Genge, N.E. (2002). Ballantine Publishing Group. (Amazon Link)

Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab Where the Dead Do Tell Tales. Bass, Bill and Jefferson, Jon (2003). G.P Putnam’s Sons. (Amazon Link)

A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes. Goof, M. Lee (2000). Harvard university Press. (Amazon Link)

A Question of Evidence: The Casebook of Great Forensic Controversies, from Napoleon to O.J. Evans, Colin. (2003). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Amazon Link)

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Course Policies

Class Policies and Procedures:

Laboratory Notebook:

You will need a laboratory notebook for labs. It is not advisable to take notes on loose paper in an ad hoc fashion. You will be responsible for material covered in labs on tests and quizzes, so having all of your lab notes in one place is essential. Moreover, lab write ups will require you to use data collected in lab, so a well organized, detailed and throrough lab will be essential for completing lab reports.

Course Notebook:

You will also need a course notebook (3-ring binder) for class assignments, reading notes, and other class-related materials. Each student will need to collect articles related to forensic science and keep them in this notebook. They can be actual articles cut out of newspapers or magazines, or copies of articles. Articles from the internet are also acceptable Articles smaller than one page should be taped to a piece of notebook paper. The name of the newspaper or magazine, or the website URL and the date it was published should accompany the article.

Attendance:

Attendance is, if course, mandatory. If you know ahead of time that you will be missing a class, find Artiss and let him know. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to make up what you missed. Some labs can not be made up since materials may be consumed and unavailable. In this case you will need to get the data from your lab partner. I can not stress enough how important it is for you to find me if you miss a class, lab or test. You are all upperclassmen, and the expectation is that you know that this is your responsibility. I will not track you down! If you miss tests, labs or assignments that you do not make up, you will earn a zero on the test or assignment.

Assignment Policies:

The onus is on you to make up missed tests and assignments. At this point in your high school career, you should be taking responsibility to get notes you miss, get lab data, find out what homework you need to do and to find and make arrangements with your teacher to make up tests and assignments. We can not stress this enough!
If you are absent on the due date for an assignment, you are expected to turn the assignment in on the day that you return.
Late assignments will be accepted, but at a 10% per day penalty. Note, extra credit assignments will not be offered.
Full participation during collection of data in labs is a requirement. You will work together with partners in most labs, and collaboration at this time is encouraged. In some cases, we may be pooling data. However, lab write-ups are to be done individually unless otherwise noted.

Copying other labs or assignments, or turning in labs/assignments that do not represent your own individual efforts will be considered plagiarism. Formal lab write-ups will require you to research and cite the scientific literature. Although the citation format differs from citation styles in the humanities, the concept is the same – you must give credit for information or ideas that are not your own. To further clarify this point, you can use direct quotations when appropriate (citing the reference), or cite scientific research using scientific journal style format (more on this later). Any information that is taken from a source without proper referencing is implying that you are the author of the information, and is plagiarism. Consequences of plagiarism range from receiving a ‘0’ on the assignment, to actions taken by the administration and judicial committee. If you are ever in doubt about what constitutes academic honesty or dishonesty, please ask!

Evaluation

There is no final exam in this course. However, there are regular quizzes (sometimes pre-lab quizzes), tests and lab reports. Additional homework questions may be assigned over the course of the semester. There is a final research project that is due at the end of the semester (format below). The approximate breakdown of the grading scheme is:

Tests & quizzes: 35%
Lab reports: 35%
Final Project: 25%
Homework questions: 5%

Format for Final Research Project

Suggested length: 6-10 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, 1” margins

You will write a research paper that focuses on one of the branches of forensic science, and illustrate its use with case studies. It may be a field of forensic science we have covered this year, or another field that is of interest to you. You should explain what the field of study involves, whether there are branches or sub disciplines of it and how it is useful in forensic investigations. You should also illustrate its use by summarizing at least 2 case studies. These can be either studies in which the field of forensics was used in a conviction, or to overturn a conviction or vindicate a suspect or how it has been used to solve an historical controversy or mystery or how it has been used to expose fraud. For example, if you chose to explore questioned documents, you could explain what this field of forensics involves, its history and recent advances in the field of questioned documents. You could further explore the sub disciplines such as handwriting analysis, written impressions, typewriting and printing, and inks and papers. You could summarize case studies like the ransom note from the Lindbergh baby kidnapping or the forged Hitler diaries. To complete this assignment, follow these guidelines:

Solid information and research. Use at least 2 books, 2 Web sites, and 2 magazine or newspaper articles (use ProQuest in the library) for your research. These sources should be reflected in the footnotes and bibliography and the information of your paper.

At least 2 case studies. In addition to discussing the principles of the general forensic branch you will focus on (such as ballistics, entomology, or anthropology), you should discuss one or more cases and talk about how that branch helped solve the case(s). You should go into more detail than is provided in our textbooks, or even choose a case not covered in the texts. Feel free to include diagrams, charts, and pictures (though not in order to pad your paper – pictures and charts do not contribute to the suggested length of 6-10 pages).

Good research skills. Use proper footnote and bibliography form. Plagiarism will result in serious penalties, and all cases of plagiarism are brought to the Judicial Committee, intentional or otherwise. If you are in doubt about what constitutes plagiarism, ask!

Good writing skills. You know: complete sentences and paragraphs, examples to support your statements, good grammar and mechanics, proofreading.

You might consider turning in one or more early drafts of your paper for our suggestions before the due date. I will accept and review as many drafts of this paper as you like up to 3 days before the due date.