Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry and Biology
CBLG850: What is Cancer?
W2025, 4J0
Thursdays 6:00 – 9:00 pm, Virtual
Instructor Information
● Instructor Name: Ana Vakiloroayaei
● Office hours: virtual, by appointment
● Course Website: my.torontomu.ca (D2L)
● Email Address: [email protected]
Email Policy
University policy requires all students to activate and maintain a Toronto Metropolitan
University Online Identity and TMU e-mail account. Notifications sent to such accounts
are deemed to be “an official means of communication” which means, in many cases,
that they will be the only way in which important information is relayed. It is your
responsibility to monitor your @torontomu.ca email account regularly and to act on any
information sent there as required. All correspondence between students and
Professors must originate – and be returned to – a valid TMU
([email protected]) e-mail address.
Course Description
Cancer is the most prevalent disease in contemporary world. The basic biology of
cancer as well as relevant clinical and therapeutic aspects of the disease will be
covered. This knowledge will be then integrated with current public health issues in
cancer prevention and treatment. Students will learn how to critically evaluate cancer
claims in the news and explore common myths about cancer. Students will also have an
opportunity to effectively communicate information about cancer to general public
through current forms of media. This course is designed for non-science majors and as
such does not require any university level science courses as prerequisites.
Weekly Contact: Lecture 3 hrs.
GPA Weight:1.00
Liberal Studies:UL
Antirequisites:BMS 850
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Course Details
Course Learning Outcomes
• Understand fundamentals of cancer biology and disease.
• Describe how advances in cancer research led to new cancer treatments.
• Recognize challenges in cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment.
• Recognize reliable sources to use when researching cancer topics.
• Understand and critically evaluate cancer claims in the news and social media
with the knowledge of scientific evidence.
• Learn how to effectively communicate cancer topics with the general public using
scientific evidence
Teaching Methods
Virtual Classroom – Recorded (asynchronous) lectures and weekly virtual meetings
(synchronous) for questions via Zoom.
Starting Jan.16th, the Thursday of each week (exception; reading week) a recorded
(asynchronous) lecture will be posted on D2L per lecture module. Students are to use the
first 90 minutes – 150 minutes (depending on the module/lecture content) to listen/take
notes of the recorded lecture.
Following the recorded lecture, there will be one activity to complete for the remainder of
the session. Activities will include researching an assigned topic and posting on the D2L
discussion board.
Instructor will be available on Zoom for any inquiries during the weekly 6:00pm-9:00pm
lecture session.
Students will need to login and authenticate using their TMU credentials to join the
meeting room. Doing so requires a TMU Zoom account. Click on "Sign In" on
the torontomu.zoom.us portal to create a TMU Zoom account, and then sign in to the
Zoom desktop or mobile application using the Single Sign On (SSO) option. Once this step
is complete, please use the Zoom link provided in D2L.
All lectures, course material, quizzes, assignments will require access to D2L. Please use
the following link for resources for using D2L Brightspace.
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Course Materials
Programs that will be necessary for the course include word processing (e.g. Microsoft
Word, Google Docs, etc.) and presentation (e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides,
etc.) that are available via the Microsoft Office 365 Portal
https://www.torontomu.ca/ccs/services/software/microsoft/ using my.torotomu credentials.
Students will also need to login and authenticate using their TMU credentials to join Zoom
meeting room and routinely check D2L for course material, announcements and
assessment completion.
Reading and Video Lists: All required readings will be posted prior to lectures in D2L.
Topics and Course Schedule
Week Date Topic
Week 1 Jan 16 Introduction to the course/Cancer statistics
Jan 23 Characteristics of Eukaryotic cells and common types of
Week 2
mutations
Jan 30 What is Cancer?
Week 3
Hallmarks of Cancer part 1
Week 4 Feb 6 Hallmarks of Cancer part 2
Week 5 Feb 13 Types of Cancer/How cancer spreads
Reading Week Feb. 15 - 21 2025
Week 6 Feb 27 Risks of Cancer
Week 7 Mar 6 Cancer diagnosis and screening
Week 8 Mar 13 Traditional Cancer treatments
Week 9 Mar 20 Emerging Cancer treatments
Week 10 Mar 27 Future of Cancer
Week 11 Apr 3 Living with Cancer
Week 12 Apr 10 Cancer Awareness and Campaigns
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Evaluation:
Open Book Quizzes (5; 6% each) 30%
Assignment 1: Cancer Video 30%
Assignment 2: Cancer Essay 30%
Participation Activities (10/12; 1% each) 10%
Quiz # Posted Due date Content coverage
(9:00 am) (11:59 pm)
1 Jan.28th Jan.29th Week 1 - 2 module
2 Feb.11th Feb.12th Week 3 - 4 module
3 Mar. 4th Mar. 5th Week 5 - 6 module
4 Mar. 18th Mar. 19th Week 7 - 8 module
5 Apr. 8th Apr. 9th Week 9 - 12 module
Open Book Quizzes
Throughout the duration of the course, there will be five online quizzes (D2L), each aligning
with a two-week module of the material (exception is for Quiz 5 which will include 3 modules).
The quizzes follow an asynchronous format, allowing flexibility in completion. Ranging
between 20-40 questions (depending on content coverage for the respective modules), these
assessments incorporate a mix of formats, including multiple-choice, mix and match,
short/long answer, True/False, etc. You will be given 30-45 minutes to respond to the quiz
questions (depending on # of questions per quiz). The posting and due dates for each quiz
are outlined above. D2L announcement will be made prior to the posting date of the quiz,
indicating specific number of questions/duration for the quiz. Each quiz will have one-attempt,
and one question is presented at a time. The expected return of grades is approximately 7-12
working days after due date.
Participation Activities
A total of 12 weekly online discussions (topic of activities posted at the end of each recorded
lecture module) will be available on D2L. You have the flexibility to select any 10 out of these
12 discussion posts to participate in during the course. The activity (D2L discussion post
requirements) is to be completed prior to the start of the next session (eg. Discussion post
made on Jan.16th 6:00pm is due by Jan.23rd 6:00pm). It's important to note that the last
discussion post must be completed by no later than the last day of the semester (April 17
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6:00pm). This allows you the freedom to engage in the discussion that interest you the most
while ensuring timely completion of the required posts by the end of the course.
Assignments
The instructions for Assignment 1 will be made available along with the Week 3 material, and
Assignment 2 instructions will be provided alongside the Week 6 material. This sequential
release allows you to access and focus on one assignment at a time. Be sure to check for
these instructions during the specified weeks on D2L to stay on track with your assignments.
Assignment 1 due: Feb. 27, 2025 11:59PM
Assignment 2 due: Mar. 27, 2025 11:59PM
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is integral to your learning, the credibility of your degree or certification,
and the integrity of the university as a whole. Senate Policy 60: Academic Integrity defines
academic misconduct, provides a non-exhaustive list of examples of behaviours that may be
considered as academic misconduct, and explains how academic misconduct concerns are
evaluated and decided. The entirety of the policy applies in this course. As well, please note
that submitting work created in whole or in part by artificial intelligence tools unless expressly
permitted by the Faculty/Contract Lecturer, is considered a violation of Policy 60.
Generative Artificial Intelligence:
The use of Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Quillbot, Grammarly, Google Translate) is
prohibited and will be considered a breach of Policy 60: Academic Integrity.
Copyright:
The course materials provided to you are copyrighted, and may not be shared without my
express written permission. Do not share these materials (e.g. course outline, lecture slides,
assignment instructions) with others and do not post them on the internet during the course,
or at any time after. If you do so, Policy 60 will apply.
Turnitin or another originality detection software:
Turnitin may be used to evaluate the originality of your work. Turnitin is a similarity detection
service to which TMU subscribes. It is a tool to assist instructors in determining the textual
similarity between a student’s work and the work of other students who have submitted
papers to the site (at any university), internet sources, and a wide range of journals and other
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publications. No decisions are made by the service; it generates an “originality report,” which
instructors must evaluate. Students who do not want their work submitted to this plagiarism
detection service must, by the end of the second week of class, consult with the instructor to
make alternate arrangements. Students who choose not to have their papers screened for
textual similarity review by turnitin may be required to submit additional work with their
research essay. For example:
• an annotated bibliography of each source used in your paper; and/or
• the first few pages of each cited source used in your paper
Even when an instructor has not indicated that a plagiarism detection service will be used, or
when a student has opted out of the plagiarism detection service, if the instructor has reason
to suspect that an individual piece of work has been plagiarized, the instructor is permitted to
submit that work in a non-identifying way to any plagiarism detection service.
Academic Integrity Resources: To learn more about Policy 60 and how to avoid academic
misconduct, please review and take advantage of these resources:
• Policy 60: Academic Integrity: www.torontomu.ca/senate/policies/academic-
integrity-policy-60/
• Academic Integrity Office website: www.torontomu.ca/academicintegrity
• “Academic Integrity in Space” game: https://games.de.torontomu.ca/aio/#/
• “Academic Integrity in Cyberspace!” game: https://www.torontomu.ca/aic/#/
• Student Life and Learning Support: www.torontomu.ca/student-life-and-
learning/learning-support
Virtual Proctoring Information
Online exam(s) within this course use a virtual proctoring system. Please note that your
completion of the exam will be recorded via the virtual platform and subsequently reviewed
by your instructor. The virtual proctoring system provides recording of flags where possible
indications of suspicious behaviour are identified only. Recordings will be held for a limited
period of time in order to ensure academic integrity is maintained.
TMU supports Respondus Lockdown Browser with Monitor. Access to a computer that can
support remote recording is your responsibility as a student. The computer should have the
latest operating system, at a minimum Windows (11 and 10 or Mac (OS X 10.15 to 14.0+)
and web browser Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. You will need to ensure that you can
complete the exam using a reliable computer with a webcam and microphone available, as
well as a high-speed internet connection. Please note that you will be required to show your
TMU OneCard prior to beginning to write the exam. Should a student not have a OneCard,
government issued ID can be displayed to the camera, showing only the picture and name
(all other information can be covered by the student). A virtual proctoring web page that
addresses privacy concerns and includes a FAQ is available for students.
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Information will be provided prior to the exam date by your instructor who may provide an
opportunity to test your set-up or provide additional information about online proctoring. Since
videos of you and your environment will be recorded while writing the exam, please consider
preparing the background (room/walls) so that personal details are not visible, or move to a
room that you are comfortable showing on camera.
Submissions, late penalties, and accommodations:
To submit assignments, adhere to the instructions outlined on the assignment sheet. Late
submissions will incur a penalty of 5% per day, including weekends, from the specified due
date and time. It's essential to submit assignments on time to avoid deductions. Please note
that assignments more than 5 days late will not be accepted. Make sure to review and follow
the guidelines to ensure timely and successful submission of your assignments. If you require
extensions for your assignments, it's essential to follow the appropriate procedures.
Extensions can be granted either through registered accommodations or by submitting an
Academic Consideration Request through TMU. It's important to initiate communication with
me before the assignments are due, allowing us to discuss your situation and make
necessary accommodations accordingly. This proactive approach ensures a smoother
process and helps address any challenges you may encounter in meeting assignment
deadlines.
The Department of Chemistry and Biology is committed to supporting students who are
unable to complete course assessments due to Extenuating Circumstances, as described in
TMU Senate Policy 167. If you miss assessments for a course due to Extenuating
Circumstances, you must do two things in order to request academic consideration (also
described in an infographic here). Please note that Academic Consideration is distinct from
students with Academic Accommodations (governed under TMU Senate Policy 159).
1) Submit an Academic Consideration Request (ACR) through the senate web portal
within 3 working days of your missed assessment. If you have completed the
paperwork for this according to Senate Policy, you should expect to see that the
status of this submission will be "Verified" within a few days. Note that "Verified"
status here does not mean that you have been granted academic consideration, and
that "not verified" does not mean that your request for academic consideration
has not been granted.
2) Communicate with your course instructor* as provided in the course D2L Shell to
provide information to your instructor about your missed assessment. This is an
important step that provides your instructor with the information that allows them to
assess whether granting academic consideration is appropriate.
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(* for some courses, emailing your instructor is preferred, while others may require a Google
form or other form of communication related to academic consideration requests)
After students’ complete steps 1 and 2, your instructor will determine if granting academic
consideration is appropriate and can be granted. You can expect to hear from your
instructor within 5 working days.
Note that both step 1 and 2 are essential and both must be completed in order to
request academic consideration for a missed assessment (e.g. a midterm exam or a lab
report submission). Also note that even though students have the option to submit one ACR
in step (1) above per term without documentation, it is still up to the instructor about whether
or not to grant academic consideration for a missed assessment.
If your submission from step 1 results in your ACR being deemed “not verified”, the
onus is on the student to contact the instructor to provide any additional information (without
needing to disclose private or confidential information) that would allow the instructor to
assess whether granting this request for academic consideration is appropriate.
Students submitting more than two (2) ACRs per term (total, in all their classes, not just
in one course) will be asked to meet with their program advisor (Program Director), as per
Senate policy 167(Procedures, 3.12), to discuss whether sufficient supports are in place to
meet their academic needs. Note that processing of academic consideration requests in this
circumstance may require students to provide additional information and/or documentation.
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University Policies
Students must be reminded that they are required to adhere to all relevant university
policies found in their online course shell in D2L and/or on the Senate website.
Important Resources Available at Toronto Metropolitan University
● The University Libraries provide research workshops and individual consultation
appointments. There is a drop-in Research Help desk on the second floor of the
library, and students can use the Library's virtual research help service to speak
with a librarian, or book an appointment to meet in person or online.
● Student Life and Learning Support offers group-based and individual help with
writing, math, study skills, and transition support, as well as resources and
checklists to support students as online learners.
● You can submit an Academic Consideration Request when an extenuating
circumstance has occurred that has significantly impacted your ability to fulfill an
academic requirement. You may always visit the Senate website and select the
blue radio button on the top right hand side entitled: Academic Consideration
Request (ACR) to submit this request.
For Extenuating Circumstances, Policy 167: Academic Consideration allows for a
once per semester ACR request without supporting documentation if the
absence is less than 3 days in duration and is not for a final exam/final
assessment. Absences more than 3 days in duration and those that involve a
final exam/final assessment, always require documentation. Students must notify
their instructor once a request for academic consideration is submitted. See
Senate Policy 167: Academic Consideration.
● If taking a remote course, familiarize yourself with the tools you will need to use
for remote learning. The Remote Learning Guide for students includes guides to
completing quizzes or exams in D2L Brightspace, with or without Respondus
LockDown Browser and Monitor, using D2L Brightspace, joining online meetings
or lectures, and collaborating with the Google Suite.
● Information on Copyright for Faculty and students.
● Information on Academic Integrity for Faculty and students.
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Accessibility
Toronto Metropolitan University is committed to providing accessible learning and
employment spaces for students, employees and members of our community. We are
committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
(AODA), and aim to ensure that dignity, integration and equality of opportunity are
embedded in all aspects of the University culture.
Please contact the instructor by email or in person during office hours to discuss any
accessibility barriers with any course materials or technologies.
Academic Accommodation Support
Academic Accommodation Support (AAS) is the university's disability services office.
AAS works directly with incoming and returning students looking for help with their
academic accommodations. AAS works with any student who requires academic
accommodation regardless of program or course load.
● Learn more about Academic Accommodation Support.
● Learn how to register with AAS.
● Learn about Policy 159: Academic Accommodation of Students with Disabilities
Academic Accommodations (for students with disabilities) and Academic Consideration
(for students faced with extenuating circumstances that can include short-term health
issues) are governed by two different university policies. Learn more about Academic
Accommodations versus Academic Consideration and how to access each.
Wellbeing Support
At Toronto Metropolitan University, we recognize that things can come up throughout
the term that may interfere with a student’s ability to succeed in their coursework. These
circumstances are outside of one’s control and can have a serious impact on physical
and mental well-being. Seeking help can be a challenge, especially in those times of
crisis.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call 911 and go to the nearest
hospital emergency room. You can also access these outside resources at anytime:
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● Distress Line: 24/7 line for if you are in crisis, feeling suicidal or in need of
emotional support (phone: 416–408–4357)
● Good2Talk: 24/7-hour line for postsecondary students (phone: 1-866-925-5454)
● Keep.meSAFE: 24/7 access to confidential support through counsellors via My
SSP app or 1-844-451-9700
If non-crisis support is needed, you can access these campus resources:
● Centre for Student Development and Counselling: 416-979-5195 or email
[email protected] ● Consent Comes First – Office of Sexual Violence Support and Education:
416-919-5000 ext 3596 or email
[email protected] ● Medical Centre: call (416) 979-5070 to book an appointment
We encourage all Toronto Metropolitan University community members to access
available resources to ensure support is reachable. You can find more resources
available through the Toronto Metropolitan University Mental Health and Wellbeing
website.
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