Eight weeks. Online. Built to make it possible.
This is your course home for BIO 304 Human Anatomy and Physiology. The pace is real and the design is built to scaffold the effort. Four pre-work days a week (reading, fill-in-the-blank notes, video, then flashcards), one lab-and-discussion Wednesday, and a quiz that opens Friday and closes Sunday. Start with the syllabus, then take it one week at a time.
Course
BIO 304: Human A&P
Institution
American River College
Format
Fully online, asynchronous
Term
Summer 2026, 8 weeks
First day
Monday, June 8, 2026
Last day
Sunday, August 2, 2026
Instructor
Dr. Sharilyn Rennie
Textbook
OpenStax A&P 2e (free)
Three habits that make this work for you.
Block both buckets on your calendar
A 4-credit course in 8 weeks means roughly 22 to 24 hours per week, split into 8 to 10 scheduled hours and 12 to 15 outside-of-class hours. Block both buckets like work shifts before week one. Spacing is the move.
Print the workbook before you sit down
Each day's lab workbook is meant to be printed and labeled by hand. Print first. Then sit down. Breaking flow to find a printer is where good study sessions die.
Email me before a deadline, not after
Late work earns zero points. Solutions exist before a deadline. They do not exist after. If life is hitting hard, message me early and we figure it out together.
Same rhythm, every week.
Four pre-work days, one Wednesday lab-and-discussion day, one Friday-to-Sunday quiz window. Spaced recall practice runs in the background every day.
The cardiovascular and renal weeks have more moving parts than the others. Schedule them with extra runway.
The whole course, week by week.
Each card carries the week's topics and quick jumps to the pre-work hub, the discussion thread, and the lab workbooks. Click into the syllabus for the day-by-day flow grid.
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01Week 1 · Jun 8 to Jun 14
Foundations, Cell, Membrane Transport
Levels of organization, anatomical terminology, body regions, homeostasis and feedback, cell structure and organelles, membrane transport.
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02Week 2 · Jun 15 to Jun 21
Tissues & Integument
Epithelial tissue classification, connective tissues, muscle and nervous tissue overview, skin structure and layers, skin functions and accessory structures.
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03Week 3 · Jun 22 to Jun 28
Skeletal System
Bone tissue and bone growth, the axial skeleton, the appendicular skeleton, joints and body movements.
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04Week 4 · Jun 29 to Jul 5
Muscle & Nervous System Intro
Skeletal muscle microanatomy, motor units and muscle mechanics, sliding filament and the cross-bridge cycle, neurons and resting membrane potential, action potentials and synaptic transmission.
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05Week 5 · Jul 6 to Jul 12
Nervous System, Senses, Endocrine
CNS organization, PNS and autonomic, vision, hearing and equilibrium, hormone mechanisms, major endocrine glands.
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06Week 6 · Jul 13 to Jul 19
Blood & Cardiovascular
Blood composition and hemopoiesis, hemostasis and blood typing, heart anatomy and the cardiac cycle, cardiac conduction, blood vessels and hemodynamics.
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07Week 7 · Jul 20 to Jul 26
Immune, Respiratory, Digestive
Lymphatic system and innate immunity, adaptive immunity, respiratory anatomy and mechanics, gas exchange and transport, GI anatomy and motility, digestion and absorption.
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08Week 8 · Jul 27 to Aug 2
Renal, Fluid Balance, Reproductive
Kidney anatomy and glomerular filtration, tubular function, fluid electrolyte and acid-base balance, male and female reproductive systems, basics of pregnancy A&P.
Four components, four kinds of learning.
Pre-work engagement, lab workbooks, weekly discussions, and weekly quizzes. Full detail with examples is in the syllabus.
| Component | What it measures | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-work engagement | Daily video viewing plus spaced recall practice, logged automatically in the pre-work hub. | 40% |
| Lab workbooks | Hand-labeled anatomy diagrams and short-answer synthesis, one workbook per pre-work day, submitted as a scanned PDF. | 30% |
| Weekly discussions | One initial post (Friday) plus two substantive replies (Sunday). Evidence-based, your own words. | 10% |
| Weekly quizzes | 20 questions, 20 minutes, Honorlock proctored, one attempt. Opens Friday, closes Sunday at 11:59 PM. | 20% |
90 to 100 = A · 80 to 89 = B · 70 to 79 = C · 60 to 69 = D · below 60 = F · No curves, no extra credit.
Three deadlines, every week.
Mark them on your calendar before week one. Late work earns zero points. DSPS letters in week one set up testing-time adjustments before your first deadline.
Friday 11:59 PM
Initial discussion post
Sunday 11:59 PM
Weekly quiz closes
Sunday 11:59 PM
All lab workbooks + discussion replies
In an 8-week course, falling one week behind is roughly equivalent to two weeks behind in a regular semester. The policy exists to protect your pace, not to punish you.
Where you actually do the work.
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Daily · one hub per week
Weekly pre-work hubs
Eight hubs, one per week. Each hub has the four pre-work days with topic links, the Wednesday catch-up note, and the weekend quiz window. The 40% engagement grade lives here. Pick the week from the cards below.
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Weekly
Discussions
All eight weekly discussion prompts in one place. Post Friday, reply Sunday.
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Reference
Textbook (OpenStax 2e)
Free, online or PDF. No purchase, no access code.
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Reference
Reading map
Which textbook section supports each topic, by day.
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Setup
Tech setup & Honorlock
Browser, webcam, microphone, quiet space. Do this before your first quiz.
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Setup
Submission directions
How and where to turn things in. Filename convention is here.
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Support
How to reach me
Forum, email, or Zoom. Three channels, three purposes.
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Read first
AI policy
What AI use is allowed, what isn't, and how detection works. Read this before the contract.
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Week 1
AI Honor Contract
Required, due Tuesday June 9. Sign and upload via Canvas.
A decade of teaching A&P, in your corner.
I'm Dr. Sharilyn Rennie. I've taught A&P and the medical sciences for over a decade across California community colleges. Before teaching I spent years in clinical medicine, and that background shapes how I teach: every structure and every mechanism connects to something real that happens in a body, especially the bodies you will care for in nursing, EMT, paramedic, dental hygiene, respiratory, surgical tech, and mortuary work.
A&P is a language. My job this summer is to help you become fluent in it, eight weeks at a time, with a clear path and steady support. Come curious, come prepared, and ask questions often.
"Every structure has a story. We'll learn them together."
What students usually want to know first.
What do I do in week one?
Read the syllabus from start to finish. Sign the AI Honor Contract by Tuesday June 9. Open the Week 1 card, do Monday's pre-work, print Monday's lab workbook. If you have DSPS accommodations, send me your letter so I can set up your testing adjustments before Friday's quiz opens.
How does the weekly rhythm work?
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday are pre-work days. Each pre-work day is reading, fill-in-the-blank notes, a video, then flashcards, paired with that day's lab workbook. Wednesday has no new pre-work, it is for catching up and the discussion thread. The quiz opens Friday and closes Sunday at 11:59 PM. Initial discussion post is due Friday at 11:59 PM, replies and all lab workbooks are due Sunday at 11:59 PM.
How much time will this take per week?
Per federal Carnegie standards for a 4-credit, 8-week online course, plan for about 22 to 24 hours per week, total. About 8 to 10 hours of scheduled instruction-equivalent (videos, lab workbooks, the Wednesday block) and about 12 to 15 hours of outside study (reading, spaced recall, discussion writing, quiz prep). Block both buckets on your calendar before week one.
How are exams structured?
Weekly quizzes only. 20 questions, 20 minutes, Honorlock proctored, one attempt per week. They open Friday and close Sunday at 11:59 PM. There is no separate midterm or final beyond these.
What materials do I need to buy?
Nothing. The textbook is OpenStax A&P 2e, which is free. You need a current browser, a printer or access to one, pen, pencil, and a ruler. For Honorlock you need a webcam, microphone, and a quiet space.
How do discussions work?
One discussion per week. The prompt opens Wednesday. Initial post due Friday 11:59 PM. Two substantive replies due Sunday 11:59 PM. Evidence-based and in your own words. AI-generated discussion posts are an integrity violation.
What is the AI policy?
AI is allowed as a study tool. It is not allowed to write your work. You can use it to clarify concepts, quiz yourself, organize your thinking, or check your reasoning after you have done your own work. You cannot use it to generate workbook drawings, discussion posts, synthesis answers, or quiz answers. Sign the AI Honor Contract in week one.
What if I'm going to miss a deadline?
Email me before the deadline. Solutions exist before. They do not exist after. Late work earns zero points. The policy is about protecting your pace, not punishing you. DSPS accommodations go through me in week one so I can set them up before your first deadline.
Where do I get help when I'm stuck?
The Virtual Office Hours forum is the first stop for course content questions. Email or Canvas Inbox for anything confidential. One-on-one Zoom for live walkthroughs by appointment. Full contact map is on the "how to reach me" page.
Ready to begin? Open the syllabus.
The syllabus has the day-by-day flow grid, the full grading detail, every policy, and the resource index. Read it, open Week 1, and we begin June 8.
Open the syllabusLooking forward to a great summer with you. — Dr. Sharilyn Rennie