BI 410 Biology Senior Seminar

BI 410A – Biology Senior Seminar

Spring 2010

JEM 376

Instructor: DELETED FOR BLINDED MS, Cheray Science 302A, 654-2633, EMAIL DELETED FOR BLINDED MS.

Prerequisites:Senior Biology major or permission of instructor.

Course Objectives:

To integrate your understanding of biology with your study of the liberal arts by examining the history of biology and the impact of biology on human society. We will accomplish this through assigned readings, writings, presentations and class discussions.
To use your knowledge of biology to develop ideas for enterprise that could positively shape the future of the world. You will generate start-up proposals for businesses that contribute to solvingenvironmental problems. Students will collaborate with Business Seniorsin Dr. DELETED FOR BLINDED MS’s section of Business Senior Seminar to develop business plans for the Enterprise Competition ( and for presentation at the College Student Research Symposium on April 30.

Texts:

Kingsland, S.E. 2005. The Evolution of American Ecology, 1890 – 2000. The JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press, Baltimore, MD. 313 pages.

Moore, J.A. 1993. Science as a Way of Knowing. HarvardUniversity Press, Cambridge, MA. 530 pages.

Pechenik, J.A. 2007. A Short Guide to Writing About Biology, any edition. Pearson Longman. New York, NY. 310 pages.

Steffen, A. 2008. Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

596 pages.

Web Site: Steve Burks (SMC reference librarian) has set up a web site for the course that you may find helpful:

Grading:

Participation – includes attendance, class20%

preparation & participation, contribution to project group

Written reflections on class (JOURNAL)20 %

Seminar presentation on topic related to history of biology25 %

Semester project – including:35%

Group presentations to Business students (5%)

Individual paper (15%)

Group project: business plan and poster (15%)

NOTE:The journal, seminar presentation, and semester project components must all be completed in order for it to be possible to pass the course.

Participation: Attendance is required in order to participate, and therefore is expected at all class meetings unless excused. If you miss class, you must still submit any required assignment for that day. The success of seminar courses depends upon the contributions of all members of the class - therefore participation in class discussion is expected. At the beginning of every class meeting for which there is a scheduled seminar presentation on the history of biology (unless it isyour own presentation) you must turn in a 3 x 5” notecard with a comment on some aspect of the assigned reading that you found particularly interesting or a question to ask the class that could spark discussion.

Journal: Each student will be required to write a reflection based upon each seminar presentation given by other students in the class on topics related to the history of biology. These reflections should not be a transcript of the presentation given but rather your thoughts on the topics discussed. In addition to reflections for each student presentation on the history of biology, you should take notes on the business and biology presentationsthat students give. The journal is also a good place for you to record ideas you gain from the presentations and from reading Worldchanging. Such ideas may be starting points for a business plan. The journals will be collected before February Break and Spring Break and again at the end of the semester.

Seminar Presentation:Each member of the class must prepare a 40-45 minute oral presentation that focuses on a topic related to the assigned reading for that date. All students will have read the chapter before class, therefore the presenter should not just summarize or review the material in the text. Instead, the presentation should use some aspect of the reading as a “jumping off point”, and then go into greater depth to support a particular thesis.

The presentation should be based mainly on primary sources – such as published journal articles, original historical documents, or original research in the form of evidence-based historical narratives. You should not depend heavily on secondary sources such as review articles; you should read the original information and make your own interpretations.The topic must be discussed with your Professorat least two weeks prior to your presentation date, before you get far into the research and preparation. Each presenter is to provide the class with a typed Abstract of the presentation one class period before the presentation.

The presentation should include (1) a clear thesis statement; (2) description and analysis of material that supports the thesis (the material should be mostly from primary sources); (3)conclusions that follow from the material presented regarding the thesis. The presentation will be followed by a discussion and you should end your talk with some ideas or questions to initiate discussion.

The presentation should be presented using Powerpoint, and include a list of all sources on the final slide(s). Please post the presentation in “Doc sharing” oneCollege prior to your presentation time. It is the student’s responsibility to be sure that the presentation will run on a college-owned computer, such as the one in the classroom. The presentation should be 40-45 minutes in length. Grades for presentations shorter than this will be adjusted downward by the appropriate fraction. For example, the grade for a 30-minute presentation will be multiplied by 0.75 (30/40) to account for the partial fulfillment of the assignment. Presentations longer than 45 minutes may also receive a lower grade for inadequate preparation and planning. Therefore, practice is important.

Semester Project:

Group work and poster:

In addition to contemplating the past during our study of the history of biology, we will deal with the application of biological and other scientific knowledge to shaping the future. You will work with the students in BU 461: Business Policy and Strategic Management, taught by Prof. Robert Letovsky, Chair of the Business Administration and Accounting Department. You will serve as scientific advisors by providing the Business students with relevant background information on biology and related technology. Eventually you will become part of a small team (composed of one scientist and some business people) to develop business plans for “green” enterprise start-ups, businesses that address environmental problems. These ventures can be for-profits or non-profits. Our two class sections will come together for several joint sessions to develop ideas and work on the business plans. Business students will present information to you on all aspects of developing a business, so you will be exposed to the basics of business administration as part of this collaboration.

The work that your collaborative team produces will take the form of a business plan (written by the entire team) and a poster presenting the details of the plan. The business plans are due to your instructors March 31. Plans that receive satisfactory grades will then be read by Business Administration and Accounting Dept. faculty. Depending on that evaluation by Business Administration and Accounting faculty members, your plan may be entered in the Enterprise Plan competition held this spring. Details on the competition are available at the web site for the event: The finals will be held on Fri., April 20, 2010, with finalists presenting in front of a select panel of judges (business people from the local community) as well as the Saint Michael's College community. This day is the second annual Student Research Symposium, featuring student research from many departments/majors on campus. Those teams/plans which do not make it to the finals of the Enterprise Competition will be displaying their plans at a poster session, tentatively scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on that date. Displaying your plan in a poster at the session is required for the course. Attendance at the Enterprise Plan Competition is also required, whether or not your team is presenting in the finals.

Written Paper & Portfolio: Each member of the class willwrite a paper based on some aspect of the biology underlying or related to their team’s business plan. Although much of the project will include collaboration, the paper must be written independently. This is a capstone assignment in your major, and it is therefore critical that the paper reflect your own work and represent your own ability to understand and synthesize information in the field of biology. The paper must be based mainly on published, primary research articles in biology. Literature should be cited throughout the paper, using the proper citation format taught in Biological Reading & Writing (see Pechenik text). A complete and properly formatted Literature Cited section must be provided containing at least 10 published sources, with at least six of those published, primary research articles in biology. Please note that these are minimum requirements, you may include more.The text of the paper should be 8-10 pages, double-spaced.

Keep and submit copies of all articles used, all written notes and summaries, and all of your drafts in a folder, and turn in the entire folder with your final paper for evaluation. Your grade for this part of the project will depend, in part, on the completeness of the portfolio. Written notes or summaries are required for all sources (highlighting doesn’t constitute note-taking). The final paper and portfolio are due on April 21; papers that are turned in late will not receive full credit (probable penalty of 5 percent per calendar day).

Evaluation criteria for papers:

A - Excellent (95) - achieves objectives of assignment at a high level, exceeds minimum requirements regarding use of literature, strong emphasis on primary literature, very well organized and written, portfolio shows high level of effort including multiple drafts, use of thorough notes

B - Good (85) - meets objectives of assignment, meets minimum requirements regarding use of literature, adequate emphasis on primary literature, well organized and written, portfolio shows good effort including drafts and use of notes

C - Fair (75) - does not fully meet objectives of assignment, paper might be well organized and written but does not utilize enough primary literature (below minimum requirements) OR paper meets minimum literature requirements but is not well written, portfolio shows few drafts

D - Poor (65) - does not meet objectives of assignment, does not meet minimum requirements regarding use of literature, paper mainly based on general or secondary sources, not well written, portfolio weak - perhaps no notes or drafts, little or no evidence of consideration of peer comments; feedback provided to peers on their drafts shows little effort on part of reviewer

F – Failing (below 65) – paper and portfolio fall well short of minimum expectations in effort and quality

Academic Integrity - The Biology Department and Saint Michael's College have policy statements on Academic Integrity, including plagiarism and the proper use of citations. As a senior you should be familiar with these policies, and you should know what is and is not acceptable. You can review the integrity policies at the links shown below. Check with your instructor if you have questions.

Biology Department:
Saint Michael’s College:

COURSE SCHEDULE

Date:Topic:

Jan 13Introductions to the course and each other. Why study the history of biology? Discuss selection of oral presentation topics and speaking dates. Discuss scientist biography presentations. Discuss collaboration with Business Seniors on proposals for “green” enterprise.

Jan 15*Meet w/ BU students. Overview of planned collaboration. Entrepreneurship. Enterprise Plan Competition. Why “green” business?