BIOL 692H: Senior Honors Thesis in Biology, Fall 2017
Wednesday 3-5 PM in Fordham 407
Instructor: Dr. Amy Shaub Maddox
Assistant Professor, Biology
Office: 407 Fordham Hall
Office hours: by appointment (email to set up)
The classroom portion of BIOL692H has two main goals:
●to cultivateprofessional and communication skills that are applicable to the written honors thesis, honors symposium oral presentation, and beyond
●to interact as a community of scholars, discussingactive research and its significance in terms that will be understood and appreciated by biologists from diverse fields
Course grade will be based on attendance (mandatory), class participation (e.g., active engagement in review and editing), written assignments, the grading of talk and thesis, and feedback from lab mentor/PI.
Assignment of Honors/Highest Honors designation will be based on an evaluation of your overall project including the presentation of it and your findings in the talk and thesis. A committee of three or more faculty will perform the evaluation, with input from your research advisor and / or the biology faculty sponsor. From the College: "Highest honors should be awarded only to students who have met the most rigorous standards of scholarly excellence." Honors may not be awarded if not deserved.
Class schedule
Schedule is subject to minor modifications; during some class meeting times,we will meet in an alternative location, as noted below.
(1) August 23
Syllabus, Guidelines, Introductions, Abstracts
(2) August 30
Abstracts, Symposium date, Talk intros, Choose research image for display
(3) September 6:
Writing a papergeneral concepts, Intro to writing, anatomy of a thesis, formatting and content expectations, Authorship and plagiarism, Lay Intro, About Intros
(4) September 13:
Thesis Intro, Talk Intro, Lay Intro, About Methods
(5) September 20:
Thesis Methods, Talk Methods, About Figures
(6) September 27:
Thesis Figures, Talk Figures, About Results
(7) October 4:
Thesis Results, Talk Results, About Discussion
(October 11, no class)
(8) October 18:
Thesis Discussion, Talk Discussion, Lay Intro
(9) October 25:
-practice talk(15 minute talk +5 minutes for questions) + feedback, in Coker 215
-Final thesis dueTODAY by 9 pmfor faculty evaluation
(10) November 1:
-practice talk(15 minute talk +5 minutes for questions) + feedback, in Coker 215
November 8: Honors Oral Presentation in 215 Coker Hall. May be attended by Spring honors students, advisors and mentors, thesis graders, family members, friends, and other members of the university community. Please invite your friends and family!
Thesis feedback provided by Amy and others for refinement before uploading.
November 13: Designation due for Highest Honors / Honors / no honors
LDOC:Deadline foruploading the final thesis to theCarolina Digital Repository. (Submission Instructions here)
●Senior Honors Thesis Guidelines for Academic Units, Faculty Advisors, and Students
●Sample Senior Honors Thesis title page
●Information for Faculty and Staff Advising Honors Theses
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