Syllabus for Biology 891 CourseFall2015
Credits: 1(2)
Meeting time: Friday11:15-1:00pm in Coker 215 (with a 5 minute break before noon)
Faculty Mentor: Christopher S. Willett, Biology, 2252 GSB,
Course Goals and Key Learning Objectives:
-Facilitate the acquisition of intellectual depth across the fields of ecology, evolution, and organismal biology (EEOB)
-To develop skills to interpret and critique the primary scientific literature
-Gain an increased understanding of the scientific process by listening to seminars from graduate students and other researchers at the weekly biology lunch bunch seminar
-To increase interactions between students of the same cohort and between subsequent cohorts
-To develop presentation skills and ability to present research ideas
Target audience: 1st and 2nd year Biology EEOB graduate students and other graduate students interested in this subject area.
Course Prerequisites: none
Course Requirements:
This course will align closely with the weekly Lunch Bunch seminar that is held in Coker 215 on Fridays at noon and as such students are required to attend this seminar. This seminar is given most weeks by a Biology Department graduate student, postdoc,or faculty member (or visiting scientist) on a subject related to research in ecology, evolution, or organismal biology. Students are encouraged to contribute to the discussions during and after these seminars.
One key goal of the course is to help the students in the course gain deeper expertise and knowledge across the range of scientific areas studied by the EEOB group and we will utilize two different activities to do so. The primary format of the course will be journal club-style discussions of a paper or papers related to the research topic of Lunch Bunch each week. One (or two) student(s) will be responsible for selecting a paper and facilitating discussion on this paper. In order to encourage discussion, no PowerPoint (or related media) will be permitted for this discussion (the chalkboard is okay). The second format will be topic talks. These will consist of two 15 minute talks by graduate students in the course on their current research. This format can used when Lunch Bunch is not having a research seminar or potentially on other occasions during the seminar if there is sufficient interest. PowerPoint or chalk-talk style presentations can be used for this seminar format.
Prior to each meeting with the journal club-style, the student-leader(s) of the week will assign a paper. The paper should be posted on the course Sakai site no later than Tuesday night of the week of the seminar. Paper(s) related to research area presented in the seminar to follow will usually be most appropriate. The focus of the papers could be narrow (i.e. closely related work) or broad (i.e. a recent high profile study in a related area or older seminal work). One substantial paper or two short papers can be assigned. Note, students can contact the Lunch Bunch presenter if they would like suggestions for papers for a week. All students enrolled in the course are expected to read the paper(s) before attending.
Final exam: The final exam will consist of oral presentations on topic to be determined. Students will give their presentations during final exam period for class and provide feedback on the other students’ presentations. The class will decide on one topic and all students will present on this topic. Example topics include: elevator speech (how you would explain your research if someone asks on an elevator), short future research idea presentation, or lightning talk on preliminary or past research. The evaluation of presentations will be done by the professor withconsideration of the feedback given by the graduate student evaluators.
Schedule: (final schedule will be determined by lunch bunch schedule and student sign-up for weeks)
DateTopic
8/21Organizational meeting
- Intro to 891
- Activity to get to know each other
- Sign-up for schedule
- Grad school 101 (helpful tips for new graduate students)
8/28-10/9Weekly meetings, topics TBD
10/16Fall Break (no meeting)
10/23-11/20Weekly meetings, topics TBD
11/27Thanksgiving Break (no meeting)
12/10Final exam presentations (8am scheduled time)
Grading and class policies:
An acceptable grade (pass) in the course can be achieved by attending class and the Lunch Bunch seminar each week, leading at least one topic during the semester, reading the papers each week, participating in discussion, and completing the final project. Attendance will be taken each week and students cannot miss more than two classes (unexcused absences). Please notify the professor if you will have an excused absence for a class prior to absence if possible. High pass grades will be awarded when students, participate fully in the discussions in class and at Lunch Bunch, and have an outstanding final project.
Note on possible changes to syllabus:
This syllabus is subject to change including changes in the schedule or specific class requirements. Any changes will be presented clearly by the professor and discussed among the class members if the changes are of significant importance.