Welcome to FISH 297:
Scientific Writing and Communication
Today’s agenda:
1. A round of self-introductions: Why I am here,
2. Why this class exists,
3. Why you are here, and what you hope to learn,
4. Class goals, organization, expectations, grades, etc.
So:
1)
2)
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5)
Who are you?
Where are you from (personally and intellectually)?
What is your background in writing, scientific or otherwise?
Why did you take this class, and what do you hope to learn?
What skills, insights, or other assets do you bring to the class?
How did this course come
about?
Goals: This class is designed to teach undergraduate
students in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
and other areas of biology to 1) gather published and
unpublished sources of written information and bring
them to bear on scientific questions, 2) critically read
scientific writing, 3) access electronic sources of
information, including but not limited to internet
searches, library databases, and public data, 4) learn the
structure and functions of different components of
scientific papers to effectively communicate scientific
findings, 5) learn techniques for effective
communication of scientific information in oral and
poster presentations, 6) understand the ethical
boundaries associated with scientific communication.
Structure: The class will be built around two parallel
assignments, both based on a scientific paper. One will
be the selection and careful examination of a paper
published in a professional journal, and the other will
be a paper written by the student.
The student papers will be based on simple but sound
questions posed by each student, refined into a testable
hypothesis, and then pursued with appropriate
collection of data. The study will be described in a
paper in scientific format, and presented to the class at
a symposium at the end of the course and made into a
poster.
Expectations, grades, and so forth
I expect you to:
1) Come to class regularly and promptly
2) Participate fully and to the best of your ability
assignments
3) Strive to learn and to help others learn
4) Provide constructive feedback
5) Refrain from distractions: no use of cell phones,
internet, Facebook, etc. while in class
6) Do your own work in an ethical manner
Expectations, grades, and so forth
You can expect me to:
1) Design and conduct a class to enhance your ability to
communicate scientific ideas and findings
2) Treat all students with fairness and respect
3) Appreciate the differences in background among students
that may exist (age, native language, etc.)
4) Provide constructive feedback
Text book, and use thereof
McMillan, V. E. 2006. Writing Papers in the Biological
Sciences. 4th Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, Boston.
I do not plan to lecture from this book on a chapter by
chapter basis. However, I will try to link the class sessions to
the book as best I can. I chose this book because it seems to
be sensibly organized, well-written, inexpensive, spiral-bound
so you can use it easily, and covers oral and poster
presentations as well as papers. There are many other books
out there and quite possibly some are better than this. I will
greatly appreciate your feedback on whether this book is
useful. Likewise, your feedback during and at the end of class
will be very important as I try to improve the class.
Please write (right now) an essay on one of the
following topics. It will not be graded; my goal is
only to get a feel for your overall writing ability.
Do not worry; just write for 15 minutes, then email it to me: tquinn@uw.edu
1)
2)
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5)
Why I decided to take this class
Why I chose my major
How I spent my summer (or winter) break
My favorite animal
My favorite book (or movie)
Do not forget to put your name on it!
Assignment for Thursday:
Formulate a question about some aspect of the natural
world. Suggestion: go to a park, beach, zoo, watch your pets,
surf the web, sit in a coffeehouse and stare into space, wait
for inspiration while riding your bike. Get an idea first.
Bring the question to the next class period and be prepared
to talk about it. We will try to refine the question into one or
a series of hypotheses, that can be tested.
The choice of project is really important, because this idea
will be the basis for one of two major assignments in the
class. You will collect data to test it, write a paper about the
project, and present it to the class in pieces and as a whole.
How are we supposed to do this? This seems really hard!
Reading:
Obtain the book, get familiar with it in a general
way, and read the Introduction (only 3 pages).