COURSE OUTLINE SENIOR SEMINAR BIOL 490 SPRING 2014 Instructor: Office: Telephone: Dr. Michele Harmon SBDG 221A 641-3607 Office Hours: Email: 8:00 am - noon on Wednesdays micheleh@usca.edu Lecture: Seminar: Text: Th, 4:30-5:45 PM in SBDG 327 Fri 1:00-2:15 PM in SBDG 327 None Credit: One Semester Hour Co-requisites: Students must be concurrently enrolled in BIOL 499. Course Description: Discussion and presentation of current topics in biology and geology by students, faculty, and visiting scientists. Emphasis is placed on effective oral and written communication and critical examination of scientific information and ideas. Students will, critique peer writing and oral presentations, practice giving scientific presentations, and present a final formal presentation. Course Objectives: Students will be introduced to current research in the fields of biology and geology through research seminars by attending the Department of Biology and Geology Seminar Series. Students will learn how to prepare a research proposal, give a formal research presentation, and critique the work of their peers in a constructive manner based on scientific principles. Students will write a proposal outlining a potential investigation. Students will present the results of an investigation at the end of the semester in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. Students will be expected to: 1. develop strategies for oral and written presentation of scientific work; 2. critically analyze written and oral scientific presentations; 3. attend and participate in the Department of Biology and Geology seminar series; and 4. prepare and present an oral presentation of research. Methods of Evaluation: Performance in this course will be evaluated for a letter grade as outlined below. Biology senior exit exam Writing assignment Written peer review of writing assignment Written exam Practice presentations Peer-review of practice presentations Final oral presentation (in class practice for BIOL 499) Seminar critiques Seminar participation (questions for speakers) Grading Scale: 5% 10% 10% 20% 10% 10% 15% 10% 10% A (90-100%), B (80-89%), C (70-79%), D (60-69%), F (0-59%) Attendance Policy: The objectives of the course are best served by the observation of presentations by professionals and peers, and by the presentation of research. Thus, attendance is the most critical component of this course. For every Friday seminar that a student misses, 10% (one letter grade) will be deducted from the overall grade, and 5% will be deducted for missing a class. Attendance in this class is not a passive process. The speakers we recruit travel a long distance for no compensation, and deserve your respect and attention. To earn full points for attendance each student must ask one “good” (by the instructor’s standard) question of one of our speakers during the course of the semester. Attendance points will be deducted for behavior that is construed by the instructor as impolite or inattentive (including the use of cell phones for text messaging, or having a cell phone ring during the presentation). Students also will be expected to complete a critique of the style and content of the seminar presentation, which will be discussed during the next class period. Disability Statement: If you have a physical, psychological, and/or learning disability which might affect your performance in this class, please contact the Office of Disability Services, 126A B&E, (803) 641-3609, as soon as possible. The Disability Services Office will determine appropriate accommodations based on medical documentation. 1 Classroom Behavior: It is the instructor’s right to remove from the classroom any student who disrupts or disturbs the proceeding of the class. Disruption of the class includes but is not limited to the use of any portable electronic devices, including cell phones, MP3 players, iPods, etc. unless prior approval has been given to a student or unless required for the course. In extreme cases, the faculty member can request assistance from University Police. If the student who has been ejected causes similar disturbances in subsequent meetings of the class, he/she may be denied admittance to the class for the remainder of the semester and assigned a grade of F. Date Jan 16 & 17 Jan 23 & 24 Jan 30 & 31 Feb 6 & 7 Feb 13 & 14 Feb 20 & 21 Feb 27 & 28 Mar 6 & 7 Mar 13 & 14 Mar 20 & 21 Mar 27 & 28 Apr 3 & 4 Apr 10 & 11 Apr 17 & 18 Apr 24 & 25 CLASS SCHEDULE Topic Introduction Discuss expectations for seminar etiquette, questions, and critiques Brief discussion of the final products (presentation, poster) TBA Detailed expectations for your presentations Students provide research project titles and topics Discuss primary literature sources BIOL 499 first practice using Powerpoint: Titles and Objectives BIOL 499 first practice using Powerpoint: Titles and Objectives Students provide one primary literature article for their topic. BIOL 499 Powerpoint presentation: Titles, Objectives, Methods Discuss figure description assignment BIOL 499 Powerpoint presentation: Titles, Objectives, Methods Figure descriptions from articles due via SafeAssignment on Blackboard No class – Spring Break Assign peer reviews TBA Final practice - complete presentation Peer Reviews are due at the beginning of class No Thursday Afternoon Class Final practice - complete presentation No Thursday Afternoon Class Seminar Safety Training for BIOL Regular Friday seminar Regular Friday seminar Regular Friday seminar Regular Friday seminar Regular Friday seminar Regular Friday seminar Regular Friday seminar No seminar - Spring Break Regular Friday seminar Regular Friday seminar BIOL 499 Student Seminars Research Day BIOL 499 Student Seminars Senior exit exam BIOL 490 Writing Assignment Select a single figure from your research presentation and use this as a basis for a formal scientific description of your research. You are limited to one single-spaced page of text, in addition to the figure and a literature cited section (i.e., three pages total). Tell the reader why this one figure is important for your particular project, and be sure you include the following in your text: • a brief introduction to your topic that contains an appropriate number of references from the peer-reviewed scientific literature; • a statement of the objectives and or tested hypothesis; • an overview of the methods used to obtain the data shown in the selected figure, including the data analyses used to support your conclusions; and • a summary of your results and conclusions. The paper must include in-text citations and a literature cited section. The figure must be referred within the body of the text and must be placed on an individual page following the Literature Cited section. A description of how to write a research paper can be found in chapters 4-8 in your text, “Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences.” References must be cited in the text using CSE format as described in Chapter 6. The first draft is due through Safe Assignment on Blackboard on March 6, 2013. It will be reviewed by your peers. The final report is due on April 25 through Safe Assignment. Note: This assignment does not take the place of any final reports due to your research mentor. 2