THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES
ST AUGUSTINE
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE
DEPARTMENT OF LIFE SCIENCES
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Title: BIOL 3774 Research and Practical Skills in Plant Biology
Credits: 3
Level: 3
Semester: Offered in semester I and II
Pre-requisites: Permission of the Head of Department. Only available to students taking the Plant
Biology Specialisation.
Anti-requisite: BIOL3069 Research Project.
Enrolment capacity: 30 students
PURPOSE OF THE COURSE:
This course affords students taking the Plant Biology option in the Biology Degree, the opportunity to work
independently or in groups under the supervision of a member of staff on a research question in plant
biology of local and regional interest. The project is compulsory for students taking the Plant Biology
Option, but may be done in any of three forms: individual research project, small group research project,
or individual library project. Students develop research and/or evaluation and reporting skills as they design
and conduct experiments, collect and analyse data and report and discuss the results of their own research
or of the scientific literature pertaining to a research question, in an oral and written format. Students must
have passed at least 24 credits of advanced level BIOL courses (and thus completed satisfactorily 8 out of
10 courses in level II of the Biology major), and be taking or have taken at least 2 courses in the Plant
Biology Option.
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Coordinator: Dr. Judy Rouse-Miller
Supervisors: Department of Life Sciences
Contact Information Course Coordinator
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Tel.: (868) 662-2002 Ext. 83089
Email: Judy.Rouse-Miller@sta.uwi.edu
Office Address: Department of Life Sciences Old Wing Natural Sciences Building Room 322
Office hours: Wednesday and Friday 10:00am -12:00 noon
Communication policy: E-mail using your UWI e-mail account
LETTER TO THE STUDENT
Research and Practical Skills in Plant Biology course is designed as an experience in science. Up to now,
you have learned a great deal about the results of scientific inquiry, and you have had laboratory exercises
in the methods of science, but you have probably had very little direct exposure to how science is done.
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The Research Project is different from the many laboratory exercises you have done thus far. In almost all
of those, the outcome was known in advance (although not to you), and the purpose was to acquaint you
with that outcome and the means to derive it. Unless your project is a replication of an earlier research, it
has not been done before, at least not in quite the way you will do it. The outcome is not known in advance.
This is real science, not just a course exercise. If you do your project properly, you will find out something
that nobody has ever known before. Also you will gain first –hand experience of some of the
procedures/methods required for conducting original research – hence another objective of this course is to
introduce you to basic research skills
If your project is done well, your results will form a more or less coherent body of knowledge. There will
almost certainly be some loose ends, but that is a normal part of science. The important thing is that your
final project report will set forth a well-defined problem, report results relevant to that problem, and
interpret them in the light of what you set out to do. On a small scale, this is exactly how real-life science
is carried out. In the Library Project version of the course, you will research the literature thoroughly on a
question of plant biology, evaluating and reviewing primary research papers and forming and justifying
your own conclusions on the question studied.
CONTENT
Developing a research or review question in plant biology
Development of concept proposal
Review of relevant literature
 Research project:
Project design
Data collection and analysis
Oral Presentation of concept proposal
Preparation of research report
 Library Project:
Through search of literature
Review of Literature
Oral Presentation of concept proposal
Preparation of written report
COURSE GOALS:
This course aims to enable students to
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Develop research skills and/or review skills
Learn to ask research questions in plant biology
Experience science as science is done
Prepare an oral presentation and a written report
Develop an understanding of how research is conducted
Work as part in a small team over a period of time (small group projects)
Develop an interest in conducting research relevant to the region
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this course a student should be able to:
 Formulate a scientific hypothesis suitable for investigation
 Design and conduct experiments and/or review the literature to support/refute a hypothesis
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Analyse, present and discuss results in oral and written formats
ASSIGNMENTS:
Concept proposal – written proposal, outlining the research question, and introduction and rationale with
clear objectives, experimental design and methodology (Students working as a team on the small group
version of the Plant Biology Project will each prepare a separate proposal.
Literature Review – Literature relevant to the research question is reviewed (Students working as a team
on the small group version of the Plant Biology Project will each produce a separate, independent
Preliminary Literature Review).
Research Project:
Design and conduct of an experiment
Data collection and Analysis
(Students working as a team on the small group version of the Plant Biology Project will collaborate in
the design and conduct of the experiment and collection of data, and may either collaborate or work
independently on data analysis.)
Library Project:
Search the relevant literature
Review the literature
(Students conduct an extensive search of material relevant to the research question and read critically the
selected documents so as to identify the main themes and communicate these in a written format)
Oral presentation – The research conducted or the work reviewed is communicated to an audience of
supervisors and peers. (Students working as a team on the small group version of the Plant Biology
Project will give a series of separate, related presentations on aspects of the overall research.)
Written Final Report - The lab report format is followed for the written report (Students working as a
team on the small group version of the Plant Biology Project will each produce a separate, independent
written final report.)
ASSESSMENT
In-course
Concept proposal
Literature Review
Oral Presentation
Research Report
20%
10%
20%
50%
Total
100%
The course is evaluated by 100% coursework.
EVALUATION
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Students receive formative feedback on the concept proposal, literature review and oral presentation
assignments which helps direct and focus the project and final research project document.
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Feedback on the course will be obtained informally from students on an ongoing basis by regular
interactions and meetings among students, supervisors and the Course Coordinator Formal feedback
will be via election of Class Representatives who sit on the Departmental Student-Staff Liaison
Committee meetings held twice during the semester. Class reps will channel both concerns and
commendations to the meeting as guided by the Department’s Standard Operating Procedures.
Formal evaluation of the entire course will be accomplished via a UWI Course Evaluation
questionnaire administered anonymously and confidentially at the end of the semester.
All feedback will be considered on an ongoing basis and corrective action or adjustments made or
discussed with students promptly or incorporated the following year.
TEACHING STRATEGIES
The project is done independently or in groups under the supervision of at least one staff member. All
project students are required to participate in the Project Tutorial System (12 hours) where topics common
to all projects will be covered in a series of group tutorial sessions. In addition students are expected to have
24 supervised lab hours/ technical discussion (1-credit) or 12 supervised lab hours /technical discussion
(1/2-credit) with their respective supervisor(s) to discuss technical and other aspects of their projects and
48 hours of unsupervised lab hours (1 credit) or 60 hours of unsupervised lab hours (11/2 credit).
RESOURCES
Text
UWI Department of Life Sciences BIOL-- Research and Practical Skills in Plant Biology Manual.
Wedgewood, M. 1987. Tackling Biology Projects.
Barnard, Chris, F. Gilbert and P. McGregor. 2001. Asking Questions in Biology. Prentice Hall
Rumsey, S. 2004. How to find information: a guide for researchers. Open University Press
Blaxter, Loraine, C. Hughes, M. Tight. 2006. How to research. 3rd ed. Open University Press
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COURSE CALENDAR
WEEK
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2
3
4
5
6
7
ACTIVITY
Tutorial - Introduction/Selection of project topics (2
hr)
Tutorial –Preparing of project proposal –
experimental design (2 hr)
Final selection of project topics/preparation of
project proposal
Preparation of project proposal
Tutorial – Conducting Library Searches, Citation
and Referencing – Chicago Style Manual
(Librarian) (2 hr)
Begin research work
Tutorial - Preparation of Literature Review (2
hr)(JRM)
Set up of experiments and field sampling as
necessary
Preparation of the literature review
Set up of experiments and field sampling as
necessary
Preparation of the literature review
Set up of experiments and field sampling as
necessary
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Tutorial – Writing Scientific Reports/ Oral
Presentations(2hr)
Data collection and interpretation
9
–Data collection and interpretation
Preparation of Oral Presentations
Tutorial – Student Mock Oral Presentations ( 2hr)
Preparation of Oral Presentations
Writing the research report
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11
12
ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES
Submission of project proposal for
assessment (20%)
Submission of Literature Review for
Assessment (10%) (submit through
Turnit in on myelearning
Oral presentations - Assessment (20%)
Final data collection and analysis
Writing the research report
Completion of the research report
Submission of Project Report for
Examination - submit to Turnit in on
myelearning) - (hard and soft copies
required) (50%)
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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Students should access the Life Sciences Undergraduate Handbook for general guidelines for
teaching, assessment, student conduct, essential skills, and support at
http://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/documents/handbook.pdf .
Additionally, general information and regulations pertaining to the degree programme can be found in
the Faculty Booklet available from
http://sta.uwi.edu/resources/documents/facultybooklets/ScienceTechUndergrad.pdf .
Students are reminded that tutorials are compulsory. An attendance register will be kept for these
sessions. Failure to attend may result in a 10% deduction of marks from the assessment assignment
related to the tutorial.
As a general rule, medicals or other excuses may only excuse a student’s presence at an assigned
time. Students must complete the assigned tutorial content or else the penalty will be applied. The
student is responsible for liaising with the Course Coordinator or Teaching Assistant to ensure the
assigned make-up is completed.
Plagiarism is forbidden and all coursework items must be accompanied by a Coursework
Accountability Statement in order to be assessed. The literature review and the final written report
must be submitted through Turnitin on myeLearning. Refer to ‘University Regulations on Plagiarism’
available from http://sta.uwi.edu/resources/documents/Exam_Regulations_Plagiarism.pdf
Monitoring time spent on the project -Students are advised to arrange exact dates with their
supervisors and to keep a record of key discussion points and decisions. Time spent on the project
activities should be recorded.
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