Science and Mathematics Department
Spring 2012
BIO 482: BIOLOGY SEMINAR
Fridays 10:00-10:50 (SCM 206)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Catalog Description: Students will prepare and present a paper on a topic of their choosing in
consultation with a departmental faculty member. Topics may be chosen from student research or
current research published in a peer reviewed journal or symposium issue (no textbooks). Students will
critique papers presented by their peers, current faculty members, and visiting scholars.
This course is the same as CHE 482; no credit will be awarded to students who have taken CHE 482.
Required of all senior Biology majors.
This is the second of two seminar courses, along with BIO 481 (hereafter called "Junior Seminar"),
which is required for Biology majors. This course (BIO 482, or Senior Seminar) has been designed for
you to put into motion ideas learned in Junior Seminar. Many of the basic ideas for this course come
from the core course Public Speaking (SPE 110). However, we will tailor the information specifically
for science presentations. You will be required to give two presentations to the class. This course carries
one hour credit.
INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Charles Horn
Office: SCM 223
Phone: 803-321-5257
Office Hours: MWF 9-10, 11-12; TT 9:15-10:15
E-mail address: Charles.horn@newberry.edu
REQUIRED TEXT
A series of journal articles will be present for selection.
STUDENT LEARNING AND PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES
Newberry College is committed to monitoring student learning for continual program improvement. This
class has course-level student learning outcomes (SLOs listed below) which are aligned to overall
program learning outcomes (PLO alignment indicated in parentheses below). After completion of this
course, you should be able to:
1. Critique a presentation relative to format, style and scientific content. (4)
2. Develop an outline for a presentation. (4)
3. Make two presentations to a group of your peers and professors. (2,4)
4. Critique your presentation. (4)
COURSE PROCEDURES
Each week we will have 1-3 presentations by students, faculty or guests. Students presentations will be
required, one prior to and one after spring break.
ATTENDANCE and other CLASSROOM POLICIES
Attendance is required. Greater than two (2) absences (15%) will result in an FA, regardless of excuses.
To restate this policy, you may miss two times; the third absence means an FA! Special circumstances,
such as extended sickness or sports may result in special circumstances. In any case, do not assume that
other college officials will excuse your absences; communicate directly to me about your absences as
soon as you know of such.
Your attendance in class is to listen to your peers make oral presentations. Cell phones are to be
silenced or turned off; texting during class may result in an absence for the day. Laptop computers are
not to be used.
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS
Seminar! Most of the semester though, we will hear various speakers make 12-15 minute presentations.
Each person’s presentation, as mentioned above, should be based on an article published in a scientific
journal. Additional articles may be used if approved ahead of time. You may also select your own
article if it is approved by one of the course instructors. Presentations based on original personal
research are also acceptable; once again if approved by a professor. The library contains a number of
important journals as a source for your oral presentation(s).
During the course you will be expected to make two presentations to the class. For each presentation you
will follow the following approximate time-line:
Two (2) weeks prior to presentation
One (1) week prior to presentation
day of presentation
within 1 week after presentation
Preliminary discussion with the professor concerning topic and
possible scientific paper(s) to use in developing the
presentation
Completion of a written outline and bibliographic citation;
request for audiovisual needs
Presentation and peer review (using standard evaluation forms)
Review of presentation: peer, professor and self evaluation
COURSE EVALUATION
This course carries a letter grade. Your grade will be based on the following two components.
Written critiques (10%)
One submitted written evaluation is expected for each presentation (see attached). Each critique is tallied
for 2 points as follows:
 Critique turned in with appropriate comments = 2 pts
 Critique turned in with very few or no comments = 1 pt
 Critique not turned in = 0 pts
All critiques will be averaged together to produce 10% of the course grade.
BIO 482 Syllabus, pg. 3
Your Oral presentations (90%)
You are required to make two presentations. The second presentation will count for a slightly higher
percentage to show the result of your potential improve on components of concern from the first
presentation. Your oral presentation evaluation will be based on several criteria. Evaluations will be
derived from a combination peer, self and professor evaluations.
1. An appropriate outline, including a proper bibliographic citation (10 %)
 This is to be submitted one week prior to your presentation.
Adjustments may be made to your grade based on:
*not basing your presentation on one main scientific journal article (less 5%)
*not basing your presentation on any journal article (less 10%)
*article not approved by faculty member ahead of time (less 5%)
2. Professor, peer and self evaluation of presentation, including format, style, scientific content (70 %)
 The evaluation points will be determined by averages of each of the seven evaluation
components, all averaged together.
Ave of 5.0  100% / 4.0  80% / 3.0  60% / 2.0  40% / 1.0  20%
 Professor adjustments will be made in some cases for exceedingly lenient or hard evaluations
 Your (student) adjustments will be made through discussion of strengths and weaknesses of your
presentation.
 Adjustments to your presentation grade will be made for the following:
presentation time over 18 minutes (less 5%)
presentation short, 6-9 minutes (less 5%)
presentation very short, less than 6 minutes (less 10%)
3. Meeting with professor within one week to review critiques (10%)
 Review of strengths and weaknesses of presentation
Subsequent adjustments to your presentation grade will be made for the following
 late meeting with professor before or after presentation (less 5%)
 not meeting with professor before or after presentation (less 10%)
 not meeting before and after presentation (less 50%)
COURSE GRADING SCALE
90-100 = A; 88-89 = B+; 80-87 = B; 78-79 = C+; 70-77 = C; 68-69 = D+; 60-67 = D;
less than 60 = F
As stated above, a grade of FA will be based on attendance. This will supersede and other course
evaluation.
CACP CREDIT
As an option, you may complete a CACP Level 3 paper as part of this course. Note that the CACP
requirement (five references) is greater than the course requirement (one reference). The Biology policy
on the length of your paper and the number of references required for CACP Level 3 credit are as
follows.
Length of paper – At least 1,700 words (about 5 pages), excluding title information and reference page
with text double-spaced.
References – At least five (5) references, including three (3) from scientific journals. A guideline for
determining if a paper is from a scientific journal is if the article discusses original research and
includes references.
No double CACP credit will be allowed for this course (i.e. you cannot get two CACP credits for a
longer paper).
POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Academic integrity at Newberry College assumes that all work, written or oral, submitted by a student is
that student’s own work. I adhere to the College’s policy, which deals severely with cheating—including
plagiarism. Plagiarism is the theft of another person’s words or ideas. It is a dishonest, unethical attempt
to claim someone’s work as your own, and will not be tolerated in this class. Students who fail to
comply will receive one of these penalties:
1. A paper may receive a grade of “0”; a Report of Academic Dishonesty will be filed as part of the
student’s record in the Registrar’s Office,
2. A student may receive a grade of “F” for the course; a Report of Academic Dishonesty will be filed
with the Registrar, as part of that student’s permanent record,
3. A student whose offense is particularly heinous may be remanded to the Academic Integrity
Committee, which may result in a judicial sanction and/or expulsion.
For complete explanation of academic integrity, review the document as follows:
Academic Integrity Policy:
http://www.newberry.edu/UserFiles/newberry/Documents/Academic_Integrity_Policy_11.pdf
CENTER FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
Student Support Services: The mission of the Center for Student Success is to support each student’s
educational goals by offering opportunities to enrich and enhance their academic environment.
Services offered to support this mission are free and include: Individual Academic Specialty
Assistance, Career Services, Content and Writing Assistance, Disability Services, International
Programs, Retention, Study Abroad. The Center for Student Success is in Wessels Library. Hours
for the Spring Semester are 7:30 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. You can request a Content
and/or Writing Assistant at tutor.request@newberry.edu. Please include your name, professor,
course and number. These requests will be answered within 24 business hours.
For updated information throughout the semester about Center services, please reference the
Student Success Tab within Wolf Den.
Policy on Special Needs—Students with Special Needs: Students who wish to enroll or are already
enrolled in the Disability Services Program must identify themselves and present documentation of
their disability signed by an approved professional in order to have an accommodation letter put in
place. This can be accomplished by contacting Ms. Kay Chandler in the Center for Student Success
by phone (803-321-5187), e-mail (kay.chandler@newberry.edu), or in person to schedule an initial
meeting. ALL records are kept confidential for the protection of our students. Note: Your
instructors are not permitted to discuss your disabilities with you until you have registered with the
Office of Disabilities Support Services.
EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
In case of any emergency situation on campus, please visit the college’s web page for updated
information and instructions: http://www.newberry.edu/emergencyinfo.aspx . The college website will
include information on weather related announcements including possible college closing, if needed.
In addition, in case of a pandemic or other health related emergency, all students, faculty and staff are
expected to follow standard protocol, including taking appropriate personal preventive measures to avoid
contracting influenza and other communicable diseases, minimizing personal contact with others when
feeling ill, and following instructions of Newberry College administration / Health Services Center
BIO 482 Syllabus, pg. 5
personnel if quarantined or if an official pandemic is declared. Individual students who are sick should
notify course faculty of their illness as soon as possible to develop a plan for completion of course
requirements within the timeframe of the course. If face-to-face classes are cancelled because of an
emergency, procedures will be posted on the college emergency information website noted above.