Special Topics Course Proposal Form
SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
SPECIAL TOPICS COURSE PROPOSAL FORM
ORIGINATING CAMPUS: (X) Ammerman ( ) Eastern
( ) Grant
Date Submitted to Campus Dean: _____02/14_____
To meet the ideals of Suffolk County Community College, new courses should, if appropriate, consider issues arising
from elements of cultural diversity in areas of textbook choice, selection of library and audio-visual materials, and
teaching methodology.
CAMPUS DEAN E-MAILS ENTIRE PROPOSAL PACKET TO THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM
COMMITTEE CHAIR AS A WORD DOCUMENT UPON ITS APPROVAL.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PROCEDURES
1. Instructor downloads and drafts proposal and syllabus from Special Topics link on the Curriculum Website
2. Proposer sends the files (proposal and syllabus) electronically to the Academic Chair for distribution and support
from Academic Department.
3. Academic Chair initials the proposal upon approval and electronically forwards file and syllabus to the Campus
Dean.
4. Upon approval, the Campus Dean initials the proposal and electronically forwards file and syllabus to the College
Curriculum Committee Chair for posting on the Curriculum Website.
5. The College Curriculum Chair will electronically forward the files (including syllabus) to the College Associate Dean
for Curriculum and Assessment.
___________________________________________________________________________
Proposed by_Sharadha Sambasivan and Candice Foley
Date of Proposal__2/9/2014
Department/Discipline______Chemistry___________________________________
Course #__CHE 295_____
I.
Course Title Introduction to Research methods _
RELATIONSHIP TO STUDENTS
A.
*Credit Hours__3__
Contact Hours__3__
Lecture Hours_____
Lab/Studio Hours_____
*See Curriculum Website for Credit/Contact Hours Formula.
II.
B.
Class Size 18
C.
Course Fees
Lab Fees_none____
Course Fees___none__
RELATIONSHIP TO MASTER SCHEDULE
A.
**Proposed Semesters Course will run:
Fall__(2014)___ Winter_(yr.)____ Spring_(yr.)____
B.
**Projected Termination Date
Fall_(2015)____ Winter_(yr.)____
Spring_(yr.)____
Summer_(2014)____
Summer_(yr.)____
**Special Topics courses may run for only two semesters. Upon the completion of the second semester, the
course must be withdrawn from the schedule unless it has been re-approved as a Special Topics course or
approved as a permanent course. Under no circumstances may a Special Topics course run for more than four
semesters.
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006
Special Topics Course Proposal Form
III.
Rationale for Course:
Chemistry faculty have developed partnerships with Stony Brook University (SBU) and
federal laboratories (including Brookhaven National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory) over the past decade.
As a result, large numbers of SCCC students annually achieve success in obtaining research
internships at these facilities in summers and during the academic year under the mentorship of
Chemistry faculty and supported by the college’s NSF S STEM and NIH IRACDA grants. Our
students are also selected to present their research results at local, regional, and national
research forums including the SUNY STEM conference, the Council on Undergraduate Research,
the Emerging Researchers National Conference, the NY Energy Forum, and NSF projects
meetings in Washington DC, in the form of research posters and as invited student panelists. We
would like to develop a research methods course to better prepare our students for and to
complement the research internship experiences that they are already successful in achieving.
This course will also be supported by our partnership with SBU on the NIH IRACDA grant which
provides for a post-doctoral fellow, who will be partnered with our SCCC faculty serving as
teaching mentors, for the implementation and assessment of this course. Furthermore,
introduction of a research methods course gives exposure to students on current research and
technology and motivate them to choose science major or a career in scientific research.
IV.
Description of Course:
This course provides an introduction to research methods, analytical tools and designs
relevant to practitioners of scientific research. This course will focus on an introduction to
various components of research including experimentation, quantitative and qualitative research
methods. In addition the course will focus on providing a practical understanding of several
basic statistical tools as well as technological enhancements for data collection and analysis.
Students will apply their knowledge of research methodology and design by reviewing and
surveying current scientific literature, writing and reviewing reports, summarizing and orally
presenting pre-selected journal articles from peer reviewed journals, poster, panel, and
conference presentations. Additionally, students will be exposed to researchers in our local
region for networking and future collaborations.
V.
Approvals
Department Approval_______________
Date_______________
Academic Chair
Campus Dean Approval___George Tvelia
Date Feb. 20, 2014
Campus Dean
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006
Special Topics Course Proposal Form
SPECIAL TOPICS • COURSE SYLLABUS
I.
Course Number and Title:
CHE295 Introduction to Research Methods
II.
Description of Course:
This course provides an introduction to research methods, analytical tools and designs
relevant to practitioners of scientific research. This course will focus on an introduction to
various components of research including experimentation, quantitative and qualitative research
methods. In addition the course will focus on providing a practical understanding of several
basic statistical tools as well as technological enhancements for data collection and analysis.
Students will apply their knowledge of research methodology and design by reviewing and
surveying current scientific literature, writing and reviewing reports, summarizing and orally
presenting pre-selected journal articles from peer reviewed journals, poster, panel, and
conference presentations. Additionally, students will be exposed to researchers in our local
region for networking and future collaborations.
III.
Course Objectives:
(What should students learn as a result of taking this course and how will they demonstrate that
learning?)
Upon completion of this course students will:






Demonstrate understanding of scientific method by identifying research questions and
subsequently designing a qualitative and quantitative research analysis
Demonstrate an understanding of how to participate in research for the purpose of
evidence based decision-making
Demonstrate and understanding of how to review current literature, apply research
methodology towards the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data and statistics in
order to promote evidence based practice
Be able to identify relevant ethical issues that affect scientific research
Be able to communicate effectively with others at a research laboratory environment and
work as a team
Be able to communicate and disseminate research results at a scientific meeting
IV.
Required Texts and Materials:
(List textbooks, newspapers, journals, Internet resources, CD-ROMS, Videos, other teaching materials
to be used in the course.)
1) D. C. Harris, Quantitative Chemical Analysis, 6th Ed, Freeman, 1999
2) Handouts comprising of open source published chemistry journal articles, excel
programming articles will be distributed to students
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006
Special Topics Course Proposal Form
V.
Assessment of Student Learning:
(Describe assessment measures, i.e., instruments that measure the attainment of course objectives.)
HW Assignments (includes graphing, spread sheets analysis)
Literature analysis and summary/discussion
Summary report from the Invited speakers talks (2)
Midterm exam
Research term paper
Oral Presentation
VI.
WEEK
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
20%
10%
20%
20%
25%
5%
Weekly Outline of Topics and Assignments:
Topic
Introduction; Scientific procedure, Overview of Microsoft office
programs (spreadsheet, word and PowerPoint)
Laboratory safety, How to read Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
Discussion of qualitative and quantitative research methods,
Designing an experiment, writing a Standard Operating Procedure
(SOP) and sampling methods and validity
Invited speaker presentation
Maintaining laboratory notebooks; Using office software products as
laboratory notebook
Statistical analysis (Normal and Gaussian distribution); interpreting
results
Background research- online resources; Library resources, public
databanks
Research ethics, literature search to identify a topic for term paper
Midterm exam
Data collection; graphing analyses
Statistical data analysis including normal distribution, correlation and
error analysis
Statistical Significance Testing: The t test. The F test
Presenting the data; Writing research papers and posters
Laboratory tours (field trip to Stony Brook University and/or
Brookhaven National Laboratory)/invited speaker presentation
Interdisciplinary approach to research
Final exam Written and Oral paper/poster presentations
Final Exam :Written and Oral paper/poster presentations
ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
9/2006