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Pre-class Activities
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Supplement 2
Week 1
Learning Objective: Read and comprehend the course design and syllabus
Question Set
1. What is our main goal this semester? How will we achieve it?
2. What are you expected to complete prior to coming to class? How will we spend our class time?
3. How is the assessment structure of the course designed to help you create an expert proposal? How many rounds of feedback will you receive on your proposal drafts? Who will provide this feedback?
4. How many drafts of your proposal will your team generate? What proportion of your final grade in this class depends on the written proposal?
5. Now that you have read the syllabus, what questions do you have about the course, evaluation methods, grading, etc.?
Week 2
Learning Objectives
1. List and describe the structure of a research proposal
2. Analyze the elements of a research proposal
3. Identify a relevant research topic
4. Browse research literature to select a relevant research question.
5. Pitch an idea to team members
Question Set
To answer questions 1-3, please view the instructional video “Elements of a Research Proposal” (5 min)
1. Based on your prior experience writing papers in biology, what is the key difference between a research paper and a research proposal?
2. Two sample research proposals are provided. One was written to a target audience of biologists in a specific sub-discipline of biology. The other proposal was written by BIO399 students to a target audience of professors and peers. What are some similarities between these proposals? What are some differences between these proposals?
3. What questions do you have about writing a proposal in BIO/ENS399?
4. To answer this question, please check out the X-Factor Exercise instructional video (5 min) a.
Browse the Science Direct website for a research area that interests you and find an article. b.
Once you have selected a news article and topic, obtain the primary reference using the internet and Bethel Libraries. Bring a copy of the pdf (or hard copy) to class. c.
Read the paper and identify a research question that is considered a follow-up to the published work (hint: go to the discussion section). Be ready to pitch your idea to your team and arrive at a consensus on Monday. Note: The topic must be one of the subdisciplines of Biology (e.g. not psychology or anthropology, for example). d.
Submit the idea for a research question and pdf with this pre-class assignment.
5. What questions do you have about finding a research question?
FAQ - can I look for a primary reference without accessing Science Daily? Yes! I would encourage you to pick a reference and topic that is high impact (published in journals such as Science, Nature, Cell,
PNAS). PNAS is free, so you can get most of the papers directly from the journal.

Soneral – Wyse
Pre-class Activities
To be completed by individual students
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Supplement 2
Week 3
Learning Objectives
1.
Explain the purpose of the Background and Significance (B&S) portion of a proposal.
2.
Use and apply guidelines for structuring and organizing the B&S to your project
3.
Differentiate between primary and secondary sources; discuss the importance of using primary sources in your proposal.
4.
Apply CBE/LSE citation rules to properly format references.
Question Set
1. Explain why it is important to use only peer-reviewed sources in preparing a research proposal in the biological sciences. What types of sources should you avoid citing in the Literature Cited portion of your research proposal?
2. Compare and contrast primary literature to secondary literature. How are they alike? How are they different? Provide an example of each.
3. The authors of one of your textbooks “A Handbook of Biological Investigation” published an article in
1979 entitled “Distastefulness as a defense mechanism in Aplysia brasiliana (Molluska:
Gastopoda). You can read it in volume 6 of the journal Marine Behavior and Physiology. It starts on page 57 and is eight pages long. The authors are H.W. Ambrose III, R.P Givens, R. Chen, and K.P.
Ambrose. In the space provided below please cite this article in CBE/CSE (Council of Biology/Science
Editors) style; name-year system.
4. Apply your learning. Based on what you read, where will you begin your literature and background reading to write the Background and Significance portion of your research proposal?
5. Apply your learning: compose a brief outline of the background and significance portion of your paper. Come to class prepared to share this outline with your team. On Monday, you will synthesize the input of your team and compose a team draft of the B&S outline.
Note: over the next four weeks, your friendly instructor will consult with each team individually to craft the research plan.
6. What questions do you have? How can I be a resource to you at this point in the course?
Week 4
Learning Objectives
1. Find published resources relevant to your research project
2. Evaluate the value or usefulness of a resource
3. Explain how your proposal fits into the larger body of knowledge in your field
Assignment
As an individual, find 3-5 references directly related to your assigned portion of the Background and
Significance. Although you may have your own strategies for finding references, Google Scholar is a very useful tool for finding peer-reviewed literature ( http://scholar.google.com/ ). Format your references in CBE/LSE style. Annotate your ten references by explaining how each is useful for your project (see below for more information how to write an annotated bibliography).

Soneral – Wyse
Pre-class Activities
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Supplement 2
When you come to class this week, plan on sharing your learning and reference list with your team.
You will pool your references and submit a comprehensive annotated bibliography this week. In addition, you will refine your B&S outlines.
What is an annotated bibliography and how do you write one?
An annotated bibliography adds to the traditional list of citations a paragraph that provides both a description of the research, a critical evaluation of the quality of the content, and the relevance of the citation to your work. These annotations are typically ~150 words. See link on Moodle for an example bibliography. There are many on-line sites that describe annotated bibliographies and how to create them, such as this site at the University of Toronto ( http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advic...dbibliography ).
Week 5
Learning Objective: Compose a working draft of your Background and Significance (Introduction)
Assignment
As an individual, please compose a draft of your section of the B&S. When you come to class, your team will synthesize all contributions and prepare a comprehensive draft for submission.
Week 6
Learning Objective: Brainstorm the experimental design for your project
Question Set
1.
Please state your research question. What is the dependent variable? What is the independent variable?
2.
What is your null hypothesis? Hypothesis? Note that when you select a statistical test, you will need to choose something that will allow you to reject the null hypothesis.
3.
Now, focus on your dependent variable. This is what your experiment seeks to measure or quantify. What protocol or procedure will you use to collect your data? Make sure to include information about sampling and repeated trials.
4.
Now consider the controls you will need for your experimental design. Describe them here.
5.
Now, think through how you might display your data. What type of graph would you select? How would you label your axes?
6.
Finally, consider the statistical test that would demonstrate the significance of your findings. What test would you use to reject the null hypothesis?
When you come to class, you will spend the session discussing your thoughts as a team and sketching a flow chart of the experimental design. You will make team decisions about sampling, statistical testing, control and experimental variables. Plan on submitting your team sketch for feedback at the conclusion of the class session.

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Pre-class Activities
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Supplement 2
Week 7-8
Learning Objective: Compose a working draft for your portion of the experimental design and methods (EDM)
Week 7 Assignment
At this time, your team has sketched out an experimental plan and assigned roles and responsibilities for drafting this portion of the paper. Focusing on just your role, please compose a working draft for your portion of the EDM and be prepared to share your work with your team and instructor in-class.
We will spend time in class synthesizing all contributions to the EDM, and identifying key places for continued development for Week 8. Please provide a 1-paragraph summary of your writing accomplishments in the space below.
Week 8 Assignment
At the conclusion of week 7, your team defined the action steps needed to improve the EDM draft.
Please work on your specific tasks, and provide a 1-paragraph summary of your accomplishments in the space below.
Week 9
Learning Objective: List the materials and equipment needed for your research project.
Assignment
Please take a moment to run through your proposal draft as an individual and make an itemized list of the materials and equipment you will need to conduct your research project. Come to class prepared to share your list with your team and synthesizing your work to create a comprehensive list. During class we will research the costs for each item. You will construct a table in your proposal draft summarizing the budget for your project.
Week 10
Learning Objectives:
1. Revise your full proposal draft.
2. Reflect on the alignment of your proposal with the NSF merit criteria, as well as the course rubric.
Assignment
Part I. At this time, you received an instructor review of your sectional drafts. Please look at the comments related to the writing that you individually contributed to the draft and make all necessary changes. In the space below, please summarize the changes you made (if any) and the degree to which your work reflects the criteria in the rubric. What questions do you have about the instructor comments? Please indicate in the space below. We will spend class time combing through the draft for additional revisions and performing a self-assessment of the draft with your team. Your instructor will be available to clarify any questions you have about the comments.

Soneral – Wyse
Pre-class Activities
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Supplement 2
Part II. Please read the NSF merit review criteria (available at https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/merit_review/overview.pdf
) and provide a reflective statement on how well your current proposal reflects the intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria of an
NSF-Style proposal.
Week 11
Learning Objective:
1. Articulate the review criteria and process used in NSF-style proposal review.
2. Brainstorm the attributes of an effective peer review.
Assignment
Part I. In this pre-class activity, you are first asked to view a short video from NSF
( http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/mmg_disp.jsp?med_id=76467 ) that provides an overview of NSF proposal review. This type of study session is what we plan on modeling in a "mock study session" format over the next few weeks. Please complete the pre-class activity that goes along with the video.
Part II. In this pre-class activity, you are asked to reflect on your personal experiences and post your thoughts to the class forum. Please take a moment to reflect on a time in which you benefitted from feedback offered to you by another person. What attributes of the feedback process were most useful to you and why? Please post your answers using the forum. When you come to class this week, we will construct a working definition for an effective peer review through an in-class activity. You will apply these principles to your work as a peer-reviewer in the mock study section.
Week 12
Learning Objective: Read and comprehend a peer team’s proposal.
Assignment
Please read the proposal assigned to your team. To indicate that you have read and comprehend the proposal, compose a 1-paragraph summary in the space below. Identify two strengths and two areas for improvement. Provide your reasoning. When you come to class this week, you will share your thoughts with the rest of your team, and compose a committee summary and review of the proposal.
As a committee, you will recommend or reject the proposal for funding.
Week 13
Learning Objectives
1.
Define the format of Pecha Kucha presentations.
2.
Explore examples of effective Pecha Kucha communication
Assignment
Now that you have cemented the content of your proposal in written form, it is time for us to present it orally in a persuasive and engaging visual format. Please go to the official website of Pecha Kucha http://www.pechakucha.org/ to learn more about the style of presentation your team will be using for your proposal defense.

Soneral – Wyse
Pre-class Activities
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Supplement 2
1.
1. Go to the About tab to learn about Pecha Kucha. What is the format of Pecha Kucha presentation?
What are the benefits of this format?
2. Explain why this format is useful to us in BIO399 for sharing our proposals.
3. On the home page, take a look at an example presentation (6 minutes). What did you like about the presentation? What didn’t you like about the presentation (if anything)?
When you come to class, your team will use the Pecha Kucha framework to work collaboratively on the presentation visuals and script. You will be encouraged to complete the visuals by the conclusion of the class session to make timely progress toward your deadline in week 15.
Weeks 14-15
Learning Objective: Make progress on your Pecha Kucha presentation