Biology 401:  Senior Seminar

Spring 2002

Dr. Renee Godard (rgodard@hollins.edu)                                          Th 12:00 - 1:30

Dana 211, x6457                                                                                 Small PDR

Office Hours:  MW 10:30-11:30, TTh 10:00-10:30

Course objectives: There are hundreds of journals published every month describing biological research being carried out by scientists all over the world.  In this two semester senior seminar courses (Biol 401 & 402), we will explore current research through an examination of recent primary research papers.  Students will have an opportunity to present recent research of interest, critically evaluate research design, discuss implications of research findings and to synthesize information from other biology courses.   This seminar also provides a forum for senior biology majors that are pursuing their own research projects (honors projects and otherwise) to present their research design and findings to the class. 

Seniors that have completed this two-semester seminar course should be able to distill the important information in the primary biological literature, to develop a concise oral presentation of biological research and to critically evaluate research methodology, data analysis and conclusions.

Course structure:  Each senior will be required to make one oral presentation each semester.  You should select an article from the primary literature (see Choosing an article) that describes research of interest to you.  On the week prior to your presentation, you should provide copies of the article for the class to read.  You should prepare a 15-minute presentation of the article using Powerpoint, overheads or other visual aids.  (Be sure to inform me what your technical needs are at least 3 days before your presentation.)  Your presentation accounts for 40% of your seminar grade, so you should develop it with care, remembering that you are a teacher.

Students that are not presenting are required to read the article and complete the article summation form (see below) before coming to class.  These summation forms should be typed!   Summation forms comprise 35% of your grade. 

Presenters are required to provide me with a copy of their key to the summation form (typed) on the day of their presentation.  Each presenter is expected to grade the summation forms and turn them in to me within a week of her presentation.  I will evaluate the quality of the presenters grading and this evaluation will comprise the final 5% of the seminar grade.

In addition, each student is responsible for bringing an interesting, newsworthy scientific article to class to share each week.  A few students will be selected AT RANDOM to share their scientific “find” with the rest of the class.  You should be familiar with the article and be ready to discuss it briefly with the other folks in the seminar.  A good place to find out what is “hot” in science is in the New York Times (www.nytimes.com).  All you need to do is to go to the web site and register (FOR FREE), then you can access all of their science articles anytime you want (FOR FREE)!  Discussion of news articles and participation each week in seminar will account for 20% of your grade.  (So don’t forget to come prepared to share.)

Choosing an Article:  You should make sure that you choose an article from the primary literature.  The primary literature is comprised of articles describing research project(s) that someone(s) has carried out.  These articles generally contains an introduction, methods, results and discussion sections which explain why the research was done, how it was carried out, what the findings were and what they mean.  You should make every attempt to find a recent article (within last 5 years preferably) that is not too long and that is relatively easy to understand.  Remember that if you are struggling to understand an article and you are interested in the topic then it will be quite difficult for your classmates to understand it and difficult for you to present.  Students carrying out senior research should choose an article related to their research in the fall and should provide rough drafts of their research in the spring.  Please consult with me if you have any questions concerning your choice of an article and the development of your presentation.

Course grade summary**:

**In order to receive a grade in Senior Seminar in the Spring, each senior must complete our Senior Exam.  We use this exam to assess how effective our courses and curriculum have been in giving you a solid background and understanding of biology.  You will not receive a grade on this exam, but you must take it before graduating.

Article Summation Form:  Below you will find a copy of the questions you will be asked to answer for each article that you are required to read.  These questions are designed to help you become savvy with finding the important information in a research paper.  You can find the form on the Hollins Intranet (at our class website) and I will also email it to you.  Presenters should provide a key to me on the day of their presentation.  Presenters are expected to grade summation forms within a week of their presentations and turn them in to me.

Senior Seminar – Article Summation Form (10 points each)   Name_______________________  Date____________________   Title of article (0.5 pts) ________________________________________________________   Title of journal(0.5 pts) _________________# of contributing authors(0.5 pts) ______________   Date article published(0.5 pts) ___________  Affiliation of first author(0.5 pts) _____________   1.     What was the central question(s) that the authors examined in this paper (1.5pts)?   2.     What data did the authors gather and how was it analyzed (2 pts)?   3.     What were the major findings of the author’s research(2 pts)?   4.  How do the findings of this research contribute to scientific understanding(2 pts)?

Syllabus