| Graded
Course Activities (see the Course
Calendar for due dates)
For credit
in this course, the student must fulfill all of the following
requirements:
(1) Literature
Review and Research Proposal: 30% of the semester grade
You should
consult the professional literature to find previous work
related to your project (and of course to be sure that
your project has not already been done!). This should
include both theoretical and methodological information
that can be helpful to conceptualizing and conducting
your project. To get started with your literature
consultation, 3352 students will write a brief analysis
of 8 papers (4 new sources for 4351 students) following
a format that will be handed out during class. A
literature review will also consitute an important component
of your research proposal, but you should continue to
collect and analyze additional papers throughout the two
semesters of your project.
The research
proposal will follow the guidelines of the McCann
application forms for requesting support
of student research at Wesleyan. In addition to the brief
description of your project required by the McCann proposal
guidelines, you should also write a more detailed proposal,
which will include the following:
- an introduction,
including a review of relevant literature and your own
previous work, that defines the context and significance
of your project.
- a statement
of the hypothesis you plan to test
- description
of your experimental design (you can expect to modify
this slightly as the semester progresses). Your
proposal MUST include a graphic illustrating
your experimental design.
- NEW RULES: No direct quoting from any source. The proposal must be written in your own words.
- a list of
the materials you anticipate that you will need (including
sources and catalog numbers), and
- a budget
to cover the cost of these materials. 4351 students
continuing their research should construct a budget
that includes all materials needed for the project,
but indicate which materials do not need to be reordered.
New materials needed for your project must be ordered
on or before the due date indicated on the course
calendar. Orders for materials must
be combined to reduce shipping costs and to take advantage
of quantity discounts, and all orders must be reviewed
and approved by the department chair.
See the Model
for Project Proposals. An in-class workshop
will assist you with preparation of this proposal. Proposal
narratives should be no more than 1,500 words (6 double-spaced
pages) including a bibliography (or literature cited).
You will also give a brief oral presentation (5-10 minutes)
of your research plan, to include an explanatory research
graphic, during class. See the course
calendar for proposal due dates.
Science education
students in their second research semester may design
and conduct an experiment or demonstration that may be
carried out in a school setting. See the course calendar for the due date of this proposal.
(2) Project
Execution, Laboratory Notebookand Advisor Consultations:
40% of the semester grade
You are expected
to maintain a log of both laboratory and library research,
to to review your progress weekly with your research supervisor.
You should purchase two notebooks for the course: one
is a looseleaf binder for keeping copies of research literature
and printed procedures related to your project. These
papers should be indexed from a table of contents and
annotated by single page literature reviews. Organizing
your literature will greatly accelerate writing your proposal
and your final paper. The other notebook should be a bound
hardcover notebook for your laboratory records. These
records should also be indexed from a table of contents.
You will also
enter weekly written progress statements, which you will
present to and discuss with your research supervisor.
See the Guidelines
for Maintaining a Laboratory Notebook. Advisor
meetings will be scheduled weekly at a time mutually agreed
upon by student and advisor. Both the more formal group
meetings and individual advisor meetings are important
for maximizing success of your project.
Execution of
your research project will be judged on the basis of both
the time you devote to the project and the thoughtfulness
you apply to it. Troubleshooting is an important aspect
of any research program. Also included in this component
of the project are responsible ordering and laboratory
etiquette.
Do
not use any laboratory materials without permission.
Although many consumable materials you will need are part
of our regular laboratory inventory you must have
placed an order for replacement materials before
you will be permitted to use them. Keep all equipment
and working areas clean and do not remove any materials
from their original location without permission. Signup
sheets will be posted by heavily used equipment to allow
you to coordinate your usage with that of other students.
(3) Final
Report: 30% (10% oral or poster/ 20% written) of your final
semester grade.
See the Guidelines
for Writing a Scientific Paper for the format
of the written report. All data presented must be
in tables or figures, including statistical analyses. NEW RULES: No direct quoting from any sources; all sections of the report must be written in your own words.
You will also present either a research poster or a 15-minute
oral presentation to the biology faculty, other students
and invited guests. Presentations will be held in one
of the university conference rooms. Both oral presentations
and posters must be prepared using PowerPoint presentation
software. PowerPoint is available on most university computers.
A workshop on posters and oral presentations will be given
during the latter part of the semester. You will
have an opportunity to incorporate suggestions made during
the question period of your oral presentation or poster
discussions into the final written report, and you are
strongly advised to do so. See the course calendar
for the dates of the final oral (or poster) and written
reports.
For science
education students, the report should describe the lectures
and demonstrations, including an analysis of how well
the lab experiments worked as a teaching tool. The report
should also include any ideas for improving the lab experiment/demonstration.
A first draft
of the final written report will be read by the supervising
faculty member and you may also invite comments and suggestions
from other faculty. See the course calendar
for the due date of this draft. If you have not
completed your experiments by this time, you may incorporate
new data into your revised report. The completed
revised report will be read and evaluated by all faculty
of the department.
Course
Policies
Computer
policies: unless otherwise indicated, all written work is
to be submitted in electronic form, as an attachment to
a WebCT E-mail message to the student's advisor. Proposals
and final written reports should be sent to all faculty.
Written work must be submitted in Microsoft Word format.
MS Word is installed on all university computers. If your
personal computer does not have MS Word, prepare a draft
of your paper as a text (*.txt) or rich-text (*.rtf) file,
save it to a floppy or jump file and then do your final
editing in MS Word on one of the university computers. To
verify that your assignment was submitted, send yourself
a copy and check the attachment. E-mail messages without
attachments, or with attachments that cannot be opened using
MS Word, will not be given credit as completed assignments.
Keep copies of all WebCT communications until after grades
are turned in; this will serve as a record of work you have
turned in. BACK UP YOUR WORK FREQUENTLY. Copies of your
research data and paper drafts sent to your advisor will
serve as an additional backup files.
Attendance:
you are expected to attend all regular class sessions and
to meet with your advisor weekly for research conferences.
Your advisor will initial your research notebook during
these meetings. 5 points will be deducted from your final
grade for each instance of missed class sessions or advisor
meetings.
Due dates
and late assignments:
All assignments are due by 2:00 p.m. on the due date indicated
in the course calendar. For written
work turned in after its due date, 10% will be deducted
from the assignment grade for each day (including weekends)
after the due date. NO ASSIGNMENT WILL BE ACCEPTED for credit
more than 5 days after its due date. This policy includes
all written assignments and the research notebook. Failure
to turn in your research notebook on the due date indicated
will also delay reporting of your course grade.
General
university policies
on academic integrity, safety, accommodation for student
disabilities, etc, are described in the current Texas
Wesleyan University Catalog and also in the Wesleyan
Student Handbook. University policies also include, but
are not limited to, grade appeal, sexual harassment, student
access to records, and other issues; policies specified
in the current catalog are applicable unless otherwise stated
in this syllabus.
Note:
Course syllabi are intended to provide students with basic
information concerning the course. The syllabus can be viewed
as a ‘blueprint’ for the course; changes in the syllabus
can be made and students will be informed of any substantive
changes concerning examinations, grading or attendance policies
and changes in project assignments. |
