BIOLOGY
401-402: RESEARCH
Guidelines
Biology Research allows the student to use his/her problem-solving skills in the year-long investigation of a scientific problem in conjunction with one of the Department's faculty. Its goal is to familiarize the student with the process of scientific research and make the student an active participant in this process. Its product is two-fold: a written document prepared in a style which conforms to that used in scientific publication and an oral presentation summarizing the student's work.
Registration
Course Requirements
Biology 401
Biology 402
General Comments
A student may register for the Biology
401, the first semester of research, in any semester after the sophomore year.
Such registration requires the written consent of the cooperating faculty
member. Students wishing to
register for the second semester (Biology 402) in order to continue work on
their research project must do so in the semester immediately following that in
which the first semester is taken. Registration
for the second semester also requires the signature of the cooperating faculty
member. Biology 401, 402 may be
taken for credit only once during a student's undergraduate career.
BIOLOGY
401 - The first semester of Research
includes identification of a problem suitable for study, background work
including construction of a literature review, formulation of a methodology and
collection of equipment or organisms needed for the study, and the initiation of
the data collection phase of the experiment. The major academic landmarks for this semester include the
production of a proposal (no later than the midterm of this semester) and a
progress report at the end of the semester.
A. Proposal:
The research proposal should consist of a relatively brief narrative
which includes the following sections:
1.
Introduction - this section should provide a brief description of the project,
the central hypothesis to be tested, a description of the importance of the
work, and the expected type of outcome (what will support or rejection of the
hypothesis mean?);
2. Methodology - this section should identify the experimental design and
techniques to be used as well as include a tentative schedule for completion of
the project's data collection phase; if statistical analyses will be employed in
the examination of data, an indication of the types of techniques to be used
should be made; and
3. Literature Review - this section should consist of a bibliography describing work already accomplished which is relevant to the proposed project and any other work which bears upon the proposed methodology of the present project.
B. Progress Report: The progress report should provide a narrative summary of the
work completed on the project during the first semester.
This report should include a description of the experiments that have
been carried out in the first semester (or summarize the field data that have
been collected), report the results of preliminary analyses of these data,
describe any modifications in the project from the procedures and schedules
described in the proposal and comment upon the development of the project in the
second semester.
C. Evaluation:
The first semester's grade will be based upon contributions from the
following three grading areas.
1. Proposal (30%) - The student should submit three copies of his/her proposal
to the faculty advisor no later than midterm of the first semester.
The proposal will be graded independently by each faculty member in the
Department and their independent grades averaged to reach a grade for the
Proposal.
2. Project Work (40%) - The faculty advisor for the project will assign a grade
for the student's work during the course of the project.
In addition to a letter grade, the grade will be accompanied by a written
evaluation of the student's performance
indicating those areas of student performance requiring improvement as well as
those areas of satisfactory performance.
3. Progress Report (30%) - The student should submit three copies of the
Progress Report to his/her faculty advisor no later than Monday of Examination
week during the semester of registration. Submission
of the Progress Report will be treated in the same manner as a final examination
and failure to submit it at the assigned time will result in the grade of
"X"; if extenuating circumstances are not in evidence, a failing grade
will be awarded. The Progress
Report will be graded by each departmental faculty member and a joint grade
awarded.
The semester's grade will be assigned
by the faculty project supervisor and be based upon a numerical averaging of the
above components. A written
explanation of this grade will be provided to the student.
BIOLOGY
402 - The second semester of Research is a
continuation of the first and should involve the completion of the first
semester's project. As such, it
will probably involve additional data collection and an analytical phase.
It will culminate in the production of a written document describing the
project and its results in their entirety and an oral presentation of the
project's results. Landmarks for
the second semester include the final written report and oral presentation.
A. Written Report: The student, in consultation with his/her faculty advisor should identify the journal in which work most closely allied to that of the student's project is published. The student's final report should follow the format guidelines of that journal for his/her final report. The written report is due no later than the Friday two full weeks before Final Examination Week, and at least two full weeks before the oral presentation.
B. Oral Presentation: A twenty minute oral presentation with an accompanying
question and answer period will be scheduled no later than the last Friday of
the semester. This oral
presentation should describe the project from its inception to its completion.
C. Evaluation:
The following components will contribute to the course grade for Biology
402.
1. Written
Report (50%) - Three copies of the written report are to be submitted and will
be graded independently by the Department's faculty. The major concern of the evaluation will be the scientific
merit of the project's results. However,
the report's conformance to basic elements of style in scientific writing, its
logical presentation and adherence to the style of the appropriate journal will
also be considered.
2. Oral Presentation (20%) - The student will be graded on his/her ability to
present the results of his/her study in a logical and effective manner in an
oral presentation. All of the
Department's faculty will attend such presentations and award a grade
independently. Among the components
of such presentations to be evaluated will be logical presentation, use of
appropriate aids, and the presenter's poise and ability to respond to audience
questions appropriately and effectively.
3. Project Work (30%) - The project's faculty advisor will assign a grade for
the student's work during the second semester.
As in the first semester, a written
explanation of this grade will be provided to the student.
FINAL GRADE:
The faculty advisor for the project is responsible for tabulation of all
grades administered during the course of a project and for their compilation
into a single final grade for the course.
1. Time Commitment – The student can
be awarded up to two credits for each semester of research dependent on time
commitment. It is expected that
each student spend a minimum of approximately 10 hours per week per credit hour
on the research project.
2. Publication - Any presentations
presented at scientific meetings or publications which arise out of work
completed as part of this course will include the student as co-author.
3. First Semester Timetable
Project proposal:
due by midterm
Progress report:
due by the start of examination week
Second Semester Timetable
Final report: due two weeks before examination week (and at least two weeks before
the oral presentation)
Oral presentation:
scheduled no later than the last day of the semester