TOURO COLLEGE
NEW YORK SCHOOL OF CAREER AND APPLIED STUDIES
COURSE SYLLABUS
1. DEPARTMENT: BIOLOGY
2. COURSE TITLE: RESEARCH TOPICS
3. COURSE NUMBER: GSBN493
4. PREREQUISITE: Biology Majors with over 90 credits
5. CREDIT HOURS: 3 CREDITS
6. DEVELOPERS: Professor Kim Macklin, Dr. Miriam Ben-Ezra, Dr. Milton Schiffenbauer, Dr. Brian P. Chiswell
7. LAST UPDATED: September 13, 2018
8. COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is strongly recommended for all biology major students. It will provide students with the opportunity to learn research skills useful in both small and large libraries. All areas of the research paper will be covered, including organizing information, judging reliability of sources, defending a research paper with documented evidence, and publishing the paper in a prescribed format. Emphasis will be placed on smooth and coherent writing.
9. COURSE / DEPARTMENTAL OBJECTIVES:
The students will be able to:
-Access materials for a given topic from a variety of sources
-Learn proper note taking skills: differentiate between facts and opinions
-Select and organize a topic dealing with the current research in science
-Use appropriate documentation of materials
-Present their papers orally to the class and defend their research
10. COURSE / INSTITUTIONAL OBJECTIVES:
The objectives of this course are to:
-Foster an appreciation of scholarship and enhance research skills.
-Further professional and pre-professional career interests of students in the sciences.
-Develop critical thinking skills and increase scientific literacy.
-Enhance analytical and quantitative thinking.
-Increase students’ abilities to solve problems and interpret data.
-Promote the study of traditional liberal arts and sciences.
11. COURSE CONTENT:
A) Research paper requirements:
· An appropriate research topic in the area of biological research must be selected. The topic and hypothesis must be approved by the instructor.
· Complete a 15 – 20 page research paper in 12 pt. font, 1” margins, double-spaced
· Work cited page which includes a minimum of 15 peer-reviewed scientific papers
WRITING A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PAPER
FORMAT FOR THE PAPER
Scientific research articles provide a method for scientists to communicate with other scientists about the results of their research. A standard format is used for these articles, in which the author presents the research in an orderly, logical manner. This doesn’t necessarily reflect the order in which you did or thought about the work. This format is:
I. Introduction A. Background B. Hypothesis C. Objectives II. Methods III. Discussion A. Data for each objective B. Accept or reject your hypothesis
FIGURES, TABLES AND GRAPHS
1. If you present data in a figure, the figure must have a figure legend below it.
2. If you present data in a table, the table must have a title above it.
REFERENCES (LITERATURE CITED)
As posted on Blackboard, references are to be in the same format as the ACS Journal Biochemistry. See authors’ instructions for more details and examples:
http://pubs.acs.org/page/bichaw/submission/reference-guidelines.html
EDIT YOUR PAPER!!!
“In my writing, I average about ten pages a day. Unfortunately, they’re all the same page.”
· Michael Alley, The Craft of Scientific Writing
A major part of any writing assignment consists of re-writing.
B) Presentation requirements:
For the oral presentation, the student should prepare 15-20 slides that includes the following sections:
Introduction
Hypothesis
Methodology
Results Presentation (figures, tables or images)
Conclusions
The focus of the presentation should be the methodology and the results sections. A template for a scientific presentation in PowerPoint will be provided on Canvas.
The Oral presentation should be 15 minutes with 5 minutes afterwards for a question and answer session. Your colleagues or other faculty members will be present in the classroom.
12. COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Students must write and present a research paper as a requirement of the course.
2. Biweekly update showing progress on the research paper must be shown to or sent to the instructor. If the schedule at the end of this syllabus is not followed, students will lose points of their final grade.
13. PUNCTUALITY AND ATTENDANCE:
The student must meet and communicate regularly with their faculty mentor for this course or they will lose credit on their final grade. Drafts must be submitted in accordance with the course schedule. See last page.
14. POLICY ON CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM:
Your final paper (and most drafts) submitted will be checked for plagiarism. The final draft must be submitted through SafeAssign on Blackboard and a Microsoft Word version must be emailed to your Professor.
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, failure to indicate the source with a proper citation if any of the following are reproduced in the work submitted by a student:
1. A phrase
2. Data such as a graph or table
3. Specific language
4. An idea derived from the work, published or unpublished, of another person
The student(s) involved in cases of academic disciplinary violations will be directed to Dean Taylor’s office. “Academic Disciplinary Actions” are penalties or sanctions imposed for violation of academic regulations against cheating or plagiarism as defined in the Touro College Student Handbook.
15. METHODOLOGY:
1. Discussion with the instructor
2. Utilizing library and online research tools
16. GRADING GUIDELINES:
The paper will count for 80% of the final grade and the presentation will count for 20% of the final grade. A deduction of 3 points off the final grade will occur for each deadline on the schedule below that is missed.
Final grade values in percentage:
A+ 99-100 C+ 77-79
A 93-98 C 73-76
A- 90-92 C- 70-72
B+ 87-89 D+ 67-69
B 83-86 D 63-66
B- 80-82 D- 60-62
F less than 60
17. ONLINE RESOURCES:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
GSBN493 Schedule Fall 2018 NYSCAS Biology
All of the following are due on Fridays throughout the semester. The material listed is required to be sent to your Professor by email on the date posted. Remember you are required to contact your Professor in person or through email at least every two weeks to receive full credit for the course.
October 12 Topic and hypothesis (a testable statement)
October 26 5 original research papers and 1 review (paste links from PubMed into an email)
November 2 A skeleton outline (1 page)
November 16 1st draft (about 5 pages) including hypothesis and most of the discussion
December 7 2nd draft (full draft of thesis)
December 30 Begin preparation for 15 min presentation
JANUARY 4 Due date for the FINAL DRAFT (must be submitted through SafeAssign)
Presentations will be scheduled Monday January 7th through Friday January 11th.
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