SDSU Bio 490: Senior Seminar
Spring 2009
Approaches to Biological Research
Assignments

• Assignment 1: Resume
• Assignment 2: Title and Short Summary of the Proposal
• Assignment 3: Hard Copy Results of Library Search
• Assignment 4: Oral Seminar/Defense
• Assignment 5: Written "Grant" Proposal
• Topic Requirements and Suggestions



---

Assignment 1: RESUME [100 POINTS]:
The resume should be 1-2 pages in length, and be similar or identical to the one you plan to submit to potential employers.  Different types of formats are appropriate depending on career interests; the CAP center can provide advice regarding this issue.  You might also review the resume information available on the SDSU Bio 290 Webpage.  Please include your career objective on your resume.  Your resume is due the second week of class.


---

Assignment 2: TITLE AND SHORT SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL [20 POINTS]
A title and short summary of your proposal must be submitted by the third week of class.  The summary should include the hypothesis to be tested and central objective of the project.  The more detail that you provide me with, the more help that I can give you regarding you topic.  Your title and summary will be evaluated and returned by the following week, and will be used to enable me to provide "feedback" on the extent and focus of the project.  Topic requirements and suggestions can be found by selecting here.


---

Assignment 3: HARD COPY RESULTS OF LIBRARY SEARCH [50 POINTS]
The hard copy results of your library search must be submitted to the instructor 1 week prior to your oral presentation.  This "search" must come from at least one of the computerized data journal bases available at Briggs Library (i.e. Medline, Agricola).  Internet searchers are not appropriate for this portion of the assignment.  You will be evaluated based upon the completeness of your search relative to the topic of your proposal.  You are required to submit a hard-copy (paper) printout of the results from your search.  In addition, you must provide a separate page containing the title of your project, the database(s) and keywords used and the number of "hits" attributed to each keyword.  In many databases, the search words and numerical results are printed out with the citations.  If so, you still must include this information on a separate sheet.  This research should fulfill two functions: 1) it should locate key scientific articles that will be used in the formulation of the proposed project, and 2) it will provide evidence that the proposed project has not yet been performed (or at least published).  Do not turn in the actual scientific papers that you used in your project.


---

Assignment 4: ORAL SEMINAR/DEFENSE (200 POINTS):
Each student must present a 15-20 minute seminar describing and defending the written proposal (described below).  The student should be prepared to answer questions from the audience.  Also, as a result of the question-answer session, it may become apparent that the speaker's proposal would benefit from one or more major changes.  The speaker will be expected to incorporate suggested changes into the written proposal.    The oral seminar will be evaluated by the audience and instructor, and the final point value will represent a compilation of these two sources.  The criteria used for evaluating these presentations is listed in the evaluation sheet.


---

Assignment 5: WRITTEN "GRANT" PROPOSAL [300 POINTS]:
The written proposal must be "submitted" no later than two weeks following the seminar; students presenting their seminar during the last two weeks of class must "submit" their proposal no later than the last day of semester exams. The proposal should be submitted in a web-based computerized format (HTM or HTML file).  The font size should be 14-15 characters per inch (or 12 font).  The proposal should be designed to solve some biological problem or answer a biological question.  It should probably not involve more than 1 long experiment or 2-3 short experiments.  You will not be graded on the global significance of your project, but rather on the quality and completeness of your proposal.  Priority on quality not quantity.  A masters-level graduate student should be able to accomplish your project in less than 2 years; however, you can include aid of technicians to aid in data collection, etc.  The proposal must be divided into the following topics:
 1.    Title Page: [no points]
The proposal should have a title page containing the title of the proposal, your name, the course number and name, the instructor's name, and the date submitted.  The title page should not have a page number on it.
 2.    Introduction/Background (Purpose of the Planned Study) [100 points]
The introduction must provide the background information and context for the proposed project.  The introduction should come from the published literature and must include at least three cited references.  At least one of these references must be a primary reference (original study containing new data, not a review article or book chapter).  These references should provide an indication of the current level of understanding relative to the proposed question, and you should use them to clearly explain what is currently know about your proposed area of study and why the proposed study is necessary. The introduction should also contain the hypothesis to be tested and should lead into the central and/or specific objective(s) of the proposal.
 3.   Central and/or Specific Objective(s) [15 points]
In this section, you should summarize in WHAT you plan to accomplish in this project.  You should be able to describe your objective(s) in 1-3 sentences.  This is often the first section written by a researcher.
 4.   Experimental Plan [30 points]
This section should present a 1 paragraph overview of HOW you plan to accomplish your listed objective(s).  This plan should contain overall experimental design, the experimental and control groups used, and generally how any data will be collected and evaluated.  It would be an excellent idea to also provide a justification for the proposed experimental approached by referencing a similar study.
 5.   Methodologies [100 points]
This section should contain a DETAILED description of the approach(es) used in the experimental plan, and therefore should describe what you intend to measure and how you plan to measure it.  It can be further subdivided into subsections which cover the different techniques used.  I would expect this section to take 1-2 pages.  You must also reference techniques that you are using, and I will be looking for at least one reference in this section.  In this section, you MUST describe how you intend to analyze any numerical data that is collected.  This should include a description of the most appropriate statistical methods to be used for summarizing and comparing the data within the various groups (e.g. mean, standard deviation, standard error of the mean, percentiles, confidence intervals, P-values, non-parametric vs parametric analysis, t-tests, regression analysis, correlation coefficients).
 6.    Personnel/Equipment/Supplies and Study Materials Needed  [15 points]
This section can take the form of a simple list, but you will be evaluated based upon the completeness of the list.  Don't leave anything out.  You don't need to include the costs of these items.
 7.    Expected Results [25 points]
You should try to predict specifically what your results will "look like".  This section should include a written review of the results, but you may also like to include tables and graphs with theoretical values.  Don't forget the statistics in this section also.  At the end of this section, brief explain what effects that your results had on the hypothesis listed in the introduction section.

  8.    Literature Cited [15 points]
Please list all of the references cited in the body of the proposal (i.e. all references listed here must be found in the body and all of the references in the body should be listed here).  References must be listed according to the following formats:
            a. Journal articles:
1st Author's (A's) Lastname, 1st A's Initials, 2nd A's Initials 2nd A's Lastname, 3rd A's Initials 3rd A's Lastname, and Last A's Initials Last A's Lastname. Year. Title of article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue): pages.
            For Example:
Granholm, N.H., A.J. Opbroek, G.A. Harvison, and K.E. Kappenman. 1990. Tyrosinase activity (TH, DO, PAGE-defined isozymes) and melanini production in regenerating hairbulb melanocytes of lethal yellow (Ay/a), black (a/a), agouti (AwJ/AwJ), and albino (a/a c2J/c2J) mice (C57BL/6J).  Pigment Cell Research, 3:233-242.
            b. Chapters in books
1st Author's (A's) Lastname, 1st A's Initials, 2nd A's Initials 2nd A's Lastname, 3rd A's Initials 3rd A's Lastname, and Last A's Initials Last A's Lastname. Year. Title of article or Chapter. In: Book Name (editors) Volume Number and possibly title: pages. Publisher. City.
               For Example:
Granholm, N.H. 1979. Effects of cytochalasin B on preimplantion and early postimplantation mouse embryos in vitro.  In: Advances in the Study of Birth Defects (T.V.N. Persaud, eds.) Vol. 3; Abnormal Embryogenesis: Cellular and Molecular Aspects: pp. 71-94. MTP Press. Lancaster, England.

---

Goal: Advanced Writing Goal:

Students will build upon the concepts learned in courses covering System General Education Goal # 1 and refine their skills through research and writing in a discipline specific context.

Outcomes:

1. Read extensively and respond critically in the written discourse of a discipline; formulate research questions, refine topics, develop a plan for research and organize what is know about the topic; articulate a position through a thesis statement and advance it using evidence from primary and secondary sources, examples, and counterarguments that are relevant to the audience or issues at hand.
2. Use a style manual and other writing conventions specific to a discipline; avoid plagiarism by adhering to the rules of paraphrasing, summarizing, and the use of quotations, as well as the conventions for incorporating information from Internet-based resources.
3. Evaluate sources critically, both print and electronic, discern the strength of evidence and arguments, determine credibility, and identify potential bias and overall quality. 
4. Present the results of research or projects, either collaboratively or individually, to the class, department, faculty, community members, or at a student research or professional conference.