ISP 118                                                       Science Research Apprenticeship                                         Spring 2010

SYLLABUS

 

Instructors:       Dr. Alison J. Draper                             Phone: x 5189                         Office: Clement 107   

            Director, Interdisciplinary Science Center        E-mail: alison.draper@trincoll.edu

 

Mentor:            Ankit Saraf ‘10                                                Phone: 513-607-3583

                                                                        E-mail: ankit.saraf@trincoll.edu  

Class time: Tuesdays, 9:25-10:40 am

Classroom: Clement 210

 

I. Expectations:

1.    You should be enrolled in two half-credit courses, ISP 118-01, the “lecture” portion of the class, and ISP 118-xx, the “laboratory” portion, with your faculty mentor. You will be assigned separate grades in the two portions of the course; in other words, you will be graded independently by Alison (ISP118-01) and your faculty mentor (ISP 118-xx). Normally, undergraduate research is graded almost entirely on effort, but you should be sure that you are clear on the expectations of your professor.

 

2.    Students in ISP118-01 will attend every meeting scheduled below. Attendance should be considered a professional responsibility. Permission to miss a meeting should be attained from Alison in advance.

 

3.    Students should expect to spend a minimum of 6 hours in the laboratory per week, and to do outside reading and library research as needed. Be sure that you have discussed expectations with your faculty mentor, since they will be grading you in the research portion of this course.

 

4.    Class meetings will be focused on helping students to

a.       Develop oral presentation skills

b.      Develop scientific writing skills

c.       Explore issues of science in society

d.      Prepare poster presentation for Trinity Research Symposium

 

5.    Alison and Ankit are available out of class at any time for advice, help or support in relation to the ISP 118 research experience. If problems arise, seek advice from either of them immediately through one of the contact methods listed above.

 

II. Grading

Final grades in ISP 118-01 will be calculated as follows:

Writing assignments                             310 pts

Bi-weekly research updates                   25 pts

Seminar attendance                                30 pts

Final poster presentation                        20 pts

Instructor points                                     25 pts

TOTAL                                               410 points

 

III. Oversight

Alison will be contacting each research professor periodically throughout the semester to check that students are doing work as expected.

 

IV. Communication

The most common reason for failure in ISP 118 is lack of communication between the student and the faculty mentor. If things are not going well, or if there is a lack of communication, students should speak to Alison or Ankit immediately. Together, we will determine a reasonable course of action.

V. Seminar attendance

As you learned in ISP 117, an important part of your experience as a science student at Trinity will be attendance at weekly research seminars. Most departments host regular seminars, where members of the department, senior thesis students, or outside guests present their latest research findings. Seminar schedules will be shared in class, and thirty points towards your grade in this course will be from attendance at these seminars. You will be required to attend 3 seminars over the course of the semester and submit short summaries of each. You are encouraged to attend seminars in your major area(s) of interest. To count, the summary must be submitted within one week of the seminar. The seminar summary form is available on the ISP 118 Blackboard site.

 

VI. Bi-weekly research updates

As an essential part of this course, you will be required to submit brief (1-2 paragraphs) updates every other week on the progress of your research. This should be sent by e-mail to alison.draper@trincoll.edu and these e-mail messages are due before class as noted on the attached schedule. These updates should be included in the body of the e-mail (not as an attachment) and should be written formally and completely. For example, a two-sentence informal update will not be acceptable.

 

VII. Assignments/Readings

All assignments and readings listed in this syllabus are available in the Assignments folder on the ISP 118 Blackboard web site.

 

VIII. Course Schedule

 

Date

Goals

Assignments Due

Jan. 26

 

Introductions, Planning meeting

Plan for Hg analysis

1

Bibliography of research reading

Feb. 2

Class project work

2

Food contamination case study reports

Bi-weekly update 1

Feb. 9

Class project work

3

Class project report section draft

 

Feb. 16

Class project presentation rehearsal.

 

4

PowerPoint slide for class project presentation

Bi-weekly update 2

Out of class activity (required): Feb. 16, 12:15-1:15 pm (common hour)

Class project presentation.

Clement 105

Feb. 23

HOT ISSUES #1: Nuclear energy

(Also discuss summer research.)

5

Hot Issues assignment #1

 

 

Mar. 2

 

No class: Trinity Days

 

Mar. 9

HOT ISSUES #1 cont.:  Ask the expert

Prof. John Mertens, Engineering

6

Hot Issues assignment #1b

Bi-weekly update 3

 

Mar. 16

Student presentations: project assignments

7

Research presentation

Introduction research paper

 

Friday, March 19 --Summer research forms due to Kathy Mallinson by 4pm

(ABSOLUTE DEADLINE FOR PARTICIPATION IN SUMMER PROGRAM)

 

Date

Goals

Assignments Due

Mar. 23

No meeting – Spring break

 

Mar. 30

HOT ISSUES #2: To Dredge or Not to Dredge

8

Hot issues assignment #2

 

Apr. 6

HOT ISSUES #3: Engineering of a superior human embryo (Also discuss abstracts.)

9

Hot issues assignment #3

Biweekly update 4

Apr. 13

HOT ISSUES #3 cont: Ask the expert

Dr. James “J” Hughes, Assoc. Dir. Institutional Research, Trinity College

10

Hot Issues assignment #3b

Abstract draft

 

Apr. 20

Student presentations: projects

11

Research presentation

Introduction “bullets”

Bi-weekly update 5

Apr. 27

Debriefing.

12

Materials and Methods section

 

May 4

Poster session practice/debriefing

13

Poster Draft

Out of class activity (required): Wed., May. 5, 1-3 pm

Trinity Science Symposium

Poster presentations

Fri., May 7, 12 noon

Final Debriefing paper* due.

 


 

IX. Specific Grading Information


 

Assignment:                                         Points:

Bibliography of research reading               5         

Food contamination case study reports      10

Class project report section draft              20

PowerPoint slide                                     10

Hot Issues assignment #1                        25

Hot Issues assignment #1b                      15

Research presentation 1                          20

Introduction research paper                     40

Hot issues assignment #2                        25

Hot issues assignment #3                        25

Hot Issues assignment #3b                      15

Abstract draft                                         10

Research presentation                             20

Introduction “bullets”                               10

Materials and Methods section                 10

Poster Draft                                           10

Final Debriefing paper*                           40

TOTAL                                               310

 

*This paper is required for students to pass the course.

 

  

To get a point value, the grade on each assignment is multiplied by the point value of the assignment according to the following table:

A+

0.98

A

0.95

A-

0.91

B+

0.88

B

0.85

B-

0.81

C+

0.78

C

0.75

C-

0.71

D

0.65

F

0.50

 

The final grade in the course is determined from the following table:

A+

0.970

1.000

A

0.940

0.969

A-

0.900

0.939

B+

0.870

0.899

B

0.840

0.869

B-

0.800

0.839

C+

0.770

0.799

C

0.740

0.769

C-

0.700

0.739

D

0.640

0.699

F

0.0

0.639