Weekly Assignment
Students are expected to read the assigned papers and come to class with an understanding of all the figures and tables in the papers. To help guide the discussion, students will submit two questions about each paper; the questions can be about background information, techniques, figures or tables, or conclusions.
Midterm Written Assignment
Students will write a proposal describing a follow-up experiment to a paper that was discussed in class. The proposal will be in the form of a grant proposal and include one-half page (double-spaced) of background/significance where the scientific question is outlined; one page describing the experiment with the proper controls explained; and one-half page of possible results and how they might be interpreted.
Final Oral Presentation
Students will select a paper from a provided list to present to the class. The presentation will be 15 minutes long and should include a few slides of background information about the subject and the techniques used and then a critical analysis of the figures and the key control experiments. The last part of the presentation will discuss the conclusions that the authors drew from their results. The student will explain whether or not these conclusions are justified.