September 4th


All students should report to the instruction room on the fourth floor of Maag Library.  There, Ms. Cynthia Harrison, Science Librarian Liason, will provide a short hands-on workshop on available literature search rescources available to YSU students.  Attendance is mandatory!

• Arnett, D. R., et al.  2009.  Catabolite repression directly affects transcription of the qa-y gene of Neurospora crassa.  Fungal Genet Biol 46: 377-380.  [OhioLink]

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Facutly Presentor:   Dr. Carl Chuey, Professor

Topic-Related Article(s):

PLEASE NOTE: Dr. Atwood is a recent YSU biology graduate who studied under Dr. Chuey.
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Facutly Presentor:   Dr. Carl Sims, Assistant Professor

Topic-Related Article:

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October 23rd

• Brinchmann, J. E.  2008.  Expanding autologous multipotent mesenchymal bone marrow stromal cells.  J Neurol Sci 265: 127–130.  [OhioLink]


• Hone, R. and C. Keane.  1974.  A clinical study of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.  Infect 2: 213 - 217.  [OhioLink]

October 30th

November 6th

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November 13th

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November 20th

• Lecrenier, N. and Foury, F.  2000.  New features of mitochondrial DNA replication system in yeast and man.  Gene 246: 37-48.  [OhioLink]

• Ling, F.  et al.  2007.  DNA recombination-initiation plays a role in the extremely biased inheritance of yeast [rho–] mitochondrial DNA that contains the replication origin ori5.  Molecular and Cellular Biology 27: 1133-1145.  [ASM Journals]

November 27th

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December 4th

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• Course Description
• Course Goals/Objectives
• Available Resources
• Disability Statement
• Grading
• Grading Scale
• Turnitin.com
• Syllabus Acknowledgment

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Course Description

This course will expose students to a diverse range of research topics explored by departmental faculty and students, as well as individuals from other institutions.

Course Goals and Objectives

BIOL 6988 will help prepare students for professional careers and aid them in the selection of a research topic/mentor. As such, this couse is designed to help students strive towards the following specific goals:

• learn the fundamental concepts underlying selected biological systems
  
• recognize the importance of proper public dissemination of information
• learn to write effectively about biology-related topics

Students who successfully complete BIOL 6988 will be provided the tools needed for continued learning in the area of their choice by achieving the following specific objectives:

• learning scientific terminology
• understand the real-world application of the scientific method
• efficiently and effectively communicate scientific knowledge
• understand the fundamentals of particular biological processes
• select an area of concentration or a specific research project/mentor to complete their graduate degree

Available Resources

Electronic Files.  Any electronic files of journal articles presented in this syllabus are made available soley for the personal educational use of students enrolled in this course.  Their use beyond this specific intent may violate applicable copyright restrictions.  When possible, links to pages where articles can be downloaded by the student alone are posted.

Writing Center.  This course will require students to write a number of summaries.  For those individuals desiring help in improving their writing skills, use of the YSU Writing Center is strongly recommended.  Their services are free.  Appointments can be scheduled or walk-in visits are available.  The Writing Center  can be contacted by telephone [330.941.3055] or by email [wcenter@cc.ysu.edu].

Computer/Media.  The YSU Tech Desk is available for students needing help with their personal computers or networking services at YSU (Phone: 330.941.1595  Email: techdesk@cc.ysu.edu).  Also, students needing help or resources to address their multimedia and computing needs should contact the pertinent party in YSU's  Media and Academic Compuring (M&AC) department.


Disability Statement

In accord with the Americans with Disabilities Act, anyone requiring special adaptations or accommodations should privately inform Dr. Cooper as soon as possible. In accordance with University procedures, if you have a documented disability and require accommodations to obtain equal access in this course, please contact the Office of Disability Services (telephone 330.941.1372) in the Center for Student Progress at the beginning of the semester or when given an assignment for which an accommodation is required. Students with disabilities must verify their eligibility through the Office of Disability Services.  Persons enrolled in this course and currently having a documented disability must notify Dr. Cooper of their needs no later than September 11, 2009.  Students with disabilities are reminded that in addition to certain rights and privileges covered by law and University policy, they also have obligations and responsibilities that must be met.  Students are strongly encouraged to review these rights and responsibilities as outlined on the Disability Services Office web page.


Grading

A student's grad for this course will be based upon the following items:

• Attendance - Attendance of seminar is mandatory. This grade component comprises 130 points towards a students total score.  Excused absences are subject to Dr. Cooper's perogative.  For each unexcused absence, ten (10) points will be deducted from a student's score.

• Participation - A total of 70 points have been allotted to this grade component.  The amount of points awarded to a student is at the Dr. Cooper's discretion.  

Students are expected to have read the material provided before each seminar and use it as the basis for interaction with the seminar speaker.  Failure to ask pertinent questions or make suitable comments during the seminar will results in a deduction of points from the students total score. 

Journal Article Summaries - Students will submit a summariy of any single article provided by a faculty member for background reading.  Students must submit ten (10) summaries, each from a different presentor.  Each summary is worth 15 points and must be: i) no more than 200 words in length, and ii) submitted to Turnitin.com (see below) no later than 11:59 AM on the day of the corresponding faculty member's presentation.  Late submissions will not be accpeted!!!!!

IMPORTANT NOTICE!  Be sure to place your summary in the appropriate folder in the Turnitin.com course page.  The correct folder is the one named for the faculty member whose journal article you have summarized.  Placing your summary in the incorrect folder will be considered as not having turned in the assignment!!!!

Each summary will be graded mainly upon content and grammar/style.

Each summary should briefly address the following questions:

• What questions were addressed by this study?
• How were these questions addressed? What specific approaches/methods were used?
• What assumptions were made?  Were these reasonable and testable?
• What were the major findings of the study?
• What questions remain unanswered and how might these be sought?
  
• What did you find particularly interesting about the presentation?
• What improvements to the study or the presentation might you suggest? 
  

Grading Scale

A student's grade for this course will be based upon the following scale:

• 315 - 350 points    Grade of A
• 280 - 314 points    Grade of B
• 245 - 279 points     Grade of C
• 210 - 244 points    Grade of D
• 209 points or less  Grade of F

This scale is absolute, i.e., there is no curving!


Turnitin.com

Your journal article summaries for this course must be submitted electronically to Turnitin.com, a web site that reviews all submissions for plagiarism.  To begin the process of electronic submission, students need to login to Turnitin.com.  To briefly summarize the process, students should point their web browser to http://www.turnitin.com.  (Do not use the period [“.”] at the end of this address.).  Follow the process stated in the Turnitin Student User Guide to join my class, “BIOL 6988: Seminar in Biological Sciences (Fall 2009)”.  The class/account ID is 2820283 and the join/enrollment password is “biol6988” (“biol” is all in lower case; the password is case-sensitive).  Once you have established your account, you are now ready to submit copies of your written assignments.

IMPORTANT NOTICE!  Be sure to place your summary in the appropriate folder in the Turnitin.com course page.  The correct folder is the one named for the faculty member whose journal article you have summarized.  Placing your summary in the incorrect folder will be considered as not having turned in the assignment!!!!

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Syllabus Acknowledgement

Students are required to submit a signed and completed Syllabus Acknowledgement Form to Dr. Cooper no later than 5:00 PM on September 11, 2009.  This form can be accessed as a PDF document through the button link below.  Failure to properly submit this form will cause Dr. Cooper to withhold the recording of any scores/grades for student(s) who do not comply with this requirement.