Bio
610
Senior Seminar
Spring 2008
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Bio
610 Spring 2008 |
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Instructor: Dr. Catharina Coenen
This semester,
we will meet from 12:20 pm to 1:30 pm on Tuesdays in B212.
Each student will have an opportunity to briefly update the group on the week's progress / most pressing problem at the beginning of each meeting. This is also a good time to resolve questions about general lab organization.
Part of the time during senior seminar will be used for individual progress presentations on the senior project. These presentations can be informal in nature. However, most students find it helpful to get started on making slides of their data as soon as they become available. This way, you can have the benefits of a group-thinking session about the meaning and presentation format of your data. Of course, it is also permissible to use "your" presentation time to get suggestions from the group on resolving experimental problems.
Finally, part of seminar time will be used for small-group discussions on drafts of your written comp. We will have deadlines for drafts on the various sections (intro, methods, results, discussion). Past groups of compers have found this system very helpful in their fight against procrastination (which is, invariably, followed by deadline-panic). Drafts may of course still be lacking some vital data or conclusions; however, you will benefit most from the draft-and-revision process if you take these early deadlines seriously and make your best effort. The rationale behind this peer feedback system is two-fold:
(1) Most of us learn a lot about good writing by editing someone else's efforts. It is relatively easy to spot problems with someone else's arguments or sentences, whereas we become "blind" to our own writing. Reading someone else's work often allows us to re-gain perspective on our own.
(2) Fellow students are often much more perceptive about glaring omissions in your explanations than your instructor (to whom you've talked about your project constantly). Your second reader will have a perspective that is much more akin to your fellow student's than to your first reader's.
You will receive feedback on your early drafts from two of your fellow students. Please bring in two copies of the parts of your comp on the days these parts of the draft are due. You will re-submit the two draft copies with the reviewers' comments together with the complete draft that is due to me before Spring Break. Work on early drafts and peer reviewer comments will count towards your senior seminar participation grade.
Grades for Bio 610 are based on the written thesis (33%), on your work in the laboratory and in senior seminar meetings (33%), on the oral defense of your project (17%), and on your final presentation at the Biology Senior Symposium (17%). Please see the Bio Department Guidelines for specifics on expectations and formats.
Coenen Senior Seminar Schedule Spring 2008
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Useful
Links For Compers
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Coenen Lab Rules Mandatory reading for all Coenen Lab compers.
Bio Department Senior Project Guidelines
Bio Department Senior Project Schedule 2005-2006
Coenen Lab Protocols Near midnight and you can't remember how to standardize the pH meter? Here are instructions for equipment use and procedures that are commonly used by students in my lab. E-mail me your very own protocols if you think they might be useful to other students and I will add them to the list.
Career Considerations A growing collection of resources to help you mull over the stressful questions you hate to hear and your family loves to ask.
Biological Supply Companies Links to on-line catalogs of the most likely companies where you might shop for your comp-needs.
Plant Biology Sites Links to on-line dictionaries, glossaries and encyclopedias; plant physiology journals; professional societies (check them for internship and job opportunities); and collections of plant pictures.