BCSC 206: Syllabus

Fall 2015

Time

Mondays & Wednesdays, 9:00 - 10:15 AM, Meliora 301B

Instructors

Ralf Haefner
Meliora Hall 312

Jessica Cantlon
Meliora Hall 321

Course Description

This is a two-semester intensive practicum in research methods in psychology & neuroscience. The goal of the 1st semester is to gain hands-on experience in methods and scientific research by performing a straightforward project that might involve replicating an existing study. The goal of the 2nd semester is to perform more substantial original research extending the 1st semester project to address a novel question.

Research

The core activity of this course will be carry out a scientific study, typically involving the replication of a classic experiment in psychology or neuroscience. You will choose an experiment from a list of options, be assigned to groups based on your choices, and will be mentored by a faculty member in the department to implement the experiment. You are expected to organize weekly meetings with your assigned faculty mentor on your own.

On Mondays, we will ask you to present weekly updates of specific aspects of your progress in your group project. On Wednesdays, we will discuss general aspects of research including experimental design, methods, analysis, interpretation, and presentation and dissemination of results.

Readings

There is no assigned textbook for this class. Instead, a schedule and online links are given below for assigned readings. You are expected to have read the assigned readings by the date associated with it.

Grading

Participation (25%): Each student is expected to contribute to class discussion whether we are discussing research articles, current issues in the field, or student projects.

Weekly Presentations (25%): Each group member is expected to present equally during the weekly in-class group presentations -- students will be graded on their individual contributions to the weekly presentations.

Final Presentation (25%): Each group will be evaluated on the quality of their project including background, methods, results, and overall presentation.

Final Essay (25%): The final exam will be a take-home essay wherein each student writes a 5-page scientific report of their own project. The details of what is to be described in the report will be given at the time of the exam. The student is expected to have a full grasp of their own experiment (ie., background, hypotheses, manipulations, measures, sample, analyses, results, conclusions).