BCS 301: Syllabus

Fall 2023

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 5:00 – 6:00 PM
Kresge Room, Meliora 269
Class meetings will be in person by default

Personnel

Instructor: Professor Jude Mitchell

Office hours: By appointment (send me email)

Course Objectives

The main purpose of the course is to provide students with experience reading, evaluating, and discussing primary research papers. A primary goal is to develop critical thinking when reading primary research sources and reporting of them in the media. A secondary, but an important goal, is to develop skills for giving concise and clear presentations. Each student will choose a topic of particular interest in neuroscience and become an expert in that topic. Students will act as critics, discussion leaders, and review writers on their chosen topic of interest throughout the course. Students will be graded on their performance as a presenter, discussion leader, discussion participant, and writer.

Attendance Policy

Class participation is an incredibly important part of this course and comprises 25% of your final grade. Students are expected to attend every class in person. The participation grade will be based on both attendance and involvement in class discussions (e.g., asking questions and providing helpful feedback to peers after student presentations). Each student begins with 20% of the 25%. You may increase the grade by participating in class and asking relevant questions. If you miss a class then you must email the instructor as soon as possible. Failure to notify the instructor within 2 days of missing a class will result in a 2pt deduction for participation. In the beginning of the semester there will also be a few easy quizzes given on assigned readings which will each count 1pt towards class participation.

Readings

Each week, about 2-3 articles will be assigned to read either for discussion in class or for papers related to student presentations. Assigned readings will be emailed to the class email list (bcs310neuro@googlegroups.com). We will review how to read science articles to the point that you get the gist. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to read articles for your presentation topics in depth and provide critiques of the science.

ChatGPT

Writing submitted must reflect your original work. You may use AI technologies to edit your writing as long as you follow the disclosure policy of “Citation and Description”. Include a citation of the program or programs used, 1-2 sentences of how it was used, and include your original text before the modifications.

For readings, members of the class must come prepared to discuss key points of all assigned journal articles, such as:

  1. What was the question addressed?
  2. What was the method?
  3. What was observed?
  4. What’s the main conclusion?
  5. On what assumptions does the conclusion depend?
  6. Are the conclusions convincing?
  7. What was new or important about the paper?
  8. What are the broad implications?

Presentations

All students will give two presentations during the course:

  1. a critique of popular press coverage for a science news story —10 minutes, with 5 minutes for questions
  2. a literature review of a topic in neuroscience presentation 15 minutes, with 10 minutes for questions

Papers

All students will also submit two (brief) written assignments:

  1. a one-page written press critique
  2. a two-page research topic review

Grading

  • Popular press coverage critique 30%
    • One-page written critique 15%
    • Presentation 15%
  • Topic review presentation 45%
    • Written summary (2 pages) 15%
    • Presentation 30%
  • Class participation 25%

Late papers

Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day on which they are due. Late assignments will be penalized 10% for each day past when they are due.

Email list

You can email the class at at the Google groups address (on Blackboard)

This is the email address you will use to send your classmates the papers related to your presentations one week in advance of the presentations themselves!

Important dates

  • Press critique presentation: (per individual)
  • Submit 2 review papers on topic Tu, 12 Sept
  • Written press critique due Th, 28 Sept
  • Topic presentation summary due Tu, 31 Oct
  • Bring a pdf copy of your CV to class Th, 2 Nov
  • Topic review / thesis presentation (per individual)

Topic review / thesis presentation

To get started early this year, I am having each student select two recent (within 5 years) review papers on the topic of their choice and send them to me for approval. The two review papers must be from different (non-overlapping) authors to get a different perspective. Students should use those papers to begin their search of the topic, ideally selecting papers cited in the reviews for their press critique presentation and for the research covered in their topic presentation. Good candidate journals for neuroscience review papers: Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Annual Review of Neuroscience, Trends in Neuroscience, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, Progress in Neurobiology, Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.

The final topic review presentation should focus on a topic of interest for each student providing in depth critical analysis of one research topic. The final written topic presentation should cover three related research papers: one classic science article that is more than 10 years old and has at least 100 citations introducing a key finding in a field, and two more recent articles within 10 years that expand on the topic introduced in the classic article. The three papers should be logically connected through a common theme. The papers should be from reputable neuroscience or medical journals (instructor approval for the articles you select will be necessary). The presentations should be 15 minutes in length with 10 minutes for discussion.

Academic honesty

Any student suspected of cheating on a presentation or written assignment will be referred to the Board on Academic Honesty for investigation and possible penalties. Any evidence of duplication or plagiarism (e.g., copying someone else’s writing, or failing to cite the work, ideas, or writings of someone else, and presenting it as your own) will be referred to the Board on Academic Honesty.

Learning assistance

Students who require assistance in learning should contact Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), located at 1-154 Dewey Hall. Call them at (585) 275-9049, email at cetl@rochester.edu, or visit them online.

Writing assistance

Students who need assistance with writing can make an appointment with a writing consultant or fellow at the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program. For more information, call (585) 273-3577 or email them at wsap@ur.rochester.edu.