BCSC 310: Syllabus
Fall 2024
Time & Location
Mondays & Wednesdays, 2:00 – 3:15 PM
Meliora Hall 269
Personnel
Instructor: Professor Manuel Gomez-Ramirez
Office hours By appointment
Office: Meliora Hall 317, in the BCS department
Course Objectives
- Enhance critical thinking skills in evaluating data related to Cognitive Science and Neuroscience research
- Enhance scientific communication skills in the form of writing and presenting research data related to Cognitive Science and Neuroscience
Attendance Policy
Class participation is an important part of this course and comprises 20% of your final grade. Your 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). If you miss a class due to an excusable reason, you must notify the instructor via email 24- hours in advance, and provide documentation. Failure to notify the instructor in advance of an absence will result in a 2% deduction of your final grade for each class missed. If you are unable to attend class due to sudden illness or a medical emergency, you must provide a note from a physician later to avoid deduction.
Reading
Students are required to make a slide presentation to the class, and write a scientific manuscript. As such, students will have to read and evaluate many papers as they relate to the class requirements.
Presentations
Each student will give a 30-minute presentation. The student will choose the research article to present with the approval of the instructor. The article for presentation needs to be emailed to the instructor at least two weeks prior to the presentation day.
A panel of 2 to 4 students will deliberate for 10 minutes outside of class, and provide feedback to the presenter regarding the clarity and content of the presentation.
Students’ grade on the presentation will be based on the instructors’ evaluation and the evaluation of the panel. The panel will also be assigned a grade depending on the critical feedback provided to the student. As part of their participation grade, the remaining students are expected to ask questions to the presenter. As such, all students are expected to read the article of the presentation in advance so they can prepare good questions and discussions.
Writing
All students will be required to write a “Statement of Interest” for applying to graduate school, and a manuscript in APA format as part of their final project.
The manuscript will be modeled after a scientific paper written in APA format. Students will be required to write an abstract, introduction, results, and discussion section. The paper should also include references. Students will be assigned to a specific group based on their research interest. Students will work to develop an experimental design to answer a hypothesis they want to test. The instructor will generate data for the group to analyze, and use to support or reject their hypothesis.
For all writing assignments, students will gather in groups (i.e., breakout sessions) to provide feedback to their peers. Students’ involvement and quality of their feedback will count towards their class participation grade. Note that students’ will be required to submit their feedback in writing.
The final Statement of Interest is due by 11:59am Wednesday October 2nd. See the syllabus for the deadlines in submitting different sections of the manuscript. Documents should be submitted to Blackboard. Assignments submitted past the deadline will be penalized 10% for each day they are past due.
Quizzes
There will be three quizzes throughout the semester based on lectures provided by the instructor. The questions will be fully based on the slide presentations provided by the instructor.
Grading
Grades will be assigned based on the student’s presentation, paper evaluation, discussion and participation, and writing skills.
- Manuscript 30%
- Student presentation 20%
- Statement of Interest 15%
- Class participation 20%
- Quiz 15%
- Extra credit (up to 5%), if conducting the entire data analyses for the paper, and generating the figure without the help of the instructor.
Email list
You can post messages to the class in Blackboard’s Discussion Board.
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 or visit their website.
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, visit their website, call them at (585) 273-3577.