Biology 480, Case Studies in Biology,
Fall 2007
Dr. Kari Benson
Office: 218
Office Hours: TR
Email: benson@lynchburg.edu
Scheduled Class Time: The class meets Tuesdays
and Thursdays from
Required materials: Most materials will be
provided by the instructor or obtained by the student via literary
research. Students should all have a
copy of Victoria McMillan’s Writing
Papers in the Biological Sciences from earlier classes in the major. We will continue to use this text.
Course Description: This course is
intended as a capstone course and is designed to allow students to study
specific topics in biology in depth. It utilizes case studies in biology and draws
upon previous coursework in the biology major. Emphasis is placed on critical
thinking and problem solving skills.
Course Objectives:
When you have completed this course, you should
be able to:
·
Explain
the process of scientific inquiry and how it is used in testing general
biological principles.
Activity: Analyze excerpts from
studies; derive hypotheses, experimental procedures, and design; data
representation and the relationship between data and conclusions.
·
Describe
components of the process of scientific reasoning and use scientific reasoning
in the analysis of scientific reports in the popular media.
Activity: Learn and use the
“If-And-Then-Therefore” and Giere’s 6-step models of scientific reasoning.
·
Recognize
when information is needed and locate, evaluate, and effectively use the needed
information (i.e. exhibit competency in information literacy).
Activity: Learn the ACRL’s
standards of information literacy and use these skills in researching
biological topics.
·
Identify
the major discoveries/achievements in Biology from the Rennaissance to the
present. Additionally, explain how
advances in science were shaped by advances in technology.
Activity: Research and
“prioritize” discoveries/achievements in biology by century. Make a “web” (identify connections) of
related (dependent) events. Evaluate the
role of emerging technologies relative to the events.
·
Apply
information pertaining to major biological concepts in solving “real-world”
problems in biology.
Activity: Case Studies.
·
Recognize
major recent works/discoveries in biology.
Activity: Present a summary of
research on a “hot topic” over the last decade.
Present and write a summary of science news articles collected through
the semester.
·
Analyze
the components and correctly interpret conclusions of science reported in
peer-reviewed, scientific journals (i.e. primary literature).
Activity: Analyze scientific journal articles.
These course objectives meet objectives 1.1b,
3.1a, 3.1b, half of 3.1d, 3.1g, and 4.1a of the Biology Major (see www.lynchburg.edu/irad/biology.htm).
Class Policies:
Attendance: This is a small class, each one of you must be here
for all of your success. Please come
prepared and on time to class. The instructor
reserves the right to reduce the course grade if a student is lacking in
attendance or participation (the student will be informed if this option is
exercised). Three unexplained absences
will result in a 5% reduction in your final grade, and five or more absences
will result in failure for the course.
Teamwork: Part of
your grade will be assessed through peer evaluation of your contribution to
group work. In that the group is small,
everyone will rely on one another a great deal.
Please be mindful of this component of your grade as you work throughout
the semester. The instructor reserves
the right to modify the group-given score if it seems inappropriate.
Working in
Groups
A portion of the work in this
course will involve collaboration with a partner, working as part of a group,
and the peer review process. You are
expected to take advantage of peer review – both in accepting feedback from
others, and in providing a sufficient critique to assist others in improving
their work. These interactions are both
formal, and informal. These interactions
are not always easy, but they are necessary to good science. As you work through these collaborations, I
hope you learn to communicate better, and discover what your own strengths and
weaknesses are in relation to group activities.
Here are some basic ground rules to help as you go along.
in giving feedback to others
·
be honest – but be aware that your feedback is subjective.
·
describe rather than evaluate – remember you are criticizing a
sentence, not a person.
·
be aware of whether your partners are ready for feedback. Do not be critical
when others are not prepared to hear or understand that criticism.
·
do not evade the issues – go for what you feel is important, don’t dwell on
minor nitpicky issues.
in
receiving feedback
·
listen carefully
·
ask if
something is unclear
·
take the time to
think about what is said. Consider feedback you receive as a valuable
commodity. Make note of what you hear,
think on it more later, and then decide how that can
help you change and grow as a person, writer or scientist. Feedback is not something against which you
must defend yourself.
·
do not necessarily expect solutions. Identifying a
problem, and solving that problem are two separate
issues and may not happen at the same time.
Honor Code: I encourage a free exchange of ideas
both in and out of the classroom. Science is a collaborative endeavor. However,
when a scientist gets help from another scientist, they are expected to
acknowledge or reference them fully. A description of what constitutes an honor
code violation is available in the catalogue and in the student handbook. If
you are unsure about how to attribute another individual for intellectual
contribution to your work, please see an instructor prior to the deadline of
the assignment. Failure to adhere to these rules can result in failure in the
course.
Major Assignments:
Ongoing:
Weekly: Collect one biology
news (popular media) articles weekly.
You will need to read the articles to complete the assignment. The articles must be kept in a binder. Attach a short (paragraph) critique of the
article appending the article. I will
conduct periodic spot checks, to ensure that all students are current on this
assignment. Points will be given based
on thoroughness and timeliness of articles.
Each student will give a presentation on several of the critiques, and
will summarize “What I learned from reading the articles I saved” report
(orally and written).
Monthly (four articles total):
Using appropriate search engines (Pub/Med or something similar) locate and
acquire a piece of scientific primary literature relating to one of the news
articles you have collected during your weekly assignment. As a writing assignment, prepare a type
written analysis (compare and contrast) of the news article and the primary
literature. This should be brief and to
the point, no more than 1-2 pages double spaced. This should also be included in your binder.
History of Biology: The team of students
will generate a “top-ten” list of biology achievements from the Rennaissance to
current, including a justification for the achievements that they have
included. This will be extended to
address how advances in technology have impacted biological achievements. This presentation will be graded on both the
aesthetics of the presentation and on the justification of the chosen
achievements. The team will be asked to submit both a copy of the presentation
(powerpoint format is acceptable) and a document
summarizing the justification for their entries.
Technology: As a portion of the history of biology
top-ten, you must incorporate (as a section or throughout the presentation) a
narrative describing how changes in available technology (and which changes in
particular) enabled scientists to make advancements when they have.
Hot Topics in Biology: Students will focus on
the previous decade and enumerate the greatest achievements during this time
period. Then, the students will focus on
one area of inquiry and summarize how this area has grown and changed during
the previous decade. This area of
inquiry must be one that it important and influential (as justified by the
students). This presentation will be graded on both the aesthetics of the
presentation and on the justification of the chosen achievements. The team will
be asked to submit both a copy of the presentation (powerpoint
format is acceptable) and a document summarizing the justification for their
entries.
Future: For this portion of the hot topics presentation,
each team is asked to wrap up their presentation with a list of the most
important areas for improvement in the next five to ten years. Which questions or avenues will provide the
most meaningful improvements in our understanding of biology in the coming
years?
Case Studies: We will gain experience with case studies
throughout the semester. After the last
“formal” case study, students will be given a novel case study to solve. The resolution of this case study will occur
in mid-November.
Information Validity: Students will select a
current area of dispute in biology. The
student will research different viewpoints on this topic in the current media
(news), primary literature, and on three different types of websites: authoritative
(such as a governmental site), informative (such as a non-proprietary
information site), and an opinion based site (such as a personal website). The student must then discuss the validity of
the information, particularly with respect to the biases inherent in each type
of information. Then, the student must
generate a reasoned opinion on the matter from all of the information.
Capstone Biology
Learning Assessment: Where the final exam
will be a take-home exam, you will meet for a final exam. Participation in a final biology assessment
is required during that course period.
Performance on this tool will not be a portion of your course grade.
Grading:
The following assignments will be weighted as
follows (percent final course grade).
The instructor reserves the right to adjust
weighting of grades (with prior notification).
Exam I
10
Exam II
10
Final
10
Case Studies/Participation 10
History of Biology 10
Technology and Advancement 3
Hot Topics
10
Future 3
Information Validity 10
Article Collection 4
Article Paragraphs 5
Article Critiques 10
Article Presentations 5
Total 100
Tentative
Course Schedule:
Week: Topic:
1 Introduction,
Scientific Inquiry, Start Collecting Articles
2
Inquiry/ Graphing
3 Inquiry,
Information Literacy (Self-directed case)
4 Start
History of Biology Research
5 Scientific
Reasoning
6 Six-step
Program
7 Exam
I, History Presentations, Discussion
8
9 Case
Studies, Information Literacy
10 Case Studies
11 Hot
Topics, Journal Articles
12 Exam
II, Journal
Articles
13 Articles,
Holiday
14 Presentations/Review
December 14,
Grading Structure:
|
Number Grade |
Letter Grade |
|
Number Grade |
Letter Grade |
|
97-100 |
A+ |
|
77-79 |
C+ |
|
93-96 |
A |
|
73-76 |
C |
|
90-92 |
A- |
|
70-72 |
C- |
|
87-89 |
B+ |
|
67-69 |
D+ |
|
83-86 |
B |
|
63-66 |
D |
|
80-82 |
B- |
|
60-62 |
D- |
|
|
|
|
<60 |
F |
A written submission in the A range is based upon original (or exceptional) logical, and
coherently organized set of ideas; it makes a clear and persuasive argument; it
brings in specific, relevant examples to back up its assertions; its points at
each turn, are clearly articulated: the words carry precise meaning, they don’t
obscure it; its sentences use only the words their ideas require, not any more;
its paragraphs have distinct, though related roles in the documents cohesion as
a whole, each holding one thoroughly asserted idea (not two competing ideas,
nor one idea half-asserted); it appropriately and accurately uses other
sources, and its sentences are without grammatical, spelling, or typographical
mistakes that exacting proof-reading would catch. (All of this takes a lot of work and
time. If it is all very nearly
accomplished, the document usually earns an A-).
A written submission in the
A written submission in the C range: some conspicuous flaw usually earns a paper a C; its
argument is underdeveloped, it contains only minimal textual support, or lacks
proper documentation from the literature, it has problems with organization
and/or sentence clarity, it is typically in need of proofreading.
A written submission in the D range contains more than one of problems described for a “C”
paper or finds another way to convince its reader the author has not spent
nearly enough time on the thinking and writing of the work. In addition it is clear that no proofreading
has been done.
A written submission receiving and F misses on all criteria (originality, articulateness,
persuasiveness, organization, the absence of mechanical mistakes, proper use of the [scientific] literature).