Assignments

This course is graded pass/fail, and the grade depends on attendance, participation, and the successful completion of an essay and two oral presentations.

Literature Questions

The day before each class, each student will submit two questions (one for each paper) via email to the instructors. These questions can be academic in nature (such as a question about the results or a suggested follow-up experiment), or simply a question about a technique used in the paper.

10 Minute Oral Presentation

During the Ses #3, each student will give a 10 minute oral presentation about a specific laboratory technique (to be assigned by the instructors) to help in the understanding of the papers read during class.

Essay

Each student will submit a two page essay about a paper that has not been covered in class. The essay is expected to discuss the hypothesis investigated in the article, the experimental design and controls, as well as the conclusions drawn. The student is expected to express his or her opinion if the evidence presented in the paper is sufficient to support the hypothesis. If it is not, alternative or follow-up experiments should be suggested. The student shall choose a paper before Ses #9 and submit the essay no later than Ses #11.

20 Minute Oral Presentation

Each student will give an oral presentation based on his/her essay during Ses #13. The length of this presentation will be around 20 minutes, depending on the number of students in the course.