Research Curriculum Courses
Research Career Exploration
UNIV 150 - 3 Units
GE Category E
This course was designed to serve entering or undeclared students to explore and evaluate the diversity of career opportunities available, particularly for those considering research careers. The course will best serve those students exploring career options either as “undeclared” majors, who are not committed to their major, or those who are in majors that could lead to careers that would involve research as a core component of the job responsibilities.
Students will develop knowledge and skills that are designed to cultivate curiosity and an identity as a researcher as well as stress and time management to support healthy behaviors. Regardless of the career path a student selects they will exit the course with a written development plan that will provide a guide for them as they continue to pursue their CSULB degree and a career.
Prerequisites/Co-requisites: GE Foundation A1 - Written Communication. May be taken concurrently. Letter grade only (A-F). NOTE: Both CLA and NSCI colleges offer this course.
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Health Disparities
RCSH 207 - 3 Units
GE Category D2
This course was designed to serve the general audience of undergraduate students.
This course covers the definition, prevalence, risk and protective factors, and interventions for health disparities among diverse populations. Using problem-based approaches, students will learn about discipline-specific and interdisciplinary methods to address common biomedical issues in a culturally relevant way.
We will examine the social and cultural contexts of health and illness over the life-course. Main topics include the social and environmental factors in health and illness and the social inequalities that structure the experience of illness and access to care. In exploring these topics, emphasis is given to how the social categories of gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, and social class affect both illness and health care over the life span.
Prerequisite: GE Foundation requirements or consent of instructor. Letter grade only (A-F). (3-hour lecture). Not open to students with credit in HHS 207.
Introduction to Biomedical Research Methods
RCSH 296A - 3 Units
Introduction to principles and ethics of experimentation, hypothesis formulation, and testing. Students will learn data measurement, analysis, and presentation, how to find and read scientific literature, keep a laboratory notebook and basic data graphing and analysis skills.
This course was designed to serve an audience of undergraduate student researchers who are ready to begin participating in directed research experiences. This course begins the training of students to become productive researchers by providing them with the skills necessary to identify long-term research projects, design and implement research plans, collect, archive and analyze data, and to communicate research findings to experts and the general population.
Prerequisite: GE foundation requirements and consent of instructor. Letter grading only (A-F). Same course as ENGR 296 and NSCI 296. Not open for credit to students with credit in ENGR 296, ENGR 296, or UNIV 296.
Introduction to Behavioral Research Methods
RSCH 296B - 3 Units
Introduces topics for inquiry and analysis in behavioral and social science research. Historical events shaping current ethical standards for research guide research design, analysis, and reporting. Students learn observation and experimentation, hypotheses formulation and testing, measurement, analysis, and reporting. (3 hours lecture).
Prerequisite: GE Foundation requirements or consent of instructor. Letter grade only (A-F). (3 hours lecture). Same course as HHS 296. Not open for credit to students with credit in HHS 296 or C/LA 296.
Scientific Research Communication
RCSH 361 - 3 Units
GE Upper Division Capstone Category F - Writing Intensive
Introduction to technical writing for students pursuing research careers. Accessing and using research literature. Writing technical and research reports for various purposes and audiences. Oral presentation of research and scientific information. Includes intensive writing.
This course was designed to serve an audience of undergraduate students who are preparing to enter careers where performing research and communicating that research to other researchers and to the general public is of importance.
The course builds upon prior research focused experiences and coursework to explore differing types of research and how that work is communicated, obtaining and understanding research literature, communicating research to a range of audiences, written and oral communication, and the development and use of infographics.
Scientific Research Communication is a course designed to develop written and oral communication skills applicable to a wide variety of research fields. The course emphasizes development of writing and data presentation skills. In addition, students are also instructed how to access scientific literature, how to craft an oral presentation, how to write a basic research proposal, and the basics of development of the scientific poster. Students are expected to have completed the required General Education Foundation courses and have a good grasp of the fundamentals of English composition—rhetorical organization, sentence structure, essential grammar and syntax—as course prerequisites. The course is designed to build on and develop the writing and oral presentation skills students have acquired, but weaknesses in any of these areas will require students to put in extra effort in order to be successful in this course.
Prerequisite: G.E. foundation courses; a score of 11 or higher on the GWAR Placement Examination or successfully completed the necessary portfolio course that is a prerequisite for a GWAR Writing Intensive Capstone. Letter grade only (A-F). (Lecture 3 hours). Same course as HHS 361, C/LA 361, NSCI 361 and ENGR 361 Not open for credit to students with credit in HHS 361, C/LA 361, NSCI 361 and ENGR 361.
Advanced Biomedical Research Methods
RCSH 496A - 3 Units
GE Upper Division Capstone Category F - Advanced Skills
An advanced study of the theoretical and practical aspects of conducting biomedical research including hypothesis formulation, experimental design, assessment of error within empirical data, and the preparation of sound and fundable grant proposals.
This course was designed to serve an audience of undergraduate student researchers who are ready to begin to develop their own research questions into research programs.
The course builds upon prior research focused experiences and coursework to explore hypothesis development, planning of experiments, validation of data, and development of research proposals.
Students completing the course will exit with a research proposal based on their own research questions which will support their participation in a research career or study resulting in a research degree.
Prerequisites: Upper Division standing, completion of the GE Foundation, one or more Explorations courses, and HHS 361 or C/LA 361 or RSCH 361 or NSCI 361. Letter grade only (A-F). Same course as ENGR 496. Not open for credit to students with credit in ENGR 496 and NSCI 496.
Advanced Behavioral Research Methods
RCSH 496B - 3 Units
GE Upper Division Capstone Category F - Advanced Skills
This course is designed to provide in-depth knowledge of scientific research, emphasizing the connection between research design and statistical analyses. The course covers literature review, hypothesis generation, types of research designs and conceptual approach to data analyses.
Prerequisite: Upper Division standing, completion of the GE Foundation, one or more Explorations courses. Letter Grade Only (A-F). Same course as HHS 496 and C/LA 496. Not open for credit to students with credit in HHS 496 or C/LA 496.
