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A. CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION:
BIOL/CHEM
466H. Research Design and Methods/Honors (3) Spring
only
Prerequisites: BIOL 111, 111L, 212, 212L, 213, 213L, either
BIOL 260 or CHEM 251, CHEM 320A,B or CHEM 322A,B and 323A,B, all
with a grade of "C" or better, completion of the GE Foundation,
and consent of instructor. A rigorous introduction to the
following: i) hypothesis testing, experimental design, and
statistical testing and evaluation of biological and chemical data, ii) methodological and
technical procedures for experimentation, and iii) techniques
for written and oral presentation of research results to prepare
students for undergraduate research. Research paper and oral
presentation required. Open only to students enrolled in Honors
in Biological Sciences Program. Traditional grading only
(Lecture 3 hours). Same course as CHEM 466H.
Permits will be issued to Qualified Students
after completion and E-submittal of the
Prerequisite Check List
B. COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This capstone
class is a requirement for students who wish to complete
the Honors in the Biological Sciences Program at CSULB.
It is the final class of a three class sequence and follows BIOL
110H (Central Concepts in Biology) and BIOL 220H (Bioinfomatics).
Students
participating in the Honors in the Major program are required to
conduct individual research with a faculty member of their
choosing for an entire summer ultimately culminating in a senior
thesis (BIO/CHEM 498H). It is highly recommended
that this class directly precede this research experience
since it aims to specifically
prepare students, not only in the theoretical rationale and practical
aspects of conducting the research, but also in the written and oral
presentation of their scientific findings. The formulation of ideas and concepts into hypotheses and
experiments helps students to reexamine and reevaluate their
comprehension of knowledge, fact, certainty and doubt and
heightens their ability to prepare logical, coherent and
convincing written and oral arguments which prepares them for
careers in all aspects of
science.
The word science
is derived from the Latin verb "to know".
Although our knowledge base in science and particularly the life
sciences is growing exponentially, very little curricular emphasis is placed on
the verifiable processes underlying scientific
discovery. Unlike the majority of classes in the science
curriculum which, by necessity, are heavily content based, BIOL 466H aims to primarily emphasize the
concepts and practices of scientific research and illuminate
students how endeavors in the field of research have been used
to take observations through hypotheses to theorems and drive forward our understanding of
life processes. Emphasis
will initially be placed on developing logical and critical
thinking skills in the laboratory, protocol development, the
generation of testable hypotheses, experimental design and
statistical analysis. While each technique used for
investigative science has virtues, the inappropriate application of a technique
can give rise to problems in the interpretation of data, or in extreme cases, incorrect or inconsistent conclusions for the study.
This course therefore also aims to
evaluate the conditions and circumstances under which
specific techniques and protocols may, or may not, be applied for
investigative research.
Students
will apply information obtained from the primary literature
and from the lecture materials to develop a research proposal that
outlines their proposed program of research to be conducted
during the summer. In addition to familiarizing the
students with the research topic in general, the primary purpose
of the proposal is to focus students on developing methodologies
and experiments, with predictable outcomes that can be used to test and differentiate between different
hypotheses. The assignment will require students to use various
electronic library resources to generate a reference base of
primary literature in their field of research, develop tangible
and testable hypotheses based upon the published evidence and
predict the types of data, inferences and conclusions that can
and cannot be drawn from the completion of these studies.
Students will be asked to present and defend their science to an
audience of peers who will constructively criticize
the proposal by contributing alternative approaches and offering
refined
procedures for conducting the study.
Upon completion of the course, students will be expected to have gained the necessary skills to
design, initiate and successfully complete their
proposed summer research experiments using appropriate designs and
methodologies that best address and answer the questions
posed by hypotheses. Individual research paper and
oral presentation on the design, methodology and predicted results of their senior research thesis is required. (Lecture 3
hours).
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