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BSC  4970:    Honors  Thesis  Spring,  2017  Dr.  Walter  Goldberg                   Syllabus  Course Description: If you have been allowed to enroll in this course you are already an honors student. Congratulations. Now it's time to polish your skills. In this course you turn the results of your Honors Research now in progress (BSC 4915L) into a formal undergraduate thesis. I promise not to trivialize your time. You will learn to write in the style of science in which the three communication qualities of precision, clarity and brevity (in that order) must be apparent. In addition you will present your results in a Biological Sciences Departmental Seminar that is styled after presentations at scientific meetings. You will learn a lot, but tempus fugit and you will be MUCH busier than normal this semester. Course Objectives: The objectives of the course include learning how to present original scientific research in professional written and oral formats. Learning Outcomes: As an outcome of this course, you will learn how to write and submit a scientific paper, how to respond to reviews of that paper, and how to present and encapsulate your scientific results within 15-minutes using PowerPoint. Note how the course description, objectives and outcomes are annoyingly repetitious. You will learn to recognize and avoid such tautological restatements like the ones that are so often present in course syllabi. Course Prerequisites: Senior status as an honors student in the Biological Sciences or in Marine Biology, at least one semester of BSC 4915L (Honors Research), and completion of a sufficient body of research to write an Honors Thesis. Textbooks (2): Diana Hacker The Bedford Handbook ($50 for 9th ed., $30 used in good condition, or <$10 for 7 or 8th ed. if available); JI Rodale: Rodale’s Synonym Finder ($15.60 on Amazon)- please order your own books. You will use them when you get your drafts back from me, and I will assign some readings in Hacker. You should also expect to use these wonderful references for writing that with any luck will be in your future. My copy of Rodale dates from 1978, but the synonyms on the inside are still good. http://www.amazon.com/Synonym-Finder-J-I-Rodale/dp/0446370290 http://www.amazon.com/The-Bedford-Handbook-Diana-Hacker/dp/1457608022 Contact Information: Dr. Walter Goldberg, e-mail: goldberg@fiu.edu

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Normal Meeting time: Thursdays at 12:30-1:45 in the Wertheim Conservatory; note that there will be a day when we may have to meet elsewhere (see syllabus, p. 3). Required Purchases: Enough thesis paper (you will find out what that is) to print 3 copies of your Honors Thesis. Performance Measures: You are required to attend and actively participate in all classes, submit thesis sections electronically in Word on time (see schedule below), practice and formally present a 15 min. oral summary of your research at a Biological Sciences seminar, and attend/critique the presentations of your classmates’ research. Deliverables and Conditions: A draft of your complete thesis (approved by WMG) will be submitted to the Honors Committee and your mentor (assuming he/she has not already commented on it) on the first day of spring break. They will have 3-4 weeks to read and comment. You will have approximately two weeks to respond, revise and send your thesis back to me. I will cross-check it with the reviewer’s comments and if you have responded appropriately, I will ask your mentor to send a note of approval to me. I will then sign electronically, followed by ink signatures from your mentor and from the department chair (in that order). After approval of the final electronic version of your thesis by WMG and by your mentor, you will submit 3 final hard copies of your Honors Thesis (unstapled in a simple folder) to Helen in the Department of Biological Sciences. The department will have them bound. You and your mentor will get a copy; the third one will be displayed in the office. All copies must be submitted by the deadline date defined below. As the last mandatory step, an additional electronic copy (pdf) is required by the library through Digital Commons; you will be instructed on how to submit the library copy later, but the end result can be seen in this link: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/bio_honors/ You also must send a copy of the pdf to me. Your formal presentation to the department will be made in conjunction with the last seminar day in April, and may be videotaped for viewing by faculty members who were unable to attend. You are required to agree to these conditions by your enrollment in Honors Thesis. Your presentation will be graded by the committee according to the appended score sheet. Your grade in the course will be determined by the following criteria and proportions: Writing Quality (see criteria below) Abstract 5, Introduction 10, M&M 10, Results 10, Discussion 10, Literature 5

50%

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Timely Submission* 3 Oral Practices/Participation Oral Presentation

10%

10%

30%

You will be assigned an A, B, C, D, or F for each activity listed above and your final grade will be assigned based on the weighted sum of these letter grades, with A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D =1 and F = 0, expressed as a percent of the total possible. In assigning final grades, ≥ 90% = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79% = C; 60-69% = D; < 60% = F. • Important: You must submit work products (sections of your thesis and ultimately a complete thesis) on time. Late or incomplete submissions will accumulate at 2 points per day and by themselves can reduce your grade by one letter. ********************Schedule Spring 2017**************************

Week of Topic Assignment Due

12 January Course Intro • Expectations and Schedule • AIMRAD- The standard structure of the scientific paper • The title- what it should and should not contain

Reading assignments: #1 https://cgi.duke.edu/web/sciwriting Start reading how to write scientifically from this link: Lesson 1, Sentence structure- The three principles; Lesson 2, Cohesion, Coherence, and Emphasis; Lesson 3, Keeping it simple. Take the practice sessions. Reading assignment #2 Read p. 22-32 in Hacker text: Planning with Headings Watching assignment #3 http://ed.ted.com/lessons/ beware-of-nominalizations -aka-zombie-nouns-helen-sword Send in your tentative thesis title and a brief description of your intended work

19 January

Writing the Intro; What is a Draft?

• Title of Thesis and outline is due before today.

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• Assignment 1: Read Common Mistakes in Writing- a short list-from me (will send) • Assignment 2: Read Scientific Writing, the good, the bad & the ugly (will send), along with Thesis title page format.

26 January No class, but Intro is due in Word, paginated & sent with cover page. Thesis guide- lines to be sent today.

2 February Materials and Methods Revise Intro 9 February Figures and Illustrations (Results) M&M section is due by email

Work on results (not due yet) 16 February Discussion Results, Intro, M&M are all

due; paginate your draft at the center of the bottom: insert>page numbers.

23 February TBA Outline of discussion is due; Will send format for Literature Cited by today

2 March Literature Cited

First complete thesis draft is due

9 March No Class I review your thesis 16 March SPRING BREAK You revise your draft and send to your mentor

before 16 March, as early in the week as you can.

23 March How to organize a talk Produce your PPT Presentation

30 March Practice session 1 In Class 12:30-3:30 6 April Practice session 2 Same time as above, in class.

Theses are submitted to committee. THIS IS YOUR FINAL DRAFT. NO ADDITIONS ALLOWED

13 April Practice session 3 Note: WC is occupied by the Glaser Seminar. We will meet in AHC4  302  at the usual time

Theses are returned from committee for final revisions. You have about 10 days for final revisions and approval from me.

17 April Presentation Day On Monday at Dept. Seminar Time: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM.

April 28 (Friday) End of term Theses in final form with all signatures due by 5 pm at the latest! Submit your approved thesis

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In pdf form to University Commons (instructions to come)

How theses will be graded: The following is a rubric on writing quality that will be generally applied to determine half of your grade, but with all of the adornments removed, your overall writing grade is 70% of the course and is dependent upon

• submitting your work on time

• paying attention to my edits: either fix them or disagree with me, but do not ignore them.

• keeping the number of revisions and the number of edits/comments required to produce a clear and coherent thesis to a minimum.

• I will assign a tentative grade for each section (and each revision) of your thesis.

Here are the writing criteria:

A= You produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience- in this case seniors or higher level in biology. All comments from the reviewer are addressed in the next draft.

• Introduction sets the scene for the foundation and significance of the research

o Sequencing is logical and effective. o Paragraphs flow smoothly with logical transitions (logical and

cohesive) o Hypotheses and objectives are clearly stated at the end

• Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone.

o Paragraphing is logical and each stays within the topic sentence, or transitions from it in a logical manner.

o Grammar, usage, punctuation and spelling are correct. o Syntax (the arrangement of words and clauses in a sentence) is

clear, e.g., "Each virus causes lesions in swine that are indistinguishable" leaves us with the impression that the swine are indistinguishable, rather than the lesions, because of the word order.

• Results

o Explanation of topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, data, or details.

o Graphs and other data are adequately explained

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o Describes/analyzes data with appropriate statistical methods

• Discussion section is well organized. References are appropriate and cover the discussion topics beginning at the point where the Introduction ended.

o Supports claims with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources.

o Addresses the hypotheses- fulfilled or not? A plan on where to go from here is based on current and previous research.

• References follow the Annual Reviews style. All references

used in the text are listed; there are no references in the list that are not used in the text.

B-level work:

• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

o Sequencing is evident. o Contains an introduction with adequate references. o Generally flows smoothly and is reasonable organized and

cohesive • Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone.

o Paragraphing tends to be sound. o Grammar and usage are generally correct. o Punctuation is generally accurate. o Spelling is generally correct.

• Support claims with relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources.

o Explanation of topic with relevant facts, data, or details from research.

o Uses data and statistics to adequately support the Results section. • Use language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the

Results. o Words are accurate. o The use of scientific terminology enhances the response.

• Provides a discussion with adequate literature coverage and a concluding statement or section that supports the information.

o Restates the purpose or main idea. o Summarizes important findings.

• The response reflects a complete synthesis of information.

C-level work

• Produces writing in which the development, organization, and style are

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generally appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Revision suggestions often ignored.

o Poorly organized and/or focused, or demonstrates serious problems with coherence or progression of ideas.

• Style and tone may be appropriate. o Frequent problems in sentence structure, grammar and spelling.

• Develops a point of view on the issue that is vague or seriously limited, and demonstrates weak critical thinking, providing inappropriate or insufficient examples, data, reasons, or other supporting evidence.

• Displays very little facility in the use of language, using very limited vocabulary or incorrect word choice.

• Results are briefly described with little attention to detail. • Discussion section is poorly developed and supported; concluding statement

or section absent or weak. • Thesis requires numerous revisions for acceptance

Your PowerPoint presentations will be graded as well (by the Honors Committee) using the following criteria:

   

     

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