Spring 2008

Administrative Information

Class meets: F 1:25-2:20pm in ST 471
Class web site: http://home.sandiego.edu/~jkua/chem396spr08.html
On reserve at Copley Library:A Short Guide to Writing About Chemistry, 2nd ed. Herbert Beall and John Trimbur

Instructor: Dr. Jeremy Kua
Office: ST 381
Phone: (619) 260-7970
E-mail:
Office hours: Mon 1:30-3pm, Tue 10:35-11:35am, Wed 11:05am-12:05pm, Thu 2:30-4pm

Course goals: To develop the skills required by successful research scientists, in particular:
(a) searching the primary scientific literature,
(b) keeping a useful research laboratory notebook,
(c) organizing your scientific results, and
(d) communicating your results orally, visually, and in writing,
(e) experiencing the process of peer review and revision.
All of this will be done within the context of real research on a project that is primarily chemical or biochemical in nature.

Course Requirements:
1.Half your grade in the class will come from my evaluation of your work (details below) and the other half will come from conversations I will be having with your research advisor about the quality of your work in lab and how well you keep a lab notebook.

2. For my half of the grade, you are expected to do the following:
(a) attend and participate in class
(b) attend departmental seminars
(c) complete four written assignments and one peer review
(d) give four oral in-class presentations
(e) present a poster at Creative Collaborations

3. For the other half of the grade, you are expected to keep a good lab notebook and work a minimum of 8 hours per week on average on your research project.

4. The expectations of the written assignments and oral presentations will be discussed in class. Due dates for all assignments are shown in the syllabus below.

5. I will be happy to read, and will expect to see, drafts of the written assignments prior to the due dates. One of the key aspects of learning to write well is to go through drafts and have someone else read those drafts and give you helpful comments. Your research advisor can obviously help you with that, but so will I.

6. You are most welcome to come in during office hours. Generally if my office door is wide open even if not during my office hours, you're more than welcome to stop by. Remember, I'm here to help you! On the rare instances I'm super-busy right when you appear, I'll just ask you to come back a little later. I check my e-mail reasonably often during working hours so you can contact me that way too. (Don't expect replies on weekends and evenings.)

7. All students are expected to adhere strictly to the Academic Integrity policy. Violations will be dealt with through the Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, in accordance with the University of San Diego policy on academic integrity. This includes the three common problems: scientific misconduct, plagiarism, and improper referencing.

Class meetings are shown in bold. Other important dates are also included.

Feb 01    What this Class will be about

Feb 08    Bibliography and References

Feb 15    Searching the Scientific Literature

Feb 20    Written Synopsis (pdf) must be e-mailed to the class by noon.

Feb 22    Synopsis Oral Presentations

Feb 29    The Different Sections of a Paper

Mar 07    Peer Review

Mar 12    Final Draft of Introduction including references due to me by noon.

Mar 14    Research Progress Oral Presentations

Spring and Easter Break

Mar 26    Peer Review of Introduction due to me by noon.

Mar 28    The Culture of Research Labs

Apr 11    Methodology Oral Presentations

Apr 15    Final Draft of Methods Section including references due to me by noon.

Apr 18    Methodology Oral Presentations, Poster Preparation

Apr 24    Creative Collaborations - Poster Presentations

Apr 25    Debriefing from Poster Presentations

May 02    Final Oral Presentations

May 09    Final Oral Presentations

May 16 (class meets at 2pm) Final Oral Presentation, Summary and Evaluation of Research Experience. Final Research Report is due at 2pm (one copy to me, one copy to your research advisor).