Course Description

Students are provided with an authentic research experience in the area of physiology (i.e., course-based undergraduate research experience, CURE), where the experimental outcome is unknown. Students will gain skills in all aspects of research from reading primary literature and maintaining a lab notebook and lab techniques to generating research questions, collecting and interpreting data, and presenting results.

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Athena Title

Course Based Research in Phys

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Prerequisite

BIOL 1108 or BIOL 2108H or permission of department

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Semester Course Offered

Offered fall and spring

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Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

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Student learning Outcomes

• Students will effectively read and evaluate primary literature and search for scholarly articles.
• Students will maintain a lab notebook to support reproducible and transparent research practices.
• Students will work collaboratively, contribute to shared research goals, and provide constructive feedback to peers.
• Students will develop self-directed research questions grounded in primary literature and background knowledge.
• Students will plan, execute, and evaluate a research project with appropriate experimental controls.
• Students will collect, organize, visualize, and interpret quantitative data using appropriate analytical methods.
• Students will communicate research findings effectively in both written and oral forms for scientific audiences.
• Students will recognize and apply ethical principles in research design, data handling, and peer review.

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Topical Outline

• Foundations of Research Practice Lab safety and responsible conduct of research Lab notebook standards and reproducible research Research ethics and integrity Collaboration and Peer Engagement Teamwork structures and shared goal setting Giving and receiving constructive feedback Group effectiveness Reading and Evaluating Primary Literature Types of scientific articles Search engines, databases, and reference management Evaluating source credibility Peer Review and the Publication Process The manuscript to publication pipeline Reviewing a manuscript Hypothesis Generation and Experimental Design Predictions, null hypotheses, and testable questions Designing methods with appropriate controls Background Knowledge and Research Context Topic specific content relevant to the semester's research questions Synthesizing existing knowledge to develop original inquiries Technical Laboratory Skills Following and executing experimental protocols Troubleshooting failures and adapting methods Generating and Analyzing Data Tidy data organization in Excel Basic statistical analyses Creating figures with proper labels, legends, and captions Interpreting and drawing conclusions from results Communicating Research Findings Scientific writing and final report preparation Poster versus oral presentation formats Presenting at and participating in conferences

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Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes

Analytical Thinking

The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.

Critical Thinking

The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.

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Syllabus

Select Faculty / Instructor to download syllabus:   Majewska, Ania

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Public CV

Select a file to download:   Majewska, Ania

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