Midterm Assignment: Written Summary and Proposal from the Field Trip
Students will prepare a written summary of the Week #6 field trip and a proposal for future scientific research. The summary and the proposal should not exceed two pages in length (double line spacing, font 11). The summary (one page) will include an overview, interpretation and significance of the results, and a statement of the long-term impact of the research. The proposal will present a key question that would be a logical follow up from the research and give a brief experimental design to test the question. Emphasis should be put on key experiments including appropriate controls. The first assignment will be due Week #7.
Final Assignment: Presentation Concerning Recent Stem Cells Research Literature
The stem cell field is one of the fastest evolving biomedical research fields. The last assignment will consist of in-class presentations concerning three research articles published recently. Each presentation should be structured as follows:
• Slide 1 – Title – Selected Paper
• Slide 2 – Introduction – Overview of the science landscape
• Slide 3 – Introduction – Model System – ESCs, species, special tools
• Slide 4 – Key Questions/unresolved issue being addressed by paper
• Slide 5 – Results – Selected figure or part of a figure
• Slide 6 – Results – Selected figure or part of a figure
• Slide 7 – Results – Selected figure or part of a figure
• Slide 8 – Conclusions – does the data support the claims
• Slide 9 – Future Directions
This assignment will require that the students use the skills developed during the course to determine the scientific merits of a paper and prepare a well-supported argument. The debate will take place on week 14.