FALL 2009 ABT 395/399 CLASS INFORMATION

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITTEN REPORTS AND ORAL PRESENTATIONS

printer friendly version
Fall 2009 Student Information Sheet

COURSE COORDINATOR

James C. Matthews
213 W.P. Garrigus Building (Ag South)
campus mail 0215
257-7513
jmatthew@uky.edu
OFFICE HOURS: Arranged as needed.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

ABT 395: Independent study in biotechnology under the supervision of a faculty member. 1-4 credits. Course may be repeated such that a maximum of 6 credits is earned.
Prerequisite: Agricultural Biotechnology major and consent of instructor before registration.
ABT 399: An internship in biotechnology under the supervision of a faculty member. Course may be repeated such that a maximum of 6 credits is earned.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor and chairperson for the Agricultural Biotechnology degree program, and completion of a learning contract BEFORE registration.

ESSENTIAL COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Please note that there are 5 essential requirements to successfully complete your independent course of study:

1. Verification of an Agricultural Biotechnology program-approved Research Project Proposal (or learning contract if ABT 399)
2. Attendance at one of two Mandatory class meetings (see below)
3. Completion of the approved research activities under the supervision of a faculty mentor
4. Submission of a Written Report--that has been signed by your research mentor (see below)
5. Presentation of an Oral Report (see below)

VERIFICATION OF APPROVED RESEARCH PROJECTS AND MENTORS

ALL currently enrolled ABT 395/399 (fall 2009), or previously enrolled students who have earned an "Incomplete" as a course grade, must indicate on the Student Information Sheet when your ABT 395 proposal was approved and by whom.   If your proposal is the proposal that you completed in ABT 301, please provide the semester you took ABT 301 and the instructor's name.

ASSIGNMENT OF COURSE GRADE

Grades will be composed of the following components:
60%   ^aFaculty mentor’s evaluation of the student’s research performance
15%   ^bWritten Report
20%   ^bOral Presentation
  5%   ^bAssessment of the student’s overall performance by the course instructor

^aThis portion of the course will be determined after consultation of the research mentor/faculty member by the course instructor.
^bThis portion of the course grade will be determined by the course instructor.

***CLASS MEETINGS***

For students who intend to present their research this semester, attendance at one of the class meetings is MANDATORY, unless excused by the instructor.
These will be held on Monday, October 12 and Tuesday, October 13 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm in Room 109 of the W.P. Garrigus Building (Ag. South). The purpose of these meetings is to provide examples and remedies for common mistakes by students when describing data, prepating written reports, and presenting oral reports.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS--Fall 2009

1. All students must supply to Dr. Matthews BEFORE 8AM, December 2, 2009, the title of their presentation, the full name, departmental affiliation and e-mail address of their mentor. The final presentation schedule will be posted on the ABT homepage on December 3, 2009 and disseminated to reserach mentors and the univeristy community at large.
2. Currently, oral ABT 395 research presentations will be scheduled to begin at 1:00pm, on Tuesday, December 8, and Thursday, December 10, 2009 (during dead-week) in the ground floor auditorium (Cameron Williams Lecture Hall) of the Plant Science Building.
   However, this schedule may change depending on the number of students who actually are ready to present their reports this semester and the number of students from previous semesters who are ready to make presentations.
3. Dr. Matthews will try to schedule a student's seminar time to accommodate their class schedule, etc.  However, those students who turn in the requested information about their seminar (see #1 above) on time, will be given preference in terms of which time and day that they will be scheduled to present.
4. Presentations (a PowerPoint slideshow) should be 10-12 minutes in length. A 2-3 minute question session with the audience will follow each presentation. Although priority of questions will be given to students from the ABT 495 class, presenters should expect additional questions from faculty members. Note: Generally it is a good idea to prepare your written report first (see the "Instructions for Written Reports" below for required elements) so that the essential elements of the report can be included in your talk.
5. Individual student practice sessions (PowerPoint slideshow) can be arranged to be held with Dr. Matthews during the week of November 30, 2009 (or before). Alternatively, Dr. Matthews will be happy to review your presentation and make suggestions through e-mail, if you send him your Powerpoint file at least 2 days before you present during the week of December 7, 2009.
6. The seminars will be taped (DVD) and copy of each student's presentation will be made and sent to their research mentor. Dr. Matthews intends to send these recordings to the students' mentors within 1 week after Finals week, but he cannot guarantee that the copies will be ready by then.
7. Monetary awards will be given to the top oral presentation of each seminar day/session. The judges will be attending members of the ABT Coordinating Committee. The ABT Program will host a reception after the December 10 session in the atrium of the Plant Science Building (outside of the Cameron Williams Lecture Hall) to honor the student presenters and their mentors.  Dr. Daniel Howe (Coordinating Committee Chair of the ABT program) will present the awards after the reception.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITTEN REPORTS--Fall 2009

1. One copy of the written report - signed by your mentor is due to Dr. Matthews (in the office or by e-mail) by BEFORE 12PM on Monday, December 14, 2009. Alternatively, you may send Dr. Matthews your report by e-mail if it is accompanied by an e-mail from your mentor saying that they have approved the report.
2. The format for ABT 395/399 written reports is equivalent to a research manuscript, in the format of a scientific paper appropriate for the field of research for the project.
3. Manuscripts MUST contain the following components:
   a. Cover Page--Title and list of authors and their affiliations, and signature of your Research Mentor
   b. Abstract
   c. Introduction--A brief presentation/introduction of topical concepts required by the uninformed reader to understand what your paper is all about.
   1. This section should state the experimental hypothisis being tested (e.g.,"The goal of this experiment was to test the effect of X treatment on Y parameter.") or the purpose of the research (e.g., "The purpose of the experimentation was to develop an X assay to measure Y parameter.")
   d. Materials and Methods--a description of critical reagents, procedures, and assays used to generate experimental data
   1. Note:  this section must contain a statement indicating that conductance of the experimentation complied will all applicable Chemical Hygiene, Radiation Safety, Institutional Biological Safety, and Institutional Animal Care and Use protocols
   2. The experimental design and methods used to statistically analyze your data needs to be presented, including a description of all relevant "control" obvservations for your assays
   e. Results--The formal presentation and description of your experimental data
   f. Discussion--A written discussion of your data in terms of what yours data revealed, how your data compares to what others may have seen in analogous experiments in identical or comparable experimental models, and the physiological relvance of your observations to a give experimental/biological model and/or field of research.
   Note:  sometimes it is useful to combine the Results and Discussion sections into a single manuscript component (i.e., a Results and Discussion section).
   g. Conclusions--A formal statement about the conclusion(s) drawn from your data as it applies to the goal/hypothesis tested in the experiment. That is, did you accept or reject the experimental hypothesis? Was an assay successfully developed? Or, was the data inconclusive for whatever reasons?
   h. References--A listing of the sources for the citations used in your report.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT DATES/DEADLINES FOR ABT 395/399, Spring 2009

1. Class assignment¹, due September 9--Completed Student Information Sheets are due to instructor by e-mail.
2. Class meetings on October 12 or 13, 2009--All students must attend one of two class meetings (W. P. Garrigus Building (Ag. South)) from 6:00pm to 7:30pm.
3. Before December 2 - All students must supply (e-mail) to Dr. Matthews with the title of their talk; the full name, departmental affiliation, email address of their mentor and any preferences as to the day or time of presentation.
4. December 3--The announcement/speaker schedules for the oral presentations will be posted around campus and on the ABT homepage.
5. December 8 and December 10--Oral presentations will begin at 1:00pm, on Tuesday, December 8 and Thursday, December 10 in the Cameron Williams Lecture Hall of the Plant Science Building.
6. BEFORE 12PM December 14, 2009--The written report, signed by the research mentor is due in Dr. Matthews' office. Alternatively, you may send Dr. Matthews your report by e-mail if it is accompanied by an e-mail from your mentor indicating that the they have approved the report.

¹All currently enrolled ABT 395/399 (Fall 2009), and any previously enrolled students who want to present this semester, must complete the Class Information Sheet.