As this course is highly reliant on discussion attendance is mandatory. An important aspect of graduate education is forming relationships with your fellow graduate students. Learning in a group environment with discussion can be a meaningful experience that establishes relationships with you and your peers. It also helps students to gain confidence in their ideas and expression of them. As such, this course will be fully in person barring emergencies throughout the semester. So, please make sure that you make the necessary arrangements to attend class every week. 

Missed Classes: 

Each unexcused absence will result in a 10 point deduction from your grade. Absences must be documented and/or cleared by Dr. Stokes before class, unless there is an emergency.  

Tardiness: 

Tardiness is disruptive and disrespectful to your fellow classmates, especially since this is a course centered on student presentations course.  You must be in your seat and ready to go at the start of class, otherwise, you will be counted as tardy. Further, tardiness will also count against your course grade (-5 points for each tardy). If you will have trouble arriving on time each week due to your work schedule or family obligations, please let me know at the beginning of the semester. We will work that out.

During the first part of this course, we will discuss research ethics using the ORI Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research book (FREE!!). We will discuss a variety of topics with this book and walk through the scenarios provided in each chapter. You should read the chapter(s) assigned for the week ahead of time, and consider what things stood out to you. What seemed surprising, etc. I will ask that you then search the internewt (you might like Retraction Watch for this) to see if you can find instances where some aspect of the topics we are discussing that week were violated and what the repercussion were, if any.

The second part of the semester will be student presentations. You will select an ecology or evolutionary (or both!) topic that you would like to present to the class. You should consider topics that evaluate major themes in the fields of ecology or evolution (that will make finding papers easier!). I have put some ideas on Canvas for you, though you are not limited to these alone. Your proposal will help me understand which papers and theme you have chosen, and how all of the papers fit within that theme. There are additional assignment details on Canvas. 

The theme chosen for your proposal will be the topic of discussion. Your three proposed papers will be assigned as reading for the rest of the class, and posted on Canvas for them to access at least one week ahead of time. You will need to develop several discussion questions or topics to help guide and develop the class discussion of your theme on your assigned day. Please make sure that these questions are thought provoking. They should not be quiz questions (i.e. What was the sample size in this experiment?). You will need to submit these questions on Canvas at the same time that you submit your papers (at least one week prior to your discussion). This will help your classmates have some time to think through the questions and possibly do additional background research (this should be minimal) if necessary. However, you may add additional questions or topics at the time of your discussion. 

On the day of your discussion, you will present your theme and your three papers using a Powerpoint presentation. In this presentation you will need to briefly introduce the theme that you are covering. Then, go into the three papers that you have chosen and how they fit within your broader theme. Your presentation will help you lead your classmates through discussion. Sometimes, discussions require little intervention and flow naturally, but you may need to rely heavily on your discussion topics and questions. So, make sure that those are thorough and thoughtful so that they encourage discussion. You may also want to include relevant images, figures, tables, etc. from your papers.  

You will sign up for a discussion date and the final schedule will be posted on Canvas for you to view at any time. 

Citations: 

Presentations in this course must use proper scientific usage and conventions (i.e. Proper formatting of scientific names, formatting of references, etc.). Material in presentations should be properly cited in the format following the Biology Department’s Writing Standards. You will be expected to cite the sources for your presentation exactly as outlined in the Biology Department's Writing Standards. Failure to do so will result in a ZERO for your literature cited score. Further, failure to include citations will be considered cheating, and will result in an F for the course.  

Late Assignments: 

You will be given ample time to complete assignments. Once an assignment has closed, you will no longer be able to access it. Therefore, no late assignments are accepted. You may submit them so that you can do the next part of the assignment, but you will not be given credit for them.  

Your grade will be based on the number of points you earn divided by the total points for the course.  Your final grade will be percentage based. Grade appeals can only be made on the basis of miscalculation of your average and must be made to me within at least one week of grades being posted.  There will NOT be any extra credit or curving in this course.  Whatever grade you receive on presentations/assignments is the grade that you get for that assignment.  Grades are rounded (by Canvas even!) as follows: 79.5%-79.9% rounds to 80%, 79.4% -79.0% rounds to 79%, etc. 

Grades are based on the following percentage scale: 

93-100 = A   

90-92 = A-   

87-89 = B+   

83-86 = B   

80-82 = B-

77-79 = C+

73-76 = C

70-72 = C-   

67-69 = D+   

63-66 = D    

60-62 = D-  

<60 = F