Florida International University
Department of Biological Sciences
Biscayne Bay Campus
BSC 4931 - Senior Seminar
UPDATED January 9th
Dr. Richard Brinn
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Email: brinnr@fiu.edu When sending email please include student name and panther ID in the subject.
Webpage : faculty.fiu.edu/~brinnr
Lecture Notes: All lecture notes will be posted as PowerPoint presentations in Canvas
Text: There is no required text for this course but there are several scientific articles that will be used during the semester.
Reading assignments: You will be required to read and understand several scientific articles during the semester.
Attendance: Be prepared to participate in ALL the course as scheduled! Attendance is mandatory and students who miss often should expect to receive a failing grade. Not all material that is discussed in class will be found in the readings or slides on Canvas. Students should also be aware that frequent and extreme lateness in coming to class will be noted by the professor, as it is in every class. The best way to convince your instructor that you don’t care about the class is to be late or absent. Habitual extreme lateness is rude, disruptive, selfish, and immature. The correlation between high grades and punctual attendance is very high in just about all classes. If you miss more than 2 classes your grade will be lowered by 1 full letter grade unless an official reason and note is presented. If you miss more than 4 classes you will need to retake the course. Course Objectives:
To write a clear and articulate research paper that synthesizes current
scientific findings, starting with choosing a topic to completing a
properly cited paper. You will then share your findings with the class
in the form of an oral presentation worthy of a scientific meeting or
job talk. In addition, you will work and receive feedback on personal
statements, CVs, interview process and other application elements that
you need to prepare to apply for graduate programs and/or jobs.
Course description: This is a capstone course for B.S. in Biology and the B.S. in Marine Biology in their senior year with at least 90 credits. This capstone seminar course for senior level biology and marine biology majors designed to help you integrate a variety of skills learned during your undergraduate studies. We will do this by conducting a thorough review of the literature and creating a professional scientific presentation to disseminate your research. Knowing how to research the scientific literature, summarize and communicate your findings effectively in oral and written form will help prepare you for graduate school, professional schools, and for succeeding in the professional world
Learning Outcomes.
You will be able to: Locate, interpret, and evaluate scientific
information. Explain how science generates knowledge of the
natural world. Interpret, evaluate, and draw conclusions from data
in order to make evidence-based arguments about the natural world. Share ideas, data, and findings with others clearly
and accurately. Provide and respond to constructive feedback in
order to improve individual and team work. Prepare application for the job market, graduate
school or professional school Reflect on your own learning, performance, and
achievements
Prerequisites: PCB 3043, PCB 3063, PCB 4023, and PCB 4674 How to Succeed in this course: Attend and meet the deadlines.
Lecture Notes: All lecture notes will be posted as PowerPoint or PDF in Canvas before lectures. Please take a look at CANVAS frequently for all your courses.
Class Meeting Times and Room: Tuesdays from 1:00 to 2:15pm in MSB 110 at the BBC. Office Hours: Posted in faculty.fiu.edu/~brinnr but can be scheduled by appointment f2f or on zoom if student can't attend times and days listed. Please come pay me a visit during office hours. I have some good stories to share and would like to hear some of your stories. I lived for almost 2 years in the Amazon for example. I really like to receive visits from current and past students. Don't be shy I will make sure your visit is very pleasant. Visit me early in the semester when things are a bit slower and I sit in my office waiting and no one show ups. We feel like a small community at BBC and we want you to be a part of this. COVID 19: This course will continue to be held face to face unless otherwise stated by the university during the course of the semester. IN case the course does go online please be advised that classes may be audio and visually recorded and/or subject to course capture for future access by students in this course. Your attendance/ participation in this course constitutes consent to such recordings, which will only be used for educational purposes by students in the course and securely stored in University systems. If there is a concern regarding the recording and use of such recording, please contact FERPA@fiu.edu. IF YOU ARE NOT FEEELING WELL PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND CLASS. YOU WILL NOT BE PENALIZED FOR MISSING CLASS. My LAs and I will be using our masks everyday this semester and I encourage all students to do the same. Please consider doing the same for all your classes and that way we can protect you and others in our community. I will have extra masks in class and will happily share them with all of you. P3 App Observance of Religious Holy days: It is university policy that instructors reasonably accommodate students because of observation of religious holy days. The student shall be given a reasonable amount of time to complete coursework and/or assignments missed during their approved absence. The approved make-up assignment must be equivalent in content, type, and grading scale to the missed coursework and/or assignment. A student who desires to be excused from class to observe a holy day of his or her religious faith should notify all of his or her instructors preferably upon receipt or access to the syllabus, and no later than two weeks before the religious holy day. If a student feels that an instructor has not complied with this policy, he/she may file a complaint of discrimination with the Office of Equal Opportunity Program and Diversity in accordance with FIU Regulation 105. This policy and related procedures is included in the Student Handbook, Undergraduate Catalog, Faculty Handbook, and Graduate Catalog.
Help: If you need additional assistance with the information presented in this course, seek the assistance of the professor. If the office hours on the Biscayne Bay Campus are inconvenient, other arrangements can be made. PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE SEMESTER TO SEEK HELP! Its my job to make sure we work together so you can absorb and understand the content from this course and I'm happy to help outside and inside the classroom but with over 100 students you need to take the first step to reach me. The Disability Resource Center: DRC collaborates with university faculty to provide inclusive learning environments. If you have a disability and plan to utilize academic accommodations, additional information may be found in the DRC's website: drc.fiu.edu. Sexual Harassment Policy: The Faculty Senate voted to require each professor to include a statement about this in the syllabus. FIU’s sexual harassment policy is available online: http://hr.fiu.edu/uploads/file/EOP/Sexual_Harassment_Policy_as_of_02-10.pdf Students Conduct: Florida International University is a community dedicated to generating and imparting knowledge through excellent teaching and research, the rigorous and respectful exchange of ideas, and community service. All students should respect the right of others to have an equitable opportunity to learn and to honestly demonstrate the quality of their learning. Therefore, all students are expected to adhere to a standard of academic conduct, which demonstrates respect for themselves, their fellow students, and the educational mission of the University. All students are deemed by the University to understand that if they are found responsible for academic misconduct, they will be subject to the Academic Misconduct procedures and sanctions, as outlined in the Student Handbook.
When we are in class together we want to turn our focus to learning and
away from the distraction of our electronic devices. We want to support
each other in our learning and look forward to the opportunities our
instructor creates to work in groups. We value our instructor’s
expertise and our classmates’ experiences so we are considerate and
choose not to engage in side conversations or other disruptive behavior.
Emergency: This section covers situations that prevent you for attending the class or/and exams. For this course, “Emergency” is determined as an unpreventable event that prevents attendance to class or/and an exam. Emergency situations are: 1.Medical emergency with Medical Doctor’s note/emergency room. 2.Automobile accident with police report (lack of ride is NOT an emergency case). 3.Death of immediate family members. Emergency also includes natural events such as hurricanes, floods, or fires that causes the closure of FIU-BBC. Makeup Presentations: If you miss your presentation date without justification you will need to schedule another time and date but will lose a full letter grade.
Grades:
Incomplete Grades An incomplete grade is a temporary symbol given at the discretion of the instructor for work not completed because of serious interruption not caused by the student’s own negligence. In any case, more than half of the work of the course has to have been completed. An incomplete grade must be made up as quickly as possible, but no later than two consecutive semesters or it will automatically default to the grade the student earned in the course (which is normally an F in the absence of all work completed). There is no extension to the two consecutive semester deadline. The student must not register again for the course to make up the incomplete. In order to receive an incomplete for this class, valid documentation must be provided for the reason the student is requesting the incomplete. The reason, again, must be out of the student’s control.Schedule may be subject to change when deemed necessary.
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