PH220: Introduction to Scientific Research,
 Spring 2008


Course Syllabus                                                                                             Return to Homepage

Course Schedule and Assignments

Announcements:
-Don't forget to show up for course evaluations May 13, first 15 minutes of class

-Poster draft due by email May 13

-Posters next Thursday, May 15, evening session setup time 6:00 pm.

-New Course Time: 11:00-11:50 am, Science 120

Helpful Documents:
Sample Poster
Sample 15 minute Technical Talk

Spotting Bad Questions
Proposal Structure/Directions
Style Guide for References (Bibiliography)
Example of a Recent Student Proposal for Summer Research (don't worry yours is to be shorter!)
Proposal Evaluation Rubric
Reviewer comments example for one of my Optics Letters papers. Note that you are to follow a similar style for detailed comments in your review (the part above the 1-5 rankings in the rubric)


Schedule:
Week Date Topic Due
1 Mar. 11 Course layout; Choosing a problem or question vs. a topic, inital searching
2 Mar. 18 Identifying problems and questions Go to three different  of physics or engineering department home pages at various universities or national labs. Pick three subfields in physics/engineering, find a group, and briefly note in your research journal the problem on which they each are working.
3 Mar. 25 No class 
4 Apr. 1 Literature searches, finding valid, helpful sources (meet in library) Take the strongest problem you found from last week. Look through articles published by that group. Don't read the papers. Go straight to the reference section. Find two names that keep appearing in that groups' publications. If it is the same publication being referenced, write this down. Try to see if the referenced researchers have webpages of their own. What labs are they from? What problems are they working on? Write this down in your research journal.
5 Apr. 8 Peer Review, evaluation Proposal: bring in three copies
6 Apr. 15 How to give an oral presenations Proposal Evaluations
7 Apr. 22 How to draft a poster:
Poster Guidlines by Lilynn Graves: web and graphic designer for Cornell Center for Matierial Research
Required Assignment: Proposal Revision no later than Apr. 24, by email or in person

Suggested assignment by the end of the week: ppt slides by email
8 Apr. 29 Oral Presentations 1-5 Presentations 1-5; Peer evaluation of presenations from 6-10
May 1 Oral Presentations 6-10 Presentations 6-10; Peer evaluation of presenations from 1-5
9 May 6 No Class Poster abstract by email May 8. (Summary of work, no more than 135 words).
10 May 13 Course Evaluations
Open Hour: last minute questions
Research Notebook
Poster draft due (send electronic copy)
May 15 Poster Presentation in Science Atrium 7-9 pm, poster setup begins at 6 pm Final draft of poster; peer evaluation of poster

Important Dates
April 8: Proposal Due
April 15:
Proposal Evaluation Due

April 29: Oral presentations 1-5
May 1: Oral presenations 6-10
May 15: Poster Session