Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Biology and Biotechnology

This proseminar is designed to teach students many of the science writing, data interpretations, and analytical skills that are required to succeed in graduate-level courses in the life sciences. Through critical reading and presentation of research articles, students learn how to form questions that can be addressed experimentally and how to write a corresponding, testable hypothesis. Students who successfully complete the course are those who demonstrate an ability to assess information from the primary scientific literature, a command of oral and written communication skills, and the ability to generate a logical progression of experiments to help validate or nullify their hypothesis. Reading materials include publications on scientific writing and experimental design. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be an internship, thesis, or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the internship, thesis, or capstone. Students may not take both LSCI S-100 and BIOS S-200 (offered previously) or BIOT S-200 (offered previously) for degree or certificate credit.