BIOL 485-01, Senior Seminar: Reproductive Biology, Fall 2004

Abstract

Rhodes requires all of its students to participate in a senior capstone experience. The purpose of this experience is to allow students to integrate knowledge from different sources and to refine their writing and speaking skills. In this class we will accomplish these objectives as part of a seminar concerning reproductive biology. A seminar course is one in which the participants teach and learn from each other through reading and discussion. Specifically, my goals for this senior seminar are to give you the opportunity to: 1. learn and appreciate the biology of reproduction, especially in humans 2. refine your critical thinking skills and the ability to integrate different sources of information into a coherent picture 3. understand and evaluate how science is done by finding, reading and discussing primary literature 4. appreciate how information is transferred from the primary literature to advanced textbooks, introductory textbooks, or the popular press 5. develop your speaking and writing skills To achieve these goals, the first and second parts of the course will be organized and run differently, although both sections will require you to read and discuss primary literature. To begin with, it is important for everyone in the class to learn basic background information about reproductive biology. This includes the subjects of male reproductive anatomy and physiology, female reproductive anatomy and physiology, fertilization and contraception, and pregnancy and birth. In another type of course I might simply provide a series of lectures on these four topics, but a seminar course provides you with the opportunity to learn by doing. Therefore, in the first half of the course you will work in groups to create a series of "lecture notes" about reproductive biology. Typically, lecture preparation involves reading several sources on a topic to get a complete picture, deciding what information is relevant and important, and synthesizing all of the information into an organized, comprehensible format. As you do this work in the beginning of the semester, not only will you learn the important background information in reproductive biology (which you undoubtedly will remember far longer than if you had merely listened to my lectures), but you will also gain experience that you will use in second part of the course. In addition to creating lectures, each student will also give a brief presentation on an assigned journal article that relates to the lecture material being covered. During the second half of the semester, each student will give a longer and more formal presentation to the class on a topic s/he has chosen. This will allow everyone to learn about something important or especially interesting to you and will allow you to become the expert in that subject. Based on your experiences in the first half of the course, you should be well prepared to read and synthesize information from the primary literature and present it to a group 2 in a clear and organized format. You will also have had practice in leading your classmates through a critique and discussion of a primary research paper on your topic.