INSTRUCTOR

Luis A. Materon, Ph.D.
SCIE Bldg. 1.344
Office phone: (956) 316-7140
E-mail: lmateron@panam.edu (no replies to any anonymous messages)
Class meets every week on Wednesdays at SCIE 2.288 at 01:45 pm.

SEMINAR PRESENTATION

The seminar series of this semester will address recent studies of bacteria, protozoa, algae and viruses affecting humans, animals and plants. There will be up to two to three seminars scheduled each presentation day according to total number of students in the course. Seminars must be 10-15 minutes in length followed up by 5 minutes for questions from the audience and five minutes for peer and instructor evaluation. A form (Biology Seminar Evaluation Sheet) will used for evaluations. The presentation grade, based on 50% peer evaluation and 50% instructor evaluation, will comprised 60% of the final grade for the course.

SEMINAR TOPIC

The instructor must approve your seminar topic. Furthermore, you will not be allowed to present the same topic as another student in this or any other seminar section, nor re-use a one of your seminars/papers or that of anyone else. Duplicate topics will not be allowed. You have one week to determine your specific subject (Sept. 3/03). The topic and presentation is to be scientific and specific (not a general overview). You will use your homework assignment to determine if there is adequate literature on your chosen topic from the UTPA library or obtainable by interlibrary loan in time to prepare for your talk.

Note: If you do not present your title to your instructor before Wednesday, September 3, class session, then the instructor will assign a topic for your seminar. Topics of the seminars will be posted in the course web site at http://www.panam.edu/faculty/materon/4100. The site includes a message section, hints and related links.

VISUAL AIDS

You are responsible for preparing your own visual aids. A Power Point software is installed in the IBM-compatible computer unit at the classroom (SCIE 2.288). No McInstosh system is available in the room. Instructor recommends the use of 100 MB zip disk. It is also wise to bring a backup 3.5” diskette in case the zip disk fails for any reason. No overhead sheets are allowed or 35 mm slides. A pointer will be provided by the instructor.

Note: Each graph, table, photo or image that is utilized for your talk must have a citation written on the bottom right of the figure [author(s) and date – i.e. Smith et al., 1997].

Warning: Visual aids are a major source of problems in any presentation. Be certain that you get them done well in advance so they can be done again if something goes awry. Run a test in a different computer before your presentation. If your disks fail to work in our system then you will be awarded a zero for the seminar portion of your final course grade.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR YOUR SEMINAR

The UTPA Library has copies of a number of texts and journals dealing with bacterial and viral topics that will provide an introduction to the subject in these disciplines. In addition, to aid the preparation of your seminar the following books are available:

Day, R. 1983. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. 2nd. ed. Philadelphia, ISI Press.
Pechenik, J.A. 2001. A Short Guide to Writing About Biology. 4th. ed. N.Y. Addison Wesley Longman Publishers.
Biddle, A.W. and D.J. Bean. 1987. Writer’s Guide Life Sciences. Lexington, Mass. D.C. Heath and Company.

Copies of these writing guides will be on reserve in the University Library Reading Room. These publications will answer many of the questions that will arise as you prepare your presentation. Our website has good advice and hints on all topics regarding scientific presentations. The instructor will also post links in our web site throughout the semester.

Web-based presentations are NOT allowed. All of your sources must be primarily from recent scientific journals and a few up-to-date scientific texts.

SEMINAR HANDOUTS ==> ABSTRACT, OUTLINE AND LITERATURE CITED.

Provide a stapled handout containing the three sections listed above for each individual attending the seminar – prepare about 25. Arrange the sections in the above order, starting each section on a new page. Your seminar title, name and the course number and section should precede the abstract (250 words or less). Prepare a one-page outline of the major sections and subsections of your presentation. Reference the literature that you used to prepare each section and subsection by the author’s last name(s) and date (i.e. Clark, R. 1996; López, T.C. and J.K. Bsata, 1999; Bush et al., 2003). (et al. is used when there are three or more authors).

Notice: No later than one week (5 days) prior to your scheduled seminar date you must give your original, one-sided copy of your handout to Dora Lou Gonzalez, the Biology Secretary (SCIE 2.352 – phone 381-3537) so that she may make the copies for the class. Include instructions that the copies be made two-sided (front and back). Be sure to pick up the copies from the office several days before your presentation.

YOU WILL GAIN A LARGE ADVANTAGE IF YOU WILL BRING A DRAFT FOR MY REVIEW OF THE HANDOUT AT LEAST A WEEK IN ADVANCE.

You will distribute the handouts to the audience and the instructor will distribute the evaluation sheet to the audience.

You MUST personally provide the instructor with a printed copy of your Power Point presentation plus a copy of your handout the same day of your presentation.

ATTENDANCE (READ CAREFULLY TO AVOID "MISUNDERSTANDINGS"!!)

Your attendance is required at all presentations for the full class session (especially your own!!). I will take roll. If you miss one session and present no valid excuse then you automatically be remove a letter grade from your final grade for the course (say, you get a C then because of one absence you will get a D). If you miss two class sessions then your grade will be an F for the course. No pity or mercy from your instructor will be applied in the case of unexcused absences. This is a one-hour per week course that you must take seriously, if not you are recommended to drop it.

PARTICIPATION

The instructor encourages the audience to ask questions during the presentations. It is for your own benefit to questions the speakers, in this way, you will learn more. And, get practice for your own future activities in scientific meetings and other presentations. A value of 20% has been assigned to this component of the course. As a record of your participation write the question(s) that you personally ask the presenter on the back of your evaluation sheet.

DRESS CODE FOR THE PRESENTATION DAY

Just imagine you are being interview for a job. You must project yourself as neatly as possible. Your seminar presentation is a practice/training opportunity for researching the vast body of biological literature and upon which to base future presentations about your own research. It is likely that you will be called upon in the future to make such talks to your peers, to students in a class and quite likely during interviews that you will have when applying for a job. YOUR INSTRUCTOR (AND YOUR CURRENT AS WELL AS FUTURE PEERS AND FUTURE “BOSSES”) EXPECT A PROFESSIONAL APPEARANCE. This includes suitable attire (shorts, mini-skirts, jeans, T-shirts, muscle shirts, sandals, running shoes, caps are out) and, for the gals, conservative make-up and for both a neat well-managed hairstyle.

For the guys, a pair of nice dress slacks and a dress or conservative “sport shirt with or without a tie would be appropriate (no caps). For the ladies, a conservative skirt (no minis, no bellybuttons) or dressy type slacks are appropriate. Include a neat ironed conservative blouse (with or without a jacket) to complete the outfit. If you do not have such clothing, buy or borrow them. I recommend that you buy some clothing like this because you are hopefully, going to be interviewed for a job, or professional graduate school in the near future – so you might as well start your preparations now by purchasing some suitable clothing..

On another note about appearance – lose the body piercing stuff if you have it and any extra dark make-up and non-conservative hair styles for your presentation and more importantly, for the interviews that you will have in the future. Don’t be surprised and angered should you reject the “main stream” of population that "it" in turn, rejects you! Off the job (or out of this class) it is up to you how to dress.

From time to time there are "Dress For Careers Success" seminars scheduled on campus. Be sure to attend when the next one takes place.

EVALUATION SHEETS

You will be provided an evaluation sheet for each seminar that you attend except your own. You are expected to make a thoughtful critical analysis of each talk. I will be rating you on this effort as "poor", "fair", "good", or "excellent". These comments will affect your grade. Make a good faith effort on each evaluation (just as if you were in jury duty).

COMPONENTS OF COURSE GRADE

I) Written Project of your Literature Review. Maximum 20 one-sided, double spaced pages including bibliography. Value: 20%

II) Seminar Presentation in Power Point Format. Includes evaluation of your presentation from the instructor and your fellow students. Your performance and organization counts.

Note: Half of the evaluation grade will be the average of your peer evaluations and the other half is based on your instructor’s judgement of your presentation. Value: 60%.

III) Participation and Effort. Your attitude, interest and motivation counts. Questions that you ask the speaker(s) of the day. Value: 20%

IV) Attendance Record. Read section on Attendance above. Penalty will be applied whenever one or two absences occur. Two absences will correspond to an F in the course. Instructor will not drop pass.

V) Bonus. Receive up to 5 additional points on your final grade by submitting a well-written, suitable personal résumé. Obtain guidelines for résumé preparation from the library, or any other source. Imagine you are applying for your dream job following graduation.

Note on Bonus: this is in lieu of your main efforts in the course. It is a small bonus -- dedicate only an appropriate amount of time --. Please do not let the effort to gain extra points detract from the major effort needed to perform well in your seminar and in the class.

Take note that your presentation, no matter how good, will not receive a high grade unless it is in the proper format – this is true of any publication or presentation manuscript submitted to a scientific journal or a scientific society. There are strict format guidelines that must be followed before the editors/reviewers will even read your submission. If it is not in the appropriate form it will be returned to the author for revision without review!.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

If you have a verifiable disability which makes it difficult for you to complete course work as outlined in this syllabus without special accommodations under either the American's with Disabilities Act or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, please inform the instructor as soon as possible. The instructor will be happy to work with you and the UTPA Office of Services for Persons with Disabilities (OSPD) located at Emilia Schunior Ramirez Hall, Room 1.101, phone (956) 316-7005, fax (956) 316-7034. Cris Iglesias, OSPD Coordinator, will process accommodation requests, assist you with verification of a disability and will make special arrangements for your participation in the course. Please note that the instructor will make no preferences for any student regarding grades.