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SYLLABUS MT-535: B.S. RESEARCH CAPSTONE
SPRING 2023 (January – May)
Course Director: Dr. Junaith Mohamed
MT 535 RESEARCH CAPSTONE Credit: 2 (2 weeks) Course involving literature review of recent scientific research publications in various medical science disciplines, submission of a paper and presentation in a formal seminar. Emphasis on importance of research in advancement of biomedical sciences. Mode of delivery: Research-based. Term offered: Spring. Instructor of Record: Dr. Mohamed. COURSE OBJECTIVE: The research capstone is a literature review paper course. The purpose of the research capstone is to have students demonstrate their ability to: (1) develop an appropriate question/topic in biomedical sciences, (2) review the scientific literature relevant to the question/topic, (3) critically analyze the scientific information found in the literature, (4) form a reasonable conclusion from the literature, (5) identify areas in the literature that are unclear or equivocal and require future study, (6) demonstrate good command of writing skills including composition, grammar, and spelling, and (7) demonstrate responsibility, dependability, and maturity by meeting writing deadlines, and the criteria for acceptable papers. Individual meetings with me may be requested at any time to discuss issues with the outline, or the progress of the paper and its accompanying PowerPoint. Instructor and student communicate several times via email or in-person. Successive drafts of each paper and the corresponding PowerPoint are submitted to the instructor electronically, edited with errors highlighted and returned to the student for correction. Corrected work must be returned to the instructor in a timely fashion. All students present their work in a formal seminar (with PowerPoints created for each paper) REQUIREMENTS:
1. Minimum of at least 10 full typewritten pages (1.5-spaced), excluding cover page, tables, graphs, and references.
2. Minimum of 25 references which are used and cited in your paper. References should be from peer-reviewed journals (e.g., New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Applied Physiology), and 80% of them should have been published in the last 10 years. However, you may give reputation for the original authors regardless of year of publication.
3. A 15-minute oral PowerPoint presentation will be given at the end of the session. The presentation should include a concise review of the paper and will be followed by a 5-minute question and answer period.
GRADING:
1. Formatting (5 points) 2. Organization (5 points) 3. Synthesis of Information (20 pts.) 4. Writing skills – composition, grammar, spelling (15 pts.) 5. Critical analysis of the information (10 pts.) 6. Formulation of a reasonable conclusion based on the literature (10 pts.)
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7. Identifying areas for future research (5 pts.) 8. References and citations: relevance to question/topic, quality (10 pts.) 9. Oral Presentation (20 pts.) Professional attire is required. 10. Papers with less than the required number of pages or references will receive an F.
The paper must be your own work and have never been submitted in a previous course or you will receive an F.
GRADING FORMAT:
All assignments must be submitted in Microsoft Word format to Dr. Mohamed through email. The work you submit must be your own!
IMPORTANT DATES: Topic submitted: Topic will be given to each student. Draft submitted: Draft must be submitted to Dr. Mohamed by the 1st Friday of the two-weeks research rotation through email by 11:59 pm. (There will be a reduction of 5 points from your paper grade if your outline is submitted after the deadline.)
Final Due Date: The first Monday after the two week of research rotation by 11:59 pm. Please submit your paper to Dr. Mohamed through email by with MS Word as a “.doc” or “.docx” file. Papers received after midnight on the MONDAY will be reduced by one letter grade per day. You can only submit your final paper one time! There can be no revisions after it has been submitted. Make sure you are submitting the correct file before you hit submit! Your PowerPoint based on your research paper is due 2-weeks from the final Friday of your research rotation. The contents must be approved by Dr. Mohamed before your presentation. Oral presentations: The date and time as well as the location will be informed to you. Requirements Write your paper using correct composition, grammar, and spelling. Remember when you paraphrase or quote an original idea or finding you must cite the source. Use spell check and carefully read your paper for any errors in composition or grammar. It is strongly suggested that you use the template provided in BLACK BOARD to format correctly.
Grading Schema Grading Scale Quality Points A 94-100 4.0 A- 92-93 3.67 B+ 89-91 3.33 B 85-88 3.0 B- 83-84 2.67 C+ 80-82 2.33 C 75-79 2.0 C- 73-74 1.67 D+ 71-72 1.33 D 65-70 1.0 F <65 0
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REQUIRED COMPONENTS: Title Page Table of Contents Review of Literature (This may have many subheadings such as Introduction and specific questions) Summary and Conclusion Future Research/Direction References (Use “EndNote” to arrange your references in your research paper) EXAMPLE OF NUMBER OF PAGES FOR EACH SECTION OF THE PAPER: Title Page: (1 page) Table of Contents: (1 or 2 page) Review of Literature: Synthesis of findings about the question (6-8 pages). The review should be a synthesis of the studies you have read. You should put what you have found from the studies together to come to a conclusion about your stated hypothesis. Tell a story. Put your ideas together in topics that help you answer the question you are asking? These topics can be subheadings under the review. The reader does not want you to tell about one study after another. Readers can simply read the abstracts of the studies to find out how many subjects were used, what were the methods used, etc. In your review you should discuss and analyze what has been found. Dissect the studies and explain how/why the researchers found what they did. Are there differences in methods, subject selection, etc.? Compare and contrast the results from the literature. Summary and Conclusion: (1-2 pages) Summarize your findings and come to a conclusion about your hypothesis or stated question. If you are unable to come to a conclusion based on what is currently known about the topic, it is okay to say so. Future Research: What is missing from the research? Look at limits of the studies. Suggest directions for future experimentation based on the work that has already been done. Explain why you believe the research should go in this direction. This may be included in the same page of Summary and Conclusion as a separate heading. Figures, Graphs, and Table: Develop figures, graphs, and tables that may help explain complex ideas or findings important to your review, but only if they are necessary and add to the paper. These should be added as appendices but do not count as the required 10 thesis pages. References and Citing of Sources: The reference number should be placed in parentheses at the appropriate place in the text. Finalize references arranged serially by number. Use “EndNote” to format your sources according to the style used in Aging for the reference list. See sample texts on BLACK BOARD for formatting of in-text citations. Format: Use 0.75-inch margins top, side, and bottom, and Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1.5 spaced, with no additional spaces between paragraphs. Do not change font size for any reason!
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COMMON MISTAKES: All writing should be in 3rd person. Do not use contractions in a scientific paper. “Don’t” should be “do not.” If there is more than one author on a paper, all authors must be acknowledged when they are cited. You may use the name of the first author along with “et al.” if there are more than six (6) authors. If there are six or fewer authors, you must cite them all. “Et al.” is an abbreviation for “et alii”, a Latin phrase for “and others.” Make sure your subjects and verbs agree. Examples: The data are shown to … “Data” is plural. Vick et al. demonstrate that … “Vick et al.” is plural. You may use numerals to describe numbers of things, but if the number begins a sentence, it must be spelled out. Computers crash, and USB sticks and CD’s can be lost. BACKUP ALL OF YOUR WRITING AND FILES! Do this often and in more than one place.
