Guidelines for Undergraduate
Research - BIOL399
Science is the effort to discover and objectively
describe natural phenomena and their functioning within systems. Most science entails collection and analysis
of quantitative data, and some work includes designing and carrying out
experiments or construction of models. Biology focuses specifically on living
systems. Students seeking to undertake independent research (BIOL399) should
wish to complement their growing "book knowledge" with experience in
the actual conduct of biological science.
There is much to be gained from independent
research. After a credit or two of
research, one should better understand whether s/he should target a career as a
practicing scientist (after further training in graduate or professional
school). Independent research should
help one to hone his or her abilities in logical analysis and in writing. Some independent research leads to such
well-documented and original findings that publication of a peer-reviewed
scientific article results. These are only some of the valid reasons to pursue
independent research credit.
I. How to Arrange for Credit in Independent
Research
The possibility of independent research begins when
a student investigates the kinds of research conducted by different faculty
members. One approach is to explore the Biology Department web site
(http://www.departments. bucknell.edu/biology/faculty). Students will also
benefit from talking to others already engaged in independent research, perhaps
in a laboratory of particular interest. Next, the student will initiate
discussions with one or more faculty members about possibilities for
independent research in their laboratories.
Ultimately, the student's work will take one of the following
forms: (a) assistance of the faculty
member with his or her ongoing research,
(b) collaboration with the faculty member on research of mutual
interest, or (c) guided initiation of a
novel project of the student's own conception.
In any case, the student is expected to conduct work in every
characteristic phase of research -- from presentation of hypotheses in a formal
proposal, through the development of research design, on to data collection,
and finally written and perhaps oral communication of results.
Most faculty are willing to advise more than one
research student in a given semester, but also most faculty accept only
promising students for research mentoring.
What is generally most important to faculty is the degree to which the
individual student shows a commitment to succeed in research. For particular
projects, some faculty may require the prospective research student to plan for
their independent research effort to span two consecutive semesters and/or have
taken specific courses.
Pending faculty approval,
students can enroll for independent research projects (BIOL399) in a given
semester worth 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 course credits. As for all full-credit Bucknell
coursework, the basic expectation of students enrolled for one full credit of
research is approximately 12 h of work weekly. Naturally, half-credit projects
anticipate students spending half as much time weekly on their work, while
two-credit projects anticipate twice as much time investment. Two-credit projects would only be
appropriate for the most advanced research students. Half-credit research might be appropriate for a student wishing
primarily to investigate the background literature pertaining to a specific
area of research, perhaps to determine whether they might be interested to
pursue actual empirical work in that area. Alternatively, a half-credit of
research might enable a student to learn a specific technique in the laboratory
or some particular method of data collection in a naturalistic or true field
setting. In any half-credit scenario,
however, students are expected to produce a term paper, present a poster, or
undertake an oral presentation similar to those produced for full-credit
projects (see below).
II. Requirements of Your Research Activity
A.
Planning
The first requirement is for the student to discuss
with a particular faculty member the possibilities for a research mentorship in
his or her lab and the general scope of the student's interests. The student
may want to have this discussion one to two semesters ahead of time. These discussions will enable the
prospective mentor and student to determine whether the student is interested
more to assist the faculty with an ongoing project or to initiate relatively
new research related to primary thrusts of the faculty member's ongoing
research program. This planning for independent research should occur during
the semester prior to the one during which the independent research is meant to
occur. Once the general domain of
intended research is understood between mentor and student, the student is in
position to begin reviewing pertinent literature and methods and outlining his
or her research proposal.
B.
Proposal
and proposal revision
Every formal effort in independent research
(BIOL399) must be founded on a clear and complete written proposal. A proposal generally contains an
introduction, a section on methods, a section describing anticipated analyses
and results, a section outlining the significance of the intended research, and
a bibliography (literature cited in proposal).
Typically, a student generates an initial draft of a proposal for review
and criticism by the faculty mentor.
Thereafter, the proposal is revised in accord with the written criticism
and further discussion. Revised
proposals should be completed no later than the third week of the semester of
research.
C.
Weekly
work
The most diligent student researchers often invest
more than 12 hours in a given week, whereas some weeks might see slightly less
time spent directly on research activity.
However, because research is so multifaceted (see sections II. E. and
III., below) and the fullest possible success with any research relates
directly to the time invested by the investigator, weeks during which fewer
than 12 h are spent on research should be rare. Ultimately, this is a matter
that will depend most on the individual student's organizational skill,
foresight, and resourcefulness. The student's particular activities will be
planned during regular meetings throughout the semester with the faculty
mentor. All undergraduate research
students are required to attend all Friday afternoon seminars organized by the
Department.
D.
Regular
meetings with the faculty mentor
Most independent researchers benefit from regular
communication with primary colleagues.
For student researchers this means weekly meetings with one's faculty
mentor. Meetings might be scheduled for a particular day and time or rather
occur at frequent but irregular intervals.
Most important, students should not expect their faculty mentors to run
them down to determine their state of progress. Instead, the reliability with which a student schedules and
attends meetings with his or her mentor can be expected to be one major element
of the faculty member's ultimate evaluation of the student's performance. Some
professors organize weekly lab-group meetings at which all students conducting
research in their lab discuss ongoing activities, journal articles, or recent
findings of interest. Often, students
take turns leading discussion by making brief presentations describing progress
with their project.
E.
Communication of data
Written communication is an essential element of
virtually every meaningful effort in science.
Anyone with appropriate insight, precision, and commitment can discover
something by implementing "the scientific method." But, a contemporary project remains
incomplete until one submits their methods, results, and interpretation to full
evaluation, which is normally achieved via written reports. Most faculty will ask student researchers to
draft their report in the form of a manuscript that might be accepted at a
particular professional journal in one's field. This requires that the paper be drafted in precise accord with
the format specified by the given journal for all manuscripts submitted for
potential publication. Regardless of
whether the student's results may be publishable, this practice offers
invaluable experience with the process of formal scientific writing. Typically,
mentors offer to critically review first and sometimes second drafts of a
student's article. Final versions are normally due just before or during the
week of final exams.
In lieu of or possible
addition to a written report, students may be asked to give an oral or poster
presentation. This activity may occur
locally, such as the Kalman Symposium every March, or at regional and national
meetings. Students will be expected to
be actively involved in the drafting of the presentation. It is also expected that students presenting
an oral report rehearse the talk in front of their advisor and lab group for
constructive comments.
III. Criteria for Evaluation of Independent
Research Projects: Effort and Quality
The faculty mentor
evaluates and grades the student's performance. Both the effort a
student invests and the resulting quality
of scholarship determine the degree to which excellence is achieved with an
independent research project. But, it
is important to remember that excellence in research, as with any coursework,
is judged somewhat indirectly in relation to effort. Outcomes are generally
evaluated more directly in relation to the actual quality of scholarship that
emerged. The student researcher should be sure to engage his or her mentor in a
discussion of this issue during the planning stage of the project. That
discussion will help the student decide whether to conduct independent research
and guide his or her approach to solicitation of feedback and assistance
throughout the project.
Mentors will determine
in advance how each project will be evaluated in relation to effort and quality
of scholarship. For example, 30-40% of a grade for independent research may be
based on the mentor's assessment of the effort that the student advanced while
60-70% is based on the actual quality of the scholarship, especially as
reflected by the content, organization, and clarity of the final paper.
A.
Effort
Faculty mentors monitor the many dimensions of
effort expected of research students. One essential aspect is the level of
initiative exhibited. A student applying high initiative achieves
progress with the current literature pertaining to his or her investigation
relatively independently after beginning stages, sometimes bringing to the
mentor's attention more than one relevant article of which the mentor is not
yet aware. Mature correspondence with scientists in the particular research
area might be undertaken, sometimes leading to receipt of yet-unpublished
manuscripts or additional leads to relevant literature. High initiative could include development of
required skills in data tabulation, graphical analysis, and/or statistical
analysis without undue exhortation on the part of the primary mentor (e.g., use
of SPSS, SigmaPlot, or similar software).
Appointments might be made with other students, Bucknell staff, or
faculty with particular expertise in these areas to make essential
progress. Most important, initiative
entails taking full and primary responsibility for arranging when and how often
information is exchanged with one’s mentor, so that the supervising faculty
member is easily able to offer appropriate advice. The faculty mentor cannot be expected to locate the student to
determine whether appropriate progress is being made along all dimensions of the
project.
B.
Quality
of Scholarship
There are also many dimensions to the quality of
scholarship. One is how comprehensively
the student has dealt with the scientific literature pertaining to his or her
research. The student should show
awareness of both important seminal publications and recent books and journal
articles that are influencing the work of investigators in their
sub-discipline. Some high-achieving
students might also discuss in their paper how their own results suggest that
consideration of literature rarely or never before cited by investigators in
their field may be important to achieve fullest possible insight. In other words, mentors will read student
papers with an eye toward determining how well their students understand
"the big picture:" i.e., how the results of their own research fit
into existing knowledge.
The clarity and precision of written reports are
also essential aspects of scholarship. As with manuscripts submitted by
established researchers for potential publication, student reports will
generally be evaluated regarding how well they conform to the format required
for manuscripts submitted to a particular journal in their field. Unless
particular variances are agreed upon in advance, the paper should be organized in
a way that would make it completely ready, after final revisions of content and
wording, for submission to the journal targeted by the student. The number of significant revisions of
content, wording, and format that would be required will reflect the degree to
which the student succeeded in producing a clear and complete manuscript that
lacked superfluous information.
Finally, it is important in assessing all scientific
projects to determine whether the empirical work represents an original effort,
with regard to methodology or to generating new information about the world
around us. If so, and clearly
communicated findings are well interpreted in relation to existing knowledge,
the research student may be on the threshold of actually submitting a final
revision of his or her research article for potential publication in a
peer-reviewed scientific journal.
In summary, the faculty mentor will evaluate performance in independent research along many dimensions that indicate the degree to which the student applied diligence, resourcefulness, and creativity in their effort. These guidelines should help prospective research students decide whether to undertake independent projects and help guide the efforts of those who do from the start to finish of their projects.
