Chemistry295

IntroductiontoResearchIndependentStudy,Spring2017

COURSESYLLABUS

ClassLocationandMeetingTime:Mondaysat6:157:30PMinroom2237FrenchFamily
ScienceCenter

Instructors:JieLiu:office(room2015,FFSC);officehours(MandF1:002:00PM);email
(j.liu@duke.edu);phone(6601549).

ElenaFeinstein:office:TBAemail(elena.feinstein@duke.edu);phone(6601578).Officehours:
TBA

Meeting Assignment LiteratureResearchTopic

1/11 IntroductionCoursegoals,overview. BriefIntrointoliteraturereviewandsearches

Makingsureyouhaveaprimaryreference

1/16 OFFMLKholiday OFFMLKholiday

1/23 discussionofappendicesforfinal NoLiteraturetopicthisday.

researchproposal.

UseofChemDrawmakingsureyou
haveitonyourcomputerExamplesand
interestingfeaturesofthesoftware

1/30 researchfacilitiesDr.George Scientific literature databases especially Web of

Dubay(tentative) Science and PubMed

Safetyinresearchlabunderstanding
yourenvironmentinterestingcasesin
recentpast

2/06 PresentationsonSafety Citation management EndNote (taught by Carson)

2/13 Ethicsinresearchinterestingcasesof Chemistry-specific resources and patent searching

ethicsissuesinrecentpast especially SciFinder and Reaxys
2/20 Presentationsonethics

2/29 introductiontoresearchproposal
overviewofintroductionExample
Researchproposal

3/06 Workshoponintroductionrubricsand
peerreviewDiscussiononwritingthe
literaturereview

3/13 SPRINGBREAKNOCLASS

3/20 Workshoponliteraturereview
discussionofmethods

3/27 Workshoponmethodsdiscussionof
abstract,resultsandtitle

4/03 Workshoponabstract,resultsandtitle
discussionofprogressreport

4/10 Workshoponprogressreport

4/17 ResearchproposalProgressreportdue
OverviewofCHEM496.

4/24 LastDayofClassFinalProposalDue

InformationaboutChemistry295.Chemistry295willmeetonceweeklyonMondaysfrom
6:157:30PMinroom2237FrenchFamilyScienceCenter.Thetopicstobediscussedandthe
assignmentsareshownontheaboveschedule.Thecourseis0.5coursecreditsandisgraded
usingregularlettergrades.Italsoprovides0.5cctowardthewritingrequirement(W)for
graduation.Studentswhodonotneedthewritingcreditandwouldprefertotakethecourse
gradedSatisfactory/Unsatisfactoryshouldfollowtheusualprocedure.

Chemistry295isopentoallmajorsandisbesttakenconcurrentlywiththefirstsemesterof
independentstudy.ItisrequiredforallmajorswhointendtopursueaBSdegreeinchemistry
withACScertificationand/orwhointendtopursuegraduationwithdistinctioninchemistry.
AlthoughthestatedcorequisiteforChemistry295isenrollmentinthefirstsemesterof
independentstudy,ithetwocoursesmaybetakenindifferentsemesters,ifnecessary.Any
studentwhoisnotenrolledinindependentstudyconcurrentlyorhasnotyetstartedindependent
studyshouldseeDr.Royattheendofthefirstclassmeeting.

Textbook.Notextbookisrequiredforthiscourse.Selectedreadingsareprovidedonline.The
departmentalsohasafewusedcopiesofAShortGuidetoWritingAboutChemistry,byH.Beall
andJ.Trimbur.

QuizzesandExams.Therearenoquizzesorexamsinthiscourse.

Homework.Inthesecondhalfofthecourse,Dr.Liuwillprovideinstructiononwritingthe
variouspartsofaresearchproposal.(SeetheGuideforWritingaResearchProposalfor
Chemistry295,Version4.1).Eachweekyouwillwriteadraftofadifferentsectionofyour
researchproposal.Draftswillbedueatthebeginningoftheweeklyworkshopandcopieswillbe
madeavailableforpeerreviewduringtheworkshop.Rubricswillalsobeprovidedtofocusand
structurethecommentsofpeerreviewers.Attheendofaworkshopyouwillbegiventherubrics
fromyourpeerreviewers.Youthenreviseyourdrafttakingintoaccountthecommentsofyour
peerreviewers.

SampleResearchProposal.Dr.Franzhasgraciouslygivenusaccesstooneofherfirstresearch
proposalsonprochelators.Theproposalwasfundedandmostoftheresearchprojectsinthat
proposalhavenowbeencompleted.Theproposalwaswritteninaprescribedformatspecifiedby
thefundingagency.Theversionoftheproposalavailableherehasbeenmodifiedtobemore
consistentwiththeformatdescribedinChemistry295.

Absences.StudentswhoareunabletoattendaclassareexpectedtonotifyDr.Liu
(j.liu@duke.edu)priortotheabsencesothattheclasscanreorganized,ifnecessary;andsothat
somekindofmakeupcanbeconsidered.Theemailnotificationmaybeofficial:ashortterm
illnessform,areligiousobservanceform,oranathleticparticipationform;orunofficialfor
personalreasonsthatneednotbeexplainedintheemailbutshouldbedeemedbythestudentto
beacceptablewithintheCommunityStandard.Obviouslyclassparticipationisasignificant
componentofthecourse,especiallythegrouppresentationsinthefirsthalfofthecourseandthe
workshopsinthesecondhalfofthecourse.Studentsareexpectedtolimitabsencesforpersonal
reasonstoonceduringthecourse.

CourseGrades.Thiscourseisgradedusingregularlettergradesorsatisfactory/unsatisfactory
withagradeofsatisfactorybeingequivalenttoCorbetter.Theassignmentofpointsisshown
below.

Points
EVENTResearchProposal

TitleandAbstract 10

Introduction 10

LiteratureReview 10

Methods 10

Results 5

BibliographyandCitations 10

AppendixA 10

AppendixB 10

AppendixC 10

5
ProgressReport
5
Groupreportsoncasehistoriesofsafetyandethicsinresearch
5
AttendanceandClassParticipation
Cutoffsforlettergradeswillnotbedecidedbycourseinstructorsuntiltheendofthecourse.