Syllabus

Short Course Description

Analysis of paper structure and in-depth discussion of topics related to student research projects.


This class for first and second year MSc students has three synergistic goals:
 
First, it teaches students to read and present journal articles from the current literature.
 
Second, it provides students with skills that will assist them throughout their graduate career, including in informal and formal verbal and written presentation formats.  It provides them with experience in the peer review process and in giving and receiving constructive criticism, and helps them be successful in their graduate studies through discussions of time management, motivation and organization skills. 
 
Third, it builds a community of MSc students who will provide each other with advice, support and constructive critiques of scientific issues as well as tools to navigate life within the community of scientists. 
 
The course utilizes primarily the journal club format, with each first year MSc student presenting a journal article once during the year.  Presentations are practiced with groups of second year MSc students who give feedback and strive to help improve the quality of the final presentation.  This provides students with opportunity for an authentic peer review experience in which students  take on roles as presenter and peer reviewer with a common goal.  This process is augmented with several lecture/discussion/participation sessions that highlight communication, thinking and organizational skills useful to early stage graduate students.