This page contains information for Dr. Wayne Goodey’s version of
Biology 448 only, and does not describe the full range of possible Directed
Studies options available.
If you want comprehensive
information about Biology 448 across all participating departments in the
Biology Programme at UBC, consult this link. Your best option when looking for Biology 448 supervisors is to
evaluate the research interests of faculty as given on their websites,
accessible on the Faculty page of departmental sites.
Current Biology 448 students of mine will present their projects in the
seminar format, and they are interested in hearing your comments on their work, to improve the quality of their
projects before the papers are handed in.
We have a talk coming up on Friday 20 October, at 1200; click the time to see the posting.
Keep an eye on this page for any developments; upcoming seminars are
also advertised on the Noticeboard page, link in the menu
at the left.
What is "Directed Study" anyway?
Why would I want to
do a Biology 448 project?
How would a directed
studies project run with Wayne supervising it?
How are Biology
448’s evaluated?
Tips on how to write a Biology 448 paper
Giving an effective Biology 448 research-seminar talk
Click here to check out summaries of topics I’ve
supervised...
Biology 448 is our designation for a
research project carried out by an individual student (or on occasion teams of
students) supervised by one (occasionally more than one) member of faculty. The
Biology Programme Guide page linked above explains some
of the rules and regulations (who is eligible, how to register, and so
forth), and the page you are reading concerns the application of the
general rules in the particular case of the directed-studies projects I would
supervise.
Research experience, particularly when
undertaken as a unique project of the student’s own, is a valuable asset on the
CV. To have completed such a project shows the ability to plan, the
ability to complete work punctually, and the ability to make sense of
results. More abstractly, it shows initiative (one must organize
one’s own supervisor and project idea), independence (the supervisor
cannot always be there to help), and communication skills (written,
in the paper; and verbal, when keeping the supervisor informed of
progress and raising questions). All of these items would rate highly in an
employer’s or a graduate-school’s list of criteria for applicants.
Especially for students who are not sure
whether they would like to attend graduate school, the opportunity to engage in
research at the undergraduate level is invaluable. It is crucial to determine,
before one ever thinks of applying, if research is indeed one’s forte – and
I know of no way to find out, except by actually doing research. You’ll
know if it’s right for you only when you’ve tried it.
Directed Studies may be taken for 3 or
for 6 credits, and the project may last for one or two terms, any combination.
You may take a maximum of 12 Directed Studies credits in the Biology Programme,
but not more than 6 with any one supervisor. Make sure that you clear your
“credit plan” with your advisor before committing to a Biology 448 project.
The first thing for prospective students
to remember about my supervision is this: I am in a teaching-only position at
UBC, and have no research grant or other research funding of my own, and no
dedicated lab space to offer for setup. This obviously limits the scope of
Biology 448 projects I am willing to supervise, but not too much.
Any projects undertaken during terms when
I am NOT teaching Biology 310 (Animal Behaviour) could make use of
equipment purchased and maintained for that course. This would include
specifically aquarium- and terrarium-related supplies, and binoculars,
stopwatches, and several other items, which you could borrow to use at home or
in the field. You would need to take this into account if you expected me to
provide such supplies, since first call on them goes to Biology 310 students.
It is sometimes possible to arrange
access to laboratory space and/or research materials through other researchers
at UBC, or at other facilities (Vancouver Aquarium, etc.); this would be
the responsibility of the student to arrange, and would normally occur
only when the student had prior interaction with those people or institutions.
The bottom line, then is that the
student must agree to undertake costs (photocopying, purchase of
supplies/organisms, travel expenses, etc.); normal UBC tuition fees are
of course additional to any research expenses.
Normally we would begin with a topic
idea, and hone it during meetings/correspondence. The idea could emerge from a
student’s own personal interests, from work done in a previous course, or from
suggestions made by a third party (e.g. an instructor
in another course, or a potential provider of equipment or research space). You may wish to view a selection of
past Biology 448 projects I’ve supervised.
We would organize a “plan of attack”,
involving (for instance) preliminary direct observations of animals in the
field, or library research work to prepare for hands-on work. Then serious
data-collection, experimentation, and data-analysis would ensue.
I usually suggest that by no later
than the midpoint of the project, the student will have submitted a rough
draft of Introduction, Methods, and some Results. I would then provide extensive
written feedback on content, presentation, and organization, which could be
used to improve a “next draft” (which would have complete Results section, and
also contain a Discussion). One more round of editing and constructive
criticism would then produce a finished paper, which would have fully developed
References and Acknowledgments as well as carefully tidied-up Introduction,
Methods, Results, and Discussion, with all figures, tables, statistical
details, and so on. This link will take you to an outline of how I
would want you to write a Biology 448 paper.
This varies from supervisor to supervisor;
I attach most significance to the written paper, and in some cases that is the
only object of assessment. Occasionally, the student can be graded in part on
competency with equipment or organisms. In most cases, and always for
6-credit projects, I would prefer the student to give a research
seminar/talk about the project to a peer audience 1-3 weeks before
submission of the final paper. The reason for this is that a talk evaluates a
different skill-set in the student from that tested with the paper: how well
can the student answer unanticipated questions? how thorough is the student’s
general knowledge of the study topic? can the student suggest creative
extensions based on what was done? etc.
Peers (usually invited, and/or from
current ecology/behaviour courses) often provide helpful suggestions to polish
the final version of the paper, and they learn about research by asking
questions and participating in discussion of the project. Thus the
directed-studies student is both helped by, and helps, these students. This link gives detailed suggestions for preparing
and presenting an effective research talk based on your Biology 448 paper.
Typically I find that paper- and talk-based evaluations are similar, so the percentage breakdown is of little consequence. For the sake of sample numbers, I would often assign 80% to the paper and 20% to the talk, but this has varied. Percent-grades in projects I have supervised have ranged from the high 70s to the low 90s, with an average in the low 80s.
Last
modified 25 December 2005