The grading for this class will be based on participation during presentations and discussions, as well as on the following two assignments:
Due on Ses #9
The assignment will consist of writing an abstract for a pre-existing research article. Students will be given a part of a research article (results, materials and methods, and the figures). With these core parts of a research article, each student should write a comprehensive 400 word abstract that summarizes the important results and the main conclusions. The abstract should aim to put the specific findings in a general perspective, as well.
Due on Ses #13
Each student will be asked to prepare an oral presentation based on a research article that elucidates the function of a checkpoint gene related to a human disease and describe how the clinical features of this syndrome can be explained by the underlying defect. Students will discuss the key figures from the article and also put the findings of the paper into a broader perspective concerning the associated disease. The presentations are scheduled for 15 minutes (10 minutes for the talk [7-8 Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides], followed by a 5 minute discussion).
The presentation will be given to the entire group. Students will be encouraged to actively participate in the five-minute discussion following each presentation.