DESCRIPTION OF LECTURE ASSIGNMENTS
(Subject to Change without Notice)
(Last Revision: 17 August 2005)

Semester and Final Exams               (4 October,  22 November,  &  13 December)
Two semester exams and one, non-cumulative final exam will be given over lecture material.  Exams may use multiple-choice and short answer questions.

 

Critical Review Papers                     (Due dates:  4 October &  8 November)
Students will complete two critical review papers.
                    Please, submit these via e-mail w/ the subject line "Critical Review Paper #__ ".

Critical reviews will critique a refereed journal article that deals with mammals.  Articles must be either a science research article or a science education article (this option for education majors).  Short communications, commentaries, & book reviews are not eligible.  The article must also have a bibliography or literature cited section.  Suitable journals include:
 American Zoologist      Animal Behaviour        Behaviour    Canadian Journal of Zoology      Conservation Biology        Ecology     Journal of Animal Ecology       Journal of Mammalogy       Primates: A Journal of Primatology         (check with me about other journals you may want to use)

Papers should be written using good grammar in the following format:
1.  Reference for the article you read:
 Author(s).  Year.  Article Title.  Journal Name.  Volume: pages

2.  Article Summary
In 1 or 2 paragraphs, describe the paper (who, what, where, when, how, why).
(Note: While the articleís abstract will provide most of this, do not rely on it when writing this summary.  Read the article entirely before you begin writing your paper.)

3.  Critical Evaluation
In your own words, critique the article.  Start with these points and build from there.
 a) good points of the study and article
 b) weak points of & improvements to the study and article
 c) the "next step" for this study, what would be a good follow-up?

4.  Apply the information from the research article to your life or major.  How can you apply this information in your profession?

5.  Bibliographic citation:
 From the Literature Cited section of the research article, give the citation of an article that you would be interested in critiquing and a brief (1 or 2 sentence) statement of why it interests you.

Papers will be evaluated on: 1) format, 2) completeness of the review, & 3) grammar and spelling.

 

Student Contract for Teachers        (See "Description of Lab Contract Items")
 
 
 

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