The Senior Exercise for each Chemistry and Biochemistry senior not in the Honors Program has two components, one written and one oral. At the end of the fall semester, students submit a review paper. During the spring semester, students prepare and present a thirty-minute talk on two papers about a contemporary research topic. A faculty organizer will hold a meeting early in the fall semester to review these guidelines and distribute a timeline for the exercise.

Objectives of the Senior Exercise

The Senior Exercise is intended to give you the opportunity to:

1. "pull together" much of what you have learned in separate courses and teach yourself about new areas of chemistry in the process of reading research papers.
2. develop and demonstrate the ability to critically read primary research literature and to recognize how conclusions are drawn from and supported by data and observation.
3. practice making a professional quality oral presentation, featuring good organization, clarity of expression, proper concern for your audience and advantageous use of overheads, blackboard or video display.

Research Topic

Assignment
At the beginning of the Fall semester, each Chemistry and Biochemistry senior will select one primary research article that will be the basis of his or her senior exercise topic. Seniors who are currently working on an independent research project in the Department may select, with appropriate guidance from their faculty mentor, one research paper related to their research project. Other students will select one research paper from a group of papers (representing a variety of research areas) assembled by the Chemistry Department faculty. Each student must then select at least one additional paper from the current primary research literature. The two papers should be related to each other and, together, will be the topic of the oral presentation.

Preparation
To adequately prepare oral and written presentations on a research topic, you should be able to (1) search the primary chemistry and biochemistry literature effectively using online databases, (2) find appropriate resources in the primary, secondary and reference literature to help you learn about your topic, (3) carefully read, analyze and critique research papers, and (4) organize and present effectively this newlyacquired knowledge.

Much of the information in the primary research papers may be new to you. The goal of the exercise is for you to demonstrate a capacity to learn independently and to find appropriate resources to assist you. The faculty in the Department can be an important resource, so you are strongly encouraged to seek advice from a faculty mentor while reading your papers. But, do not expect that faculty member to read the paper for you, nor to reveal the meaning of it all the night before your seminar.

Paper
The paper will consist of a novel literature review of recent primary research literature in the field of the senior research topic. The format of this document should follow that of standard reviews, including an abstract, introduction, body, conclusion and references. The body should contain information gathered from at least 10 recent primary research articles (as well as other respected sources) and organized such that it gives a modern overview of the chosen topic. It is expected that the student will insert his/her own comments and perspectives into the paper using review convention. This paper will be 10+ pages and follow the style put forth in the ACS Style Guide.

Submission of Paper
Each student is responsible for submitting his/her paper in a common electronic format (ex. Word). The document must be submitted to the designated site by 5pm on the last day of the fall semester finals. The paper submission site will be announced by the last week of fall classes.

GRADING

Feedback will be given by the end of the first week of spring semester. The faculty reviewer(s) will assess each paper and give it a grade of: excellent, very good, good, fair, poor or failing, based on criteria such as:

• the choice of the scope and focus of the review topic,
• fundamental understanding of the topic as evidenced by the collection and organization of information from a variety of respected sources as well as the inserted student commentary,
• clarity of expression and proper use of chemistry terms,
• organization of the material,
• effective use of and proper execution of graphics, tables, reaction schemes, etc.,

Work worthy of distinction is characterized by:

• excellent choice of topic and focus.
• excellent understanding of the material,
• evidence of originality and creativity, and
• clarity of expression.

Work that is not satisfactory to pass is characterized by a deficiency in some of the criteria mentioned above, possibilities include:

• misunderstandings of some aspects of the topic,
• a lack of focus,
• a paper that simply paraphrases the research paper and/or other source material, or
• a paper which is disorganized in content and style.

Based on written literature review, the faculty may assign a paper to clarify aspects of the topic, or require that all or part of the literature review be rewritten.

The Oral Presentation

Presentation
Two primary research papers are the basis of the oral presentation, which should explain, analyze and critique the research presented in the papers. Students should briefly introduce their topic with appropriate background information, discuss in detail the experimental methods and data , and explain the significance of the results. The oral presentation should be 30 minutes in length and will be followed by a 10-minute discussion period with questions by the faculty.

Materials
Each student must prepare an abstract of his or her oral presentation, about one-half page (typed, single spaced) in length. This abstract must cite the research papers used to prepare the presentation and must be distributed to each faculty member one week before the presentation. In addition, each student is responsible for placing a copy of their two research papers and abstract in the Reading Room one week before the presentation. The oral presentation may involve use of a chalkboard, overhead projector, computer display or other visual aids. However, the student is responsible for making certain that their medium is working properly.

Attendance
The oral presentations will be given in the evenings in February. They are open to the public, and all students in the department are encouraged to attend. Attendance at all presentations is mandatory for all seniors, including those in the Honors program. Only scheduled courses or athletic games which conflict with the presentation times of other students are excuses for not attending.

GRADING

The faculty discuss each oral presentation and arrive at a grade of: excellent, very good, good, fair, poor or failing, based on criteria such as:

• degree of understanding of the material as evidenced in the formal presentation and in answers to audience questions,
• ability to relate the contents of the two (or more) papers,
• clarity of expression and proper use of chemistry terms,
• organization of the material,
• effective use of overheads/blackboard/video,

Work worthy of distinction is characterized by:

• excellent understanding of the material,
• evidence of originality and creativity , and
• clarity of expression.

Work that is not satisfactory to pass is characterized by:

• a presentation that simply paraphrases the research papers and any other source material you use, or
• an oral presentation which is disorganized in content and style.

Based on performance on the oral presentation, the faculty may assign a paper to clarify aspects of the presentation, or require that all or part of the oral presentation be given again .