UGS 303 Originality in the Arts and Sciences 2016 (unique #s 63205 through 63230) UGS 303 Signature Course Requirement Freshman Research Initiative Course Requirement CNS Honors Degree Requirement Writing Flag Requirement Overview: This course introduces students to the traditions established in the arts and sciences for generating new knowledge from original ideas. Modeling the ways in which faculty conduct research, students will create original research reports and papers that employ skills introduced in lecture and that take advantage of university resources, including libraries, museums, research collections, research laboratories, and computer facilities. Faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate mentors will form intellectual communities in which students develop confidence in creating original ideas subject to inquiry. Meeting Times Lectures: M/W/F 10 11am Lab: Various times on T/W/F see times posted on Canvas Instruction Team: Dr. Arturo De Lozanne Teaching Assistants TBA Dept. of Molecular Biosciences Office hours by appointment Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UGTAs) Cohort Leaders UGTAs will serve as mentors for you while you carry out your independent inquiries and team projects. They will meet with you weekly outside of class to review your progress, assist you with your ideas, and assist you in the lab. UGTAs are excellent honors students themselves and have all taken the OAS class in previous semesters. Their contact information is listed on the course Canvas page. Class response system: We will be using SquareCap for in-class activities and take attendance using any Wi-Fi device that you bring with you. Log in at www.squarecap.com. Contact Dr. De Lozanne if you do not have any Wi-Fi device Communication & Canvas: You are required to have a working e-mail that is registered with UT. I will send all information about assignments, etc. to you via e-mail through the Canvas system (http://canvas.utexas.edu). All course materials, syllabus, assignments, grades, etc., can be found on Canvas. Use the online tutorials to learn how to upload assignments, change your profile, etc.: https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028/pages/student-tutorials Signature Course Requirements. Signature Courses require students to: 1) interact extensively with faculty; 2) write a great deal; 3) speak a great deal; 4) become accustomed to university libraries, special collections, and other resources for individual research; and 5) participate in the intellectual life of the university, including attending the University Lecture Series. Find details for these activities in the inquiries and assignments required for satisfactory completion of the course. Laboratory: This class has the use of the lab at various times during the week. The laboratory is a good place for incubating science inquiry ideas and post-inquiry reflections. You will perform one inquiry using the equipment in the lab. Dr. De Lozanne will supervise the TAs and UGTAs who will help manage the lab, teach basic skills, and make sure students are safety-trained and 1
know how to check out and use the equipment. Lab Equipment: During your inquiries you will be able to check out items from UTeach, FRI, and the Chemistry Department. You are responsible for all items in your care. You must return them in a timely fashion, and you are financially responsible for any damage to the equipment. Failure to follow these guidelines may result in financial bars. Museums and Libraries: OAS will make substantial use of the University s rich collections in our libraries, archives and museums. These resources are great places for incubating humanities inquiry ideas and post-inquiry reflections. You will perform one inquiry using these facilities. Cohorts and UGTAs: Each student will be assigned to a cohort of about six students with a lead UGTA. Cohorts gather students by similar majors, career interests, or intellectual thrusts. You are required to meet once a week for an hour with your cohort. Much of the guidance in developing inquiry ideas and other assignments will be provided in cohort meetings. Assignments and Participation: There are no exams in this course. Instead, you will be asked to turn in several assignments and actively participate in class: Two independent inquiries = 50% (25% each) One group project = 25% Skill modules & other assignments = 15% Attendance & Class Participation = 5% Final reflection essay = 5% Inquiries: An important mode of assessment in this course will be the products of self-directed inquiries derived from your original ideas. As mentioned above, each student must complete two original inquiries, each worth 25% of your course grade. These assignments will be one important avenue for you to demonstrate your capabilities as an independent and creative thinker. Group Project: Throughout the semester, your cohort will work together to create a grant proposal for a funding organization in the sciences or in the humanities. The project, worth 25% of your course grade, will require that you engage with every aspect of grant-writing, from developing a good idea, to creating context and justification, to developing the scope, timeline and budget of your project, and finally to drafting a fully developed proposal in a disciplineappropriate style. This assignment engages all stages of the proposal process: reference work, vetting by experts, oral presentation, criticism, and rebuttal. Skills Modules: Over the course of the semester, students will develop an array of skills useful in the lives and careers of self-guided students and thinkers. UT resources are vast and extend well outside the classroom. You may decide to learn how to navigate the Harry Ransom Center, use Excel to do a statistical analysis or simply talk with a professor about an idea you have. OAS Skill Modules ask you to perform these tasks. Many of these modules were written by previous OAS students based on skills they found useful in college! You will need to complete several Skill Modules before the end of the semester: some are required (TBA), but you may choose the remaining ones out of diverse Skill Module options. Which modules you choose will depend on your intellectual interests and inclinations and on the extent to which you want to challenge yourself into ways of thinking or working to which you are unaccustomed. The skill modules are graded for completion at the discretion of your UGTA. Instructions on how to submit these skill modules on Canvas and deadlines will be provided later. 2
Assignment Grading: This is an honors course you are expected to work hard and do your work well. Should you turn in inferior work, it will be returned with suggestions for improvement. UGTAs will grade Skill Modules. Professors and TAs will grade Inquiries. Course Grade: Grades will be assigned according to the following scale. A = 92.5 100% A- = 90 < 92.5% B+ = 87.5 < 90% B = 82.5 < 87.5% B- = 80 < 82.5% C+ = 77.5 < 80% C = 72.5 < 77.5% C- = 70 < 72.5% D+ = 67.5 < 70% D = 62.5 < 67.5% D- or CR = 60 < 62.5% F = <60 Due Dates: If you turn an assignment in late, you will lose 10% (of the value of the assignment) for each day it is late. Canvas automatically time-stamps your submissions. If you are one second past the deadline it will be marked late. Do not attempt to upload assignments at the last minute. We understand that self-guided inquiry can be a tricky process. If you have a problem with your inquiry (your reagents didn t arrive or something failed), or you are doing something so extraordinary that you need more time, you may ask Dr. De Lozanne for an extension. Do this at least 48 hours BEFORE the deadline. Attendance: Students are expected to attend class and cohort meetings unless they receive permission to be absent. Repeat offenders will find that their course grade suffers. Attendance will be taken every lecture class day with the use of SquareCap on any electronic device you bring with you. To allow for occasional technical problems, you need only 80% participation to obtain the full 5 points of credit. Attendance will start to be recorded on 08/29/2016. Since the lab portion of the course is largely self-directed and students have clear deadlines for their inquiries, attendance will not be taken on lab days. August 24, Wednesday August 29, Monday September 9, Friday November 1, Tuesday December 5, Monday CALENDAR OF IMPORTANT REGISTRATION DEADLINES Classes begin. Any questions regarding your registration should be brought to our attention ASAP. Last day of Official Add/Drop and Late Registration period. Twelfth Class Day. Official enrollment count is taken. Last day to drop a course for possible refund. Last day an undergraduate may, with Dean s permission, withdraw from the university or drop a course for academic reasons (Q drop deadline). Last day to change registration in a course between a letter grade and P/F. Last day of classes. 3
Originality in the Arts and Sciences Important Deadlines 2016 (subject to change) Day Date Topic Inquiry 1 Inquiry 2 Group Project W 24 Course Introduction Instructions released Instructions released Instructions released F 26 M 29 W 31 Crowdsourcing ideas for your Inquiry F 2 Approaches to Good Writing: Dr. Wilcox & M. Searle Identify your topic M 5 Labor Day -- University Holiday NO CLASS W 7 F 9 Proposal Due 09/11 M 12 W 14 The Freshman Research Initiative: Dr.Rodenbusch F 16 Crowdsourcing ideas for your Inquiry Identify your topic F 16 ** ANNUAL OAS BOWLING GAME 6-8PM ** M 19 FRI Stream Presentations #1 M 19 University Lecture Series 7-8PM Bass Concert Hall T 20 University Lecture Series 7-8PM Bass Concert Hall W 21 FRI Stream Presentations #2 F 23 FRI Stream Presentations #3 Proposal Due 09/25 Form 1 Due M 26 How to Improve your Writing: Dr. Wilcox & M. Searle M 28 F 30 How to Build Good Arguments: Dr. Wilcox & M. Searle M 3 Research in the Humanities: Dr. Katrin Erk W 5 F 7 Complete Draft Due FRI Stream Sort Application Opens 10/09 M 10 W 12 FRI Stream Sort Application Closes Peer review due F 14 M 17 Faculty Panel: Honors Programs Directors W 19 F 21 Complete Draft Due Form 2 Due 10/23 M 24 Revising Humanities Inquiry W 26 Revising Science Inquiry Peer review due F 28 Team Member Evaluations Due M 31 W 2 F 4 Final Draft Due 1-minute Team Proposal Presentations 11/06 M 7 W 9 F 11 M 14 W 16 PANEL: You want to be a Graduate Student? F 18 Final Draft Due Complete Proposals 11/20 Due M 21 Proposal critiques due 11/22 W-F 23-25 No class - Thanksgiving holiday M 28 W 30 10-min Team Proposal Presentations F 2 10-min Team Proposal Presentations M 5 Revised Proposals Finalist Teams Proposal Presentations due M 12 Final Reflection Forms Due 4
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REQUIRED BY THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES The Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office of the Student Dean s Office is charged with assisting disabled students. They estimate that about 2000 students suffer from disabilities including mobility impairments, learning disabilities, visual impairments, hearing impairments, ADD and ADHD, and others. By law, all of these students are guaranteed a learning environment that provides reasonable accommodation of their disability. As an instructor I am required to provide reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities and I am happy to do so. However it is your responsibility to inform me at the beginning of the semester (by the 12th class day) if you have a disability. I must know this information as soon as possible so that I can make appropriate arrangements. RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES AND MAKE-UP WORK It is University policy that a student may make-up work missed due to observance of a religious holiday. Notify me by the 12th class day to ensure that you can make up missing or late work. WRITING FLAG COURSE (Core Component 010) This course may be used to fulfill three hours of the communication component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, teamwork, and personal responsibility. SIGNATURE COURSE (Core Component 090) This course fulfills three hours of the component area option of the university core curriculum and addresses three of the core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, and one additional objective (teamwork, personal responsibility, social responsibility, or empirical and quantitative skills). ACADEMIC DISHONESTY The phrase academic dishonesty is a euphemism for cheating. The University s Honor Code states, The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness and respect toward peers and community. The point is simple: don t cheat. This class is devoted to teaching and cultivating original, creative thought, so if students take ideas from other sources in the stages of inquiry development or if, when completing the many writing assignments for this course, students copy and paste discourse from other sources, they thwart fundamentally the objectives of this course. If you have questions about plagiarism, be sure to bring them to your UGTAs or graduate TAs during lab or office hours. Make learning about plagiarism a project in self-guided inquiry: consult the right sources, learn the definition, and work around it. You are Honors students if you violate the Honor Code, you will be referred directly to Judicial Services and will answer to the full extent of university regulation. Use of E-mail for Official Correspondence to Students: All students should be familiar with the University s official e-mail student notification policy. It is the student s responsibility to keep the University informed as to changes in his or her e-mail address. Students are expected to check e-mail on a frequent and regular basis in order to stay current with University-related communications, recognizing that certain communications may be time-critical. The complete text of this policy and instructions for updating your e-mail address are available at http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/emailnotify.html. University of Texas Core Values and Honor Code: The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community. As a student of the University of Texas at Austin, I shall abide by the core values of the University and uphold academic integrity. 5
Recommendations regarding emergency evacuation from the Office of Campus Safety and Security, 512-471-5767, http://www.utexas.edu/safety/: - Occupants of buildings on The University of Texas at Austin campus are required to evacuate buildings when a fire alarm is activated. Alarm activation or announcement requires exiting and assembling outside. - Familiarize yourself with all exit doors of each classroom and building you may occupy. Remember that the nearest exit door may not be the one you used when entering the building. - Students requiring assistance in evacuation shall inform their instructor in writing during the first week of class. - In the event of an evacuation, follow the instruction of faculty or class instructors. - Do not re-enter a building unless given instructions by the following: Austin Fire Department, The University of Texas at Austin Police Department, or Fire Prevention Services office. - Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL): 512-232-5050 - Link to information regarding emergency evacuation routes and emergency procedures can be found at: www.utexas.edu/emergency 6