Research Seminar

Catalog description

The goal of this course is to provide Master's students protected time to develop their thesis questions and to provide students with an opportunity to receive feedback on their thesis project at regular intervals in a structured format. By the end of the course students will be able to develop a research question, conduct a comprehensive literature review, select appropriate methods to answer the research question, and present their findings in written and oral formats. This course will also teach students how to provide constructive criticism and to effectively evaluate the work of their peers. Coursework will include developing a systematic review, providing constructive critiques of the work of other students in the seminar, developing a PowerPoint presentation, and developing a scientific poster presentation. All MS students will be required to take the course. First year Master’s students will develop their research question, complete a thorough literature review of the topic of interest in the form of a systematic review, and begin to identify methods that will be used to answer their research question. While second year students will conduct the necessary steps to answer their research question, write their results and conclusions, and prepare an oral presentation of their thesis work to be presented before their colleagues at the end of the semester and during MCW student research day. All students will be expected to provide feedback to their classmates and will receive feedback from their peers and the course director. Each class period four students will present some aspect of their project and will receive feedback from peers and the course director.