Journal Club - Fall 2003 Syllabus

 

Class:         Mon 3:30pm, CW 143

Instructors: Amit Chakrabarti and Uwe Thumm

Offices:      CW213, CW212

Email:        amitc@phys.ksu.edu, thumm@phys.ksu.edu

Web pages: www.phys.ksu.edu/~amitc, www.phys.ksu.edu/~thumm

 

 

General: The purpose of this course is to provide you with some of the tools necessary for a          successful career in physics. During the semester, you will learn about the various research efforts in our department, and how to (i) carry out an effective literature review and (ii) present your research results in a professional way, both orally and in writing.

 

Each student will be asked to

 

1.      obtain an overview of the research efforts currently undertaken in our physics department and the J.R Macdonald Laboratory,

2.      carefully prepare and make two oral presentations to the class,

3.      write a concise, camera-ready abstract following formal constraints, and,

4.      attend, analyze, and critique all talks both from the point of view of scientific merit and presentation skills.

 

Details:

 

1.      Literature Review: Short presentations by the instructors of this class will focus on topics such as: Library access, Spin Web search, Citation Index search, proper way to refer to a published work, and manuscript preparation packages such as RevTex.

 

2.      Your first talk will be a 10-minute presentation of an introductory physics problem.  The time limit will be strictly enforced. Arrange for at least one practice talk to a group of friends to make sure that you will stay within this time limit! A problem from Halliday and Resnick1 will be assigned to each member of the class. You are expected to introduce the problem, discuss ideas and strategies for obtaining a solution, and give the solution. The presentations should be brief and at a level suitable for beginning physics students. You will use the blackboard rather than overhead transparencies or electronic media.

 

             1 D. Halliday,  R. Resnick,  and J. Walker, Fundamentals of Physics, 6th Ed., extended 

               (Wiley 2001). 

 

3.      In preparation for your 20-minute presentation you first need to contact professors in the physics department to find out what their research efforts are.  Your presentation must overlap with research efforts at our department. You are expected to contact at least two research groups and to suggest to one of the instructors two different research topics for your presentation. We discourage presentation of research you have previously performed. During your presentation, the 20-minute time limit will be strictly enforced. Arrange for at least one practice talk to a group of friends to make sure that you will stay within this time limit! The medium of your presentation can be either transparencies or an electronic medium, such as, Power Point.  If you choose an electronic medium, you must have it set up and ready to go before the class begins.  The level of your presentation should be suitable for first year graduate students. 

 

4.      The abstract of your 20-minute talk must be a concise and complete summary of what you will present. It needs to be typed single-spaced, with 12pt characters, and 1 inch margins. It should include the title of your talk, your name, and a short bibliography. It may include up to two graphs and/or diagrams and is strictly limited to two pages. The final version of your abstract is due the day you give your 20-minute talk. You need to provide hardcopies of your abstract to both instructors a week before your talk and to all students immediately after your talk.    

 

5.      Criteria for evaluating journal club talks: Was the presentation well organized?  Was the speaker able to convey the subject matter to the audience?  Did he/she speak clearly, make eye contact with the audience, and provide well-prepared transparencies? Was the physics explained correctly? Did the speaker follow the plan for the talk as outlined in the abstract? Did he/she respond adequately to questions and comments from the audience? Was the topic appropriate for a graduate level class? (While analyzing a presentation think also about: What was particularly good about this talk? Are there ways to improve the presentation? )

 

6.      Grades: The course is graded pass/fail.  Besides your own presentations, you are expected to attend all the meetings of the class and participate in the discussion/suggestion sessions that follow the presentations.  To pass you must give both 10 and 20 min. presentations and you must have a total score of at least 70%.  Credit will be given according to:

 

            Introductory physics problem:              20%

            Abstract:                                              20%

            20 minute talk:                               40%

            Participation in class:                            20%

 

 

 

 

Disabilities: If you have any condition, such as a physical or learning disability, which will make it difficult for you to carry out the work as I have outlined it or which will require academic accommodations, please notify me and contact the Disabled Student's Office (Holton 202), in the first two weeks of the course.

 

Plagiarism: Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on the exam paper or project; failure in the course; and/or expulsion from the University. For more information refer to the ''Academic Dishonesty'' policy in the K­State Undergraduate Catalog and the Undergraduate Honor System Policy on the Provost's web page at http://www.ksu.edu/facsen/policy/honorcod.htm.