University of Iowa
Department of Biochemistry
4-403 BSB
Iowa City, IA 52242-1109 USA phone: 877-846-8569
or 319-335-7932
fax: (319) 335-9570
biochem@uiowa.edu

Department of Biochemistry

99:101 Technical Communication in Biochemistry

Instructor: Elisabeth A Swain, 4-552 BSB, 335-8569, elizabeth-swain@uiowa.edu / John Donelson, 4-403 BSB, 335-7934, john-donelson@uiowa.edu
Time & Location: Friday, 4:00P - 4:50P, AUD3 (Watzke), BSB
Hrs: 1 s.h.
Description: Students learn practical aspects of writing formal scientific papers and making oral presentations on technical topics. Prerequisites: 099:120 or 099:130 or 099:140 or consent of instructor; and junior or senior standing.

Syllabus, spring semester, 2008

Text: No text is required for this course. Two useful references are:
How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 6th edition, by Robert Day and Barbara Gastel, Greenwood Press (2006).
The Elements of Style, 4th edition, by William Strunk, E.B. White, and Roger Angell, Macmillan Publishing Co., (2000).

Assignments:
1. One oral presentation. Students will present either: (a) their own (proposed) research or (b) a recent paper published in a peer-reviewed journal (this option is open only to students who do not have a research project)
2. Six sets of critiques of the oral presentations
3. One final paper. Students will write either: (a) a formal scientific paper reporting their own research or (b) a case study illustrating the application of biochemistry to medicine (this option is open only to students who do not have a research project).
4. Six writing critiques