Student Portfolios. Introduction:

Transcription

1 Student Portfolios Introduction: The purpose of the student portfolio is three fold. 1] From your perspective it will provide a resource that you can review when it comes time to apply for Grad School, jobs etc and will help the you write letters of application accurately describing your background and abilities. In the same vein it will be a valuable resource to faculty asked to write letters of recommendation. 2] From the perspective of the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology program it will provide additional information as to how students perceive they learn material and what courses are perceived as providing what types of training. 3] Perhaps most importantly however, the maintenance and use of a student portfolio will keep you actively involved in both monitoring the progress of your own education and in helping to assess the role that various activities [courses, laboratories, seminars, research, off campus study etc] play in your overall education. By dynamically involving you in this process you will have more ownership of the outcomes and be a true partner in the process. Instruments to be used in the Portfolio: 1] oratory Skills/Techniques A list of skills the program considers important is provided and you are asked to check off which skills/techniques you feel comfortable with. You are asked to identify when and where you learned each "skill". Listed in this section are the " core" courses of the program: CHE141, BIO201, BIO205 CHE 326, BIO 384 and CHE 329,,, and Experiences. You are asked each semester/year to record how these various activities have contributed to these skills using a 1-5 scale to indicate how much the activity contributed. 2] Presentation Skills Using a similar format to the above you are asked how these activities have contributed to the following "Presentation Skills" 1. Ability to Find appropriate literature 2. Ability to read an original paper 3. Ability to design and construct a poster presentation 4. Ability to organize a presentation 5. Ability to use web based protein analysis tools 6. Ability to utilize web based nucleic acid analysis tools

2 7. Ability to use the web to find relevant information 8. Ability to keep an accurate lab notebook 9. Ability to write a lab report 10. Ability to give an oral presentation 3] Analytical/Quantitative Skills Using a similar format to the above you are asked how these activities have contributed to the following " Analytical/Quantitative Skills" 1. Ability to Make up solutions and reagents 2. Ability to perform biochemical calculations 3. Ability to perform thermodynamic calculations 4. Ability to utilize equation fitting routines and analyze the appropriateness of the chosen equation 5. Ability to utilize appropriate statistical analysis 3] Skills Using a similar format to the above you are asked how these activities have contributed to the following " Skills" 1. Ability to design an experiment in practical terms 2. Understanding of the biological background to the research project 3. Understanding of the chemical background to the research project 4. Ability to relate research to the "big picture" 5. Ability to interpret data and draw conclusions 6. Ability to design follow-up and or confirmatory experiments 7. Ability to summarize succinctly the major features of an experiment and its results/interpretation. Next, the Student Portfolio will be a record of various other activities that you have engaged in and contains the following sections: :

3 : Presentations Publications Grant Applications Service Learning Activities/Outreach Study Abroad Other Finally, the student portfolio can be used to maintain a record of discussions about career direction/choices etc Use of this Information: Apart from the obvious uses in terms of helping you be actively be involved in your own education, and as a documentation of your accomplishments here at Richmond, the main use of this information will, be to allow the program committee to analyze [from the student's perspective] which factors of the program are contributing to the various student outcomes that the program aspires to. This will help the faculty of the program better see how the various courses and activities of the program fit together and contribute to the overall education of the student, which in term will allow fine-tuning of activities and emphasis as necessary.

4 Presentation Skills: Ability to Find Appropriate Literature Ability to read an original Paper Ability to Design and Construct a Poster presentation Ability to Organize a Presentation Ability to Use Web Based Protein Analysis Tools Ability to Use Web Based Nucleic Acid Analysis Tools Ability to Use the Web to Find relevant Information Ability to Keep an Accurate Notebook Ability to Give an Oral Presentation C141 lect B384 Analytical/Quantitative Skills Ability to Make Up Solutions and Reagents Ability to Perform Biochemical Calculations Ability to Perform Thermodynamic Calculations Ability to Utilize Equation Fitting Routines Ability to Utilize Appropriate Statistical Analysis Ability to Discriminate Between Alternative Hypotheses C141 lect B384

5 Skills Ability to Design an Experiment in Practical terms Understanding of the Biological Background to Project Understanding of the Chemical Background to Project Ability to Relate Project to the "Big Picture" Ability to Interprete Data and Draw Conclusions Ability to Design Follow-Up or Confirmatory Experiments Ability to Summarize Succinctly Major Features of an Experiment and its Results/Interpretation C141 lect B384 oratory Techniques: Technique C141 l Making Up Solutions Liquids and Chemicals Handling Enzyme Assays Protein Assays DNA Quantitation Gel Filtration Chromatography Ion Exchange Chromatography Affinity Chromatography Protein Purification Molecular Weight Determination SDS PAGE Native PAGE B205 B388

6 Isoelectric Focusing N terminal Analysis Amino Acid Analysis Organelle Isolation DNA Isolation Plasmid Isolation RNA Isolation DNA Sequencing Restriction Mapping PCR Design and Operation Site Directed Mutagenesis Chemical Modification of Proteins Enzyme Kinetics Ligand Binding Studies Antibody Techniques Heat Inactivation UV Spectroscopy Fluorescence NMR Circular Dichroism Mass Spectrometry- MALDI Mass Spectrometry- QToF X-Ray Crystallography Computational Chemistry