Chemistry Seminar

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Prepare for and deliver a confident and clear research seminar.
• Communicate scientific concepts clearly and effectively, tailoring your talk to a target audience.
• Design and use visual aids to enhance presentations.
• Critically evaluate scientific presentations.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Seminar presentation and associated lead-up assignments	70%
Brief presentations	20%
Attendance / Participation	5% / 5%

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
93-100%	A
90-92%	A–
87-89%	B+
83-86%	B
80-82%	B–
77-79%	C+
73-76%	C
70-72%	C–
67-69%	D+
63-66%	D
60-62%	D–
<60%	F

Attendance/Participation:

Attendance is absolutely required for both Monday and Friday meetings. An unexcused absence on either day will result in the loss of 15% of your grade, which is the equivalent of one and one-half letter grade. If you have more than two unexcused absences, you will fail the course.

Class participation is a major part of this course, so your presence is a necessity. Seminars involve communication between the speaker and the audience. Although the speaker puts in the major effort, the involvement of the audience is a key part of the exchange of knowledge. Your participation in the seminar means that you serve as a good audience during the public seminars on Fridays and when your fellow students give presentations on Mondays. The most important part of this is to listen respectfully and attentively. Consider how you would want the audience to behave when you give a talk. Arrive on time for seminars and stay through the question-and-answer period at the end. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when the audience is invited to – the speaker is usually flattered by questions. As a rule, eating during seminars is not allowed (although it is usually ok to have a beverage). Working on your laptop or interacting with your cell phone is completely unacceptable and rude behavior. On Fridays, be sure to sign the attendance sheet for our class before the seminar begins.

Fridays:  If you must miss a Friday seminar, you will be required to make it up by attending an alternative seminar that I have approved. In addition, you will need to submit a summary paragraph of the seminar.

Monday:  Absence from a Monday class meeting is allowed only given a valid, documented reason such as illness or death in the family.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

No course materials are required.