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Option 2:
Conducting a Biology
internship on campus, but in a laboratory outside of the Biology
Department.
Step 1. Print Out an Independent Study Agreement
Request Form.
Print out the independent study
agreement request form provided by this link or pick one up a
form at the Biology office (FA 147). The independent study request forms
need to be turned into the Biology office before the beginning of the
semester if possible.
Step 2. Fill out an Independent Study
Agreement Request Form. Signature of both your internship supervisor and
the Biology Internship Coordinator is required on the form.
Meet with your advisor
or the Biology Internship Coordinator to discuss the requirements for
Biology internship credits and what type of projects and writing
assignments will be acceptable for academic credit. Then, have your supervisor sit down with
you to explain what your goals will be for the semester. He/she should help
you fill out this form and should sign the form.
The Agreement should briefly describe
the project and clearly state the number of hours you will be devoting to
the project per week (on average) or per semester. The Agreement should describe any
required evaluations, writing assignments, presentations, reports, etc. and
deadline dates for these assignments.
See “Recommended Evaluations
and Written Assignments” below.
The independent study agreement request form should clearly state the
course number and how many credits you will receive
(see Tables 1 and 2, above).
Then take the Independent Study
Agreement to the Biology Internship Coordinator for review and signature.
Forms can be turned in to the Biology
office (room FA 147); the office staff person will give you the call number
needed to sign up for the credits. Use this call number to sign up for
the appropriate course and number of credits on e-PAWS. Biology students
completing an internship during the summer may have to wait until the fall
semester to obtain credit. Talk to the Biology Department about this issue
if you are a graduating senior.
Options
3:
Conducting a Biology
internship off-campus
Step 1. Print Out an Independent Study Agreement
Request Form. Print out the independent study
agreement request form provided by this link or pick one up a
form at the Biology office (FA 147). The independent study request forms
need to be turned into the Biology office before the beginning of the
semester if possible.
Step 2. Fill out an Independent Study
Agreement Request Form. Signature of both your internship supervisor and
the Biology Internship Coordinator is required on the form.
Meet with your advisor
or the Biology Internship Coordinator to discuss the requirements for
Biology internship credits and what type of projects and writing
assignments will be acceptable for academic credit.
If you are going to be
paid for your internship, you can receive academic credit for additional
work involved in writing a report or preparing a presentation about your
internship project.
Then, have your
supervisor sit down with you to explain what your goals will be for the
semester. He/she should help you fill out this form and should sign the
form.
The Agreement should briefly describe
the project and clearly state the number of hours you will be devoting to
the project per week (on average) or per semester. The Agreement should describe any
required evaluations, writing assignments, presentations, reports, etc. and
deadline dates for these assignments.
See “Recommended Evaluations
and Written Assignments” below.
The independent study agreement request form should clearly state the
course number and how many credits you will receive
(see Tables 1 and 2, above).
Then take the Independent Study
Agreement to the Biology Internship Coordinator for review and signature.
Forms can be turned in to the Biology
office (room FA 147); the office staff person will give you the call number
needed to sign up for the credits. Use this call number to sign up for
the appropriate course and number of credits on e-PAWS. Biology students
completing an internship during the summer may have to wait until the fall
semester to obtain credit. Talk to the Biology Department about this issue
if you are a graduating senior.
Recommended Evaluations and Written Assignments
for Internships
Midterm Evaluation.
A midterm evaluation is not graded. This is
a chance for the student intern to meet with his/her supervisor in order to
get feedback on strengths, weaknesses and where improvements can be made. Print out the midterm evaluation form
and turn it in to the supervisor 1-3 days before a one-on-one meeting. The
meeting should include a discussion of progress and a realistic evaluation
of the intern’s goals for the remaining portion of the semester. The
midterm evaluation form should be turned into the Biology Internship
Coordinator before the MIDTERM semester drop date.
Final Evaluation.
The final evaluation form is
designed to be filled out by the supervisor after a one-on-one meeting at
the end of the semester. The supervisor is responsible for submitting the final
evaluation to the Biology Internship Coordinator. If the intern turns in
the final evaluation, it should be delivered in a sealed envelope with the
supervisor's signature across the seal.
(1) The final evaluation can affect an
intern's grade. A student receiving a 2 or 1 on any portion of the
evaluation can have their final grade lowered by half or one grade point,
respectively.
(2) Any student not completing the total
number of hours will either be given an incomplete, a lower grade, or an
"F" in the course. This will be determined by the supervisor and
the Biology advisor or Internship Coordinator.
Paper:
BIOL 298 Interns
Interns could be expected to complete a
mini paper that consists of (1) a description
of the internship and the intern's accomplishments, and (2) a commentary on
how this internship affected the intern's decisions about future career
choices. The paper would be at least 2 pages long and is graded by
the supervisor and by the Biology Internship Coordinator, for internships
outside of the Biology Department.
BIOL 491, 492, 493 Interns
Interns could be expected to complete a
scientific paper (see below) would be at least 7 pages long. (Alternatively, a student preparing for a
senior thesis project could prepare a detailed proposal of the planned
thesis research project.) The paper
would be graded by the supervisor and by the Biology Internship
Coordinator, for internships outside of the Biology Department.
BIOL 491, 492 and 493 interns
completing their first semester could be expected to turn in a
"half" scientific paper. This paper would typically consist of
the following:
A. Introduction- The introduction is a way of demonstrating your
knowledge of the project and explaining why you conducted this research. It
is recommended that the introduction follow the same format used in Biology
192. We call this format "the upside-down pyramid" where the
writer discusses the topic from general to specific by first provides
background information on the topic and then eventually leading her reader
into a short introduction of the intern's project. The final paragraph
should include a short description of why you are conducting this
research and can include a statement about the hypothesis.
B. Methods- This section lets the interns demonstrate
knowledge of what they are doing. It should include a detailed
description of the protocols the interns are conducting in their own words.
Many Cell and Molecular Biologists will reference general protocols instead
of giving a detailed description of the procedures. We suggest that the
intern include a complete description of the protocols so they can
demonstrate a working knowledge of the procedures and can describe them
using proper scientific vocabulary.
C. Results and Discussion- These
two sections should be combined in the half scientific paper format and
should include initial data (raw or summarized) and a preliminary
interpretation of that data. Length of this section may vary depending on
the intern's progress.
D. Literature Cited- At least 5
outside references should be cited within the paper and included in this
section.
491, 492 and 493 interns completing
their second semester could be expected to submit a "full"
scientific paper. This paper would typically consists of the following:
A. Abstract- This is the first section of a scientific paper
and it acts as a summary of the work. All abstracts should be short (250
words or less) and stand on their own so the reader can quickly obtain
an overview of the work without reading the paper. Key elements of an
abstract include a few sentences that concisely state what you did, why you
did it (the importance of your research), how you did it (very briefly with
few details), your results, and your conclusions. This means that
your abstract will have pieces from your Introduction, Methods, Results,
and Discussion sections. It is best to write the abstract after you have
completed all other sections of the paper.
B. Introduction -(see description above). Existing introduction from the previous
paper may need to be updated.
Methods- (see description above). Existing methods from
the previous paper may need to be updated.
C. Results- Should include a summary of the data but no conclusions should
be drawn in this section.
D. Discussion- This is the
section where the intern interprets and discusses his/her results. The last
part of this section should address the original question stated in the
introduction and some conclusions should be drawn from this work. An
expansion on the discussion section can include an interpretation of how
this work has contributed to the overall knowledge in this scientific
area.
D. Literature Cited- At least 8
outside references should be cited within the paper and included in this
section.
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