Sept. 1 - Introduction to the Lab – Lucas
Computer Navigation and Spreadsheet Use – Lucas
Sept. 8 - Computer Navigation and Spreadsheet Use – Lucas
Comparative Morphology and Anatomy of Nervous Systems I – New
Sept. 15 - Comparative Morphology and Anatomy of Nervous Systems II – New
Sept. 22 - Comparative Morphology and Anatomy of Nervous Systems III – New
Sept. 29 - Comparative Morphology and Anatomy of Nervous Systems IV – New
Oct. 6 - Using the Oscilloscope to Measure Electric Signals – Lucas
Oct. 13 - Generating, Recording, and Analyzing Electric Signals – Lucas
Oct. 20 - The Ionic Basis of the Resting Potential – Lucas & New
Oct. 27 - Motor Innervation of a Crayfish Postural Muscle I – Lucas & New
Nov. 3 - Motor Innervation of a Crayfish Postural Muscle II – Lucas & New
Nov. 10 - Motor Innervation of a Crayfish Postural Muscle III – Lucas & New
Nov. 17 - Psychoacoustics: The Ear as a Filter – Sheft
Nov. 24 - Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 1 - Molecular neurobiology I – Lucas
Dec. 8 - Molecular neurobiology II - Lucas
Society for Neuroscience Meeting Nov. 12-16
Computer/Spreadsheet Lab Assignment due: Sept. 15
Comparative Morphology Lab Assignment due: Oct. 6
All other lab assignments are due 1 week after the lab (unless otherwise specified)
– revision 8/17/05
PARTICIPATING FACULTY:
Dr. Louis Lucas* Biology Department LSB 340 LSC
Dr. Richard Fay++ Parmly Hearing Institute DH 138 LSC
Dr. John New* Biology Department DH 1006 LSC
Dr. Stan Sheft Parmly Hearing Institute DH 136 LSC
* Course Coordinator
++ Director, Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Minor (INM)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: Students are required to complete all lab,
homework and reading assignments. Grading will be based on a total of 300 points
with 25 points assigned to each week of lab work at the discretion of the faculty
members in charge (see syllabus). Assignments are due at the beginning of lab
class one week after the lab unless otherwise specified. Written portions of
the assignment must be done with a word processor and graphic portions via a
spreadsheet unless otherwise specified. Late assignments may be penalized at
the rate of 5% (of total points) per day for week-days and 2.5% ( of total points)
per day for weekends or holidays.
Because illness and unexpected events do come up, however, students may declare
a one-time waiver from this penalty without explanation as long as the assignment
is not more than one week late. This declaration must be made in writing (e.g.
“I am requesting my one-time waiver from late penalties on this assignment)
on the front page of the assignment at the time it is turned in; otherwise,
the late penalty will apply. Other exceptions due to extenuating circumstances
(e.g. serious illness) may be made but will require written documentation (e.g.
from a physician on official stationary). Grading criteria on homework assignments
are at the discretion of the faculty member who grades the assignment, but students
may petition to have their grade reevaluated by submitting the graded assignment
and a written rationale for why the grade should be changed to the faculty member
who graded the assignment. Grade appeals must be made within one week after
the graded assignment is returned to the student. Based on this petition and
a re-reading of the student's assignment, faculty will then have the option
to increase, decrease or keep the grade the same. Final letter grades will be
assigned following Loyola Lake Shore Campus policy.
Although we encourage students to use each other as resources for discussing
concepts and clarifying issues, all homework assignments must be done independently
and thus conform to Loyola's standards of academic integrity as published in
the undergraduate Handbook. Plagiarized assignments or assignments based on
fabricated data will receive a failing grade (no points) and may lead to a failing
grade in the course and/or suspension from the university.
GROUND RULES FOR USING THE LAB:
1. Key Card Access: Student Identification Card will allow entry to the lab during normal Lake Shore Campus hours. These will be posted on the door to the lab.
2. Authorized Users: Only authorized students and faculty are allowed to use the lab. These include students enrolled in NS 301/302 and in Psych 311. Friends and family are not allowed in the lab for safety and security reasons and out of consideration to other students using the lab.
3. Safety Policies: Adhere to the safety policies of the lab. Food and drinks
are not allowed in the lab at any time.
4. Lab Maintenance: Take good care of the lab and equipment. Remember that this
is a shared facility used by different faculty and students and different courses
are taught in this facility during the same semester. When you are finished
for the day, make sure that microscopes are covered, the power to equipment
is turned off, surgical tools and working surfaces are cleaned, and all supplies,
cables, tools etc. are put away.
5. Lab Security: Keep equipment and the lab secure. When you use the lab during non-class hours, please keep the lab door closed and locked at all times. Do not let anyone into the lab who isn't authorized to be there.
Survival Guide for NS 301 and 302
The Lab in Neuroscience is designed to give students a unique, hands-on experience in neuroscience research methods and an opportunity to experience as much as possible about the real world of neuroscience research, including how exciting and rewarding it can be. As a student in this lab, you will discover how scientists ask and answer questions about nervous system function. Thus, the emphasis of this course will be on your ability to educate yourself: to formulate good questions, to think critically and logically and to solve problems so that the questions can be answered. As such, this course may be very different from other undergraduate lab courses that you have taken in the past. For one thing, you will be exposed to state-of-the-art, research-grade equipment that is technically very sophisticated. For another, you will be asked to think about and solve problems that have no ready-made, text-book answers. That is, a lot of what you will do in the course does not entail cookbook-like experiments with a single predictable outcome, but real experiments with real data and live animals. This means that things will not always go as planned and that unforeseen problems can and do arise. Thus, for many students, the technical and unpredictable nature of this course can at first be intimidating, difficult and frustrating. To help you understand what to expect in this lab and to help you overcome initial frustrations, we offer the following survival tips. These are by no means meant to discourage you from taking the lab, but rather to provide you with some realistic expectations.
1. Mistakes are a vital part of the experimental and learning process. All experimenters, from beginning students to Nobel Prize laureates, make mistakes. Learning from your mistakes is the key to your intellectual growth and your ability to be self-reliant. Just remember that many of the major discoveries in science have come from so-called mistakes.
2. Be forewarned that this lab course will probably be more difficult than any other lab course you have taken and that many lab exercises will require at least 4 hours/week of time outside class to complete the homework assignments. In general, you should expect to put in 3 hours of outside time for every hour of in-class time. Thus, you will have to put in long hours and work very hard in this course.
3. Be patient and have faith. Understand that once you get over the initial challenges and difficulties of this lab (particularly the equipment labs during the first semester), there is light at the end of the tunnel. Students who are able to adjust to the initial ‘culture shock’ of what is expected of them and who become actively engaged in the lab exercises, are gradually able to build up their technical skills, research experience and confidence to the point that they really enjoy the lab and are able to leave this course with a real sense of accomplishment.
4. Understand that this is not the type of course in which you will passively sit and listen as faculty ‘teach’ you concepts. Rather, this is a course in which you will actively teach yourself by engaging in the lab and homework assignments, which are designed to step you through a discovery process of learning. This is what research is all about. Thus, you must accept responsibility for understanding the lab exercises and their underlying concepts. This means familiarizing yourself with the lab by reading the required readings and lab manual before each lab. Perhaps even more importantly, this means thinking about the lab exercises as you are doing them and asking lots of questions during and after the lab to clarify areas that you don’t understand (see tip # 9).
5. Accept responsibility for running the experiments correctly and getting what you need so that you can successfully complete the homework assignments. Homework assignments are designed to evaluate how well you understand the lab, as well as your skills in collecting and analyzing experimental results. Therefore, follow the lab instructions carefully, making sure that you understand what you’re doing at each step and have obtained all of the data you will need to do the homework. Stop and ask questions frequently if you need to. Don’t be afraid to have a faculty member check your work to make sure that you’re doing it correctly. In cases where you cannot get good results due to circumstances beyond your control (e.g. equipment malfunctions or experimental animal dies), make sure that you have an instructor verify that this is the case and provide you with whatever you need to complete the homework assignment. You will not be penalized for circumstances beyond your control, but you may loose points on homework assignments if you fail to do the lab exercise correctly and in doing so, produce faulty results that lead to the wrong conclusions. Most importantly, you’ll miss the point of the lab and an opportunity to fully understand the underlying concepts.
6. Don’t expect that there will be step-by-step instructions for each experiment or assignment. The major steps will be described, but you will need to understand the logic of the experiment and question we are asking in order for you to be able to fill in the gaps. Thus, always keep the big questions in front of you. That is, what is this experiment about? What is the point of this experiment? What is or are the major questions? If you aren’t sure at any point in an experiment, ask (see tip 9).
7. Don’t expect that there will always be a single correct result for each experiment; often there is not. Data are whatever you obtain. Of course, data from a poorly designed or carried out experiment are not worth much. But, assuming you have done the experiment correctly, don’t expect there to be a “correct” answer or that your results will be like others in the class or even exactly like that in the workbook or the readings. This is part of the excitement of neuroscience research. Everything is new and fresh and waiting to be discovered. It is only up to your careful execution, coupled with your knowledge, which leads to great results.
8. Get an early start on homework problems. Data analysis and interpretation are not easy and generally take longer than you think (even for the seasoned scientist). That’s part of the challenge and part of the excitement of research. Allow yourself plenty of time to deal with unanticipated problems - whether they be technical (e.g. the computer crashes, the printer jams) or conceptual (e.g. can’t figure out the formula to convert sec’s to ?sec’s).
9. Don’t be shy about asking for help; there is no such thing as a stupid question. Faculty want you to succeed and are willing to assist you with both the lab and the homework assignments. If faculty answer your question with another one, don’t be discouraged or frustrated. Often, we are merely trying to help you discover the answer for yourself, rather than providing it for you. If you’ve gotten an early start on your homework (tip 8) and have identified a problem, make an appointment to see a faculty member so that the problem can be solved in plenty of time to get your homework finished before the due date.
10. If you’re having problems, take some time to clearly identify for yourself where the problem lies. Is it technical (e.g. the oscilloscope isn’t functioning properly) or conceptual (e.g. you don’t understand how to interpret what you see on the oscilloscope screen)? If conceptual, what is it that you don’t understand? Being able to clearly identify and articulate the problem is half the battle and will assist both you and faculty in solving the problem.
11. Be prepared for technical problems beyond your control (e.g. printer is jammed, computer crashes). These are frustrating for everyone, including faculty, but are an inevitable part of research. Report technical problems as soon as they arise and try to get help immediately. Assistance for technical problems is generally available from 10am to 5pm during normal working days by calling either Dr. Lucas (8-2720), Dr New (8-3675) or any of the other numbers listed by the lab phone for this purpose. For technical problems that arise during evenings and weekends, please send an email either to Dr. Lucas (llucas2@luc.edu) or Dr New (jnew@luc.edu) detailing the problem so that it can be taken care of as soon as possible when normal working hours resume.
12. Keep a sense of humor and perspective; be patient. Everyone, including instructors, students and lab assistants will make mistakes during the course.