Discussion goals: The BIONB 3920 section is a student-driven discussion of a currently unresolved question in the frontiers of neuropharmacology. The primary goal of the section will be to derive an experiment or small set of experiments that will best answer the open-ended question. Because leaders in the field argue on both sides of these questions, there isn’t one correct answer or experiment to address the discussion, so the class will need to weigh the merits of many ideas.

Students will come to class prepared to address the question by completing the homework, but discussion will be led by a fellow classmate who has gone an extra step in preparation.

Discussion topics: The weekly discussion topic will center around a hotly contested area in neuropharmacology, but the question itself will ask how this question could be answered. This means we will be learning a lot about experimental methods used in neuropharmacology and the benefits and drawbacks associated with them. Each week we will likely make use of a new tool. You’ll find you have a full neuropharmacology toolbox by the end of the semester that will allow you carry out some sophisticated work in discussion section.

Leading Discussion: It is the responsibility of the discussion leader to facilitate the discussion in class by integrating the class’s comments with discussion questions of their own. The TA will be there to help answer questions that arise or to rekindle discussion if there is a lull, but remember the discussion leader is running the class for the day. Each student will lead discussion once. The discussion leader is strongly encouraged to meet with the TA before they present to get feedback and resolve questions. Additionally, this is often quite helpful as leaders from other sections are there as well to exchange ideas.

The leader’s performance will be graded based on:

• Preparation (How knowledgeable do you seem?)
• Clarity of information (Ease of understanding, use of board/Powerpoint)
• Effectiveness in generating discussion (Asking good discussion questions, fairly considering others’ viewpoints)
• Effectiveness in integrating the class’s comments to further discussion (Using students’ comments to build discussion higher, facilitation of critically analyzing proposed ideas).

Homework: A discussion can only work if all the students come ready to discuss. For this reason, students will bring a homework assignment to discussion. The assignment will include reading a journal article to help prepare you to answer the question along with a written response to the question (approximately 1 pg, single-spaced). Length isn’t important as long as the content is there. In fact, often an outline is suitable to answer the question.

In your homework, we’ll be looking for:

• Some brief background information on why this is an important topic worthy of discussion
• A clear statement of the hypothesis you’d like to test * A brief summary of the research method(s) you’d like to use
• A statement or table outlining why this method is particularly suited to this question, but also its limitations
• Possible results
• How you would interpret those results to address your hypothesis.

Attendance: Attendance in this discussion section is mandatory. However, sometimes an absence is inevitable (med school interviews, etc). You should discuss these absences in advance with Erin. In these cases, an acceptable makeup is a longer version of the homework (2-3 pg, single-spaced) that should be handed in no later than a week after missed section.

Grading: Your grade will be based on:

50% Participation in discussion (including attendance)
25% Homework
25% Leading of discussion