Teaching

Biomedical Research Professional Development (CRN: 3076)

Texas A&M Health Science Center
Graduate Program
Biomedical Research Professional Development
CRN: 3076
Credit Hour: 1

Class Sessions

Class Days: August 26 – December 13, 2013
Every Monday (Except for September 2, Labor Day)
Class Time: 4 – 5 PM
Class Location: Alkek building, Room 1114F (classroom)

Instructor

Yubin Zhou, M.B., Ph.D.
713-677-7483
yzhou@ibt.tamu.edu

Office Hours

Friday, 4 – 5 PM

Prior to your presentation, you are encouraged to discuss your presentation with the instructor to improve and polish your slides. Please make an appointment one week in advance by signing up the time-slot sheet outside RM 928. The 2013-2014 TAMHSC academic calendars can be found here.

Course Description

The course is designed to provide a unique opportunity for graduate students to improve their professional presentation skills, which includes but not limits to public speaking, presentation time controlling, question handling and meeting monitoring et al. The immediate goal is to help students to prepare for their committee meetings and to pass their qualifying exams. Eventually, the students will benefit from the course for many ways including future job interviews, career development et al.

Prerequisites

None

Course Requirements

The course is mandatory for the graduate students who have not passed their qualifying exams. The students who have passed their qualifying exams are encouraged to continue to take the course, but it is optional.

Course Format

Special Topics in Biomedical Research course integrates three major components:

• Presentation hosting: introducing the speaker, monitoring time.
• Power-point slide presentation: 20-minute presentation.
• Question/discussion: group discussion.

At the end of the course, each student should be given at least one opportunity to practice a presentation, host a presentation, and being questioned during/after presentation by other graduate students or the course professor. The students are required to consider the following issues to achieve the course goal:

1. How to present a scientific topic with a limited time
2. How to control a presentation rhythm
3. How to deliver his/her messages to the audience clearly and efficiently
4. How to answer the questions from audience.

Assessment and Grading Policy

1. A class signing sheet is provided during the class. Each student is required and responsible for the sign up.
2. Each student is allowed to have up to TWO absences of the class with reasonable explanations during the whole semester. The requirement for any additional absence has to be approved by the class professor.
3. Three or more absences of the class (unless approved by the class professor) will result in the failure of the class. A report of the class failure will be sent to the student’s PI as well as IBT graduate advisor.
4. Each student has one opportunity to give a presentation with a limited time and to host a speaker, which includes introducing the speaker, monitoring time and asking at least one question.

The course is graded for S (satisfaction) or F (failure). The students will be given S if the above rules are followed. Otherwise, F will be given.

Course Schedule