This class is designed to give a bird’s eye view of how to apply scientific thinking to generate new questions and ideas in science. By studying relevant areas of contemporary neuroscience research, students will gain an understanding of how scientific knowledge is produced and expanded upon. Topics of discussion will include functional and structural analysis of ion channels, methods of investigating neuronal function, non-model organisms and visualizing protein expression. Primary reading material will be research papers, with references to textbook chapters for background and review. The goal of this class is to provide students with low-stress opportunities to delve into scientific thinking and learn how to apply the scientific method to academic science questions. Students will learn how to read scientific papers, extract essential details from these papers, interpret results, and learn to develop their own scientific ideas.

The class will be hosted on Thursdays from 9:30 AM to 11:00AM in 7 Evans over the course of the semester and will have a few assignments to help all students practice experimental design and questioning.