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Instructor:
Katja Fennel (katja.fennel@dal.ca)
Office: LSC Oceanography #2634
Phone: 902 494 4526
Office hours: Tuesdays 12:30 to 1:30 pm or by appointment

Teaching Assistants:
Jenna Hare (T01; jenna.hare@dal.ca; LSC 5654)
Krysten Rutherford (T02; krysten.rutherford@dal.ca; LSC 2612)
Colleen Wilson (T03; colleen.wilson@dal.ca; LSC 5654)

Guest lecturers: Paul Hill, John Charles, Sara Iverson, Richard Davis, Jenna Hare, Hilary Moors-Murphy, Franziska Broell, Stephanie Kienast, Mae Sato, Alysse Mathalon, Bernie Boudreau, Marlon Lewis, Kumiko Azetsu-Scott, Markus Kienast, Brent Law, Keith Thompson, Georgia Klein, Christopher Taggart, Robert Fournier, Sean Brillant

Course Times: Tuesdays & Thursdays 10:05 - 11:25 am

Tuesdays are always in the lecture hall. Thursdays alternate between small group tutorials led by the TAs and lectures in the lecture hall.

Lecture Hall:
Sir James Dunn Building, room 304 (fall)
LSC Common Area, room C332 (winter)

Tutorial Rooms:
T01 LSC Biol & Earth Sci. B812 (fall & winter)
T02 LSC O3652 (fall); LSC Psych. P4208 (winter)
T03 Killam Lib. 4106 (fall); LSC Common Area C214 (winter)

Overview:What does an Ocean Scientist do? In this writing intensive course, you will explore this question by meeting a wide range of scientists active in Ocean Studies from within Dalhousie and the surrounding community as well as working through ocean science activities in the Core Concepts lectures and in a wet-lab. You will learn about different facets of Ocean Science, how scientists disseminate their research results, and get the opportunity to discuss writing and other forms of scientific communication with active researchers. Your biggest contribution to the conversation will be the drafting of a research or review paper that you will take through the entire journal submission and peer review process with the aim of eventual publication in the online journal Oceans First (http://oceansfirstjournal.com) that accompanies this class.

Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes:
After completing this course you should be able to:
• Describe the breadth Ocean Science and how different subdisciplines relate
• Demonstrate skills in scientific writing
• Communicate science to a variety of audiences
• Demonstrate scientific literacy and critical thinking at a level useful for global citizenship and your future studies

Course Materials:
“Writing in the Life Sciences: A Critical Thinking Approach” by Laurence Greene (Oxford University Press, 2010)
Marks and final grades will be posted on the Blackboard Learn site at https://dalhousie.blackboard.com/
Detailed instructions for assignments and other class materials will be available on this site.

Course Assessment Components:
All assignments must be submitted electronically to OCEA1000@gmail.com AND on paper.
Library Skills Worksheets (2% of final grade; due on Sept 17 and 22)
You will complete two worksheets based on the Library Skills Sessions.
Lecture Analyses (15% of the final grade; due on Oct 27, Dec 1, Jan 26, Mar 8 and Mar 22)
You will write a brief analysis about each guest lecture consisting of a brief lecture summary, a question and an answer. The detailed assignment is available here.
Major Project (33% of the final grade; see due dates for project components below)
You will write a Review Paper of a topic of your choice within Ocean Science or a Research Paper based on one of several Data Packages provided. Many tutorial sessions will be devoted to helping you through the process of creating and polishing your Research/Review Paper, as well as the peer review process. The detailed assignment is available here. The Style Guide is available here. Detailed instructions for a Research Paper here or a Review Paper here. Detailed instructions for the final submission of your Paper are here.
Components of the Major Project (% of final grade; due date):
• Proposal (2%; due Oct 22)
• 5 relevant, peer-reviewed papers (1%; due on Nov 3)
• Outline of your paper (3%; due on Nov 19)
• Presentation (2%; on Nov 26 or Dec 3)
• Paper submission for peer review (10%; due on Dec 8)
• Final revised submission (15%; due on April 5)
Peer Reviews (10% of the final grade; 1st is due on Jan 21, 2nd is due on Mar 15)
You will review two of your class mates paper submissions and provide written peer reviews offering constructive criticism (5% each). Detailed assignment is here.
Blog Post (5% of final grade; due on Feb 9)
You will write science blog post on an aspect of Ocean Science. Detailed assignment is here.
Lab Report (10% of final grade; due on Feb 25)
You will write a lab report based on the “Density and Stratification” experiment. Detailed instructions are here.
Tutorial Quizzes (5% of final grade)
Every tutorial will include a brief (5 min) quiz. The lowest quiz mark will be omitted.
Participation in Lectures and Tutorials (5% of final grade)
Marks will be based on engaged, well-prepared and respectful participation in lectures and tutorials. Note that assigned reading is to be completed beforehand.
Final Exam (15% of final grade; scheduled by the Registrar)
The 3-hour exam will be combination of short-answer and long-answer questions. The Registrar will schedule the exam. Do not make travel plans before you know the date of your exam. It will not be possible to write the exam early.

Course Policies:
All assignments must be submitted electronically by e-mail to OCEA1000@gmail.com before the deadline and in paper copy. If you submit after the deadline, late penalties of 10% of total points per day (including weekends) will be assigned based on the time of the electronic submission. If you do not hand in a paper copy of your assignment and we have to print it, we will assign an additional printing penalty of 5% of the total points. If you are submitting an assignment late, bring a printed copy to the main office in Oceanography (LSC 3631) between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm on the next working day. Extensions will only be given to students with a documented illness or emergency. Documentation must be provided.

The class syllabus is available here.

Schedule and Lecture Materials:

Data packages availabe for research papers:

Week Tuesday Thursday Assignments
#1  

Sep 10; Intro & Syllabus

  
#2 Sep15; Library Skills session Sept 17 (lecture hall); Library Skills session 1st library worksheet due Thu @ 10 am
#3 Sep 22; Spkr 1: Paul Hill Sept 24 (tutorial); Science and Styles Reading for Thu tutorial; 2nd library worksheet due Tue @ 10 am
#4 Sep 29; Spkr 2: John Charles Oct 1 (tutorial); Audiences and Styles Reading for Thu tutorial
#5 Oct 6; Spkr 3: Richard Davis Oct 8 (tutorial); Writing lab (proposal) Reading for Thu tutorial
#6 Oct 13; Spkr 4: Sara Iverson Oct 15 (lecture hall); Core Concepts 1  
#7 Oct 20; Spkr 5: Jenna Hare Oct 22 (tutorial); Critical Reading I Reading for Thu tutorial; Major project proposal due Thu @ 10 am
#8 Oct 27; Spkr 6: Hilary Moors-Murphy Oct 29 (tutorial); Critical Reading II Reading for Thu tutorial; 1st set of lecture analyses due Tue @ 10 am
#9

Nov 3; Spkr 7: Franziska Broell

 Nov 5 (tutorial); Writing lab (paper outline) Reading for Thu tutorial; 5 papers posted by Tue @ 10 am
#10 Nov 10; Spkr 8: Stephanie Kienast Nov 12 (no classes)  
#11 Nov 17; Spkr 9: Mae Seto Nov 19 (lecture hall); Core Concepts 2 Outline due Thu @ 10 am
#12 Nov 24; Spkr 10: Katja Fennel Nov 26 (tutorial); Project presentations Major project presentation in tutorial
#13 Dec 1; Spkr 11: Alysse Mathalon Dec 3 (tutorial); Project presentations Major project presentation in tutorial; 2nd set of lecture analyses due Tue @ 10 am
#14 Dec 8; Spkr 12: Bernie Boudreau   First submissions of major project paper by Tue @ 10 am
#15 Jan 5; Spkr 13: Marlon Lewis Jan 7 (tutorial); Critical Reading III Reading for Thu tutorial
#16 Jan 12; Spkr 14: Kumiko Azetsu-Scott Jan 14 (tutorial); Constructive Criticism Reading for Thu tutorial
#17 Jan 19; Spkr 15: Markus Kienast Jan 21 (tutorial); Blog writing Reading for Thu tutorial; 1st peer review due Thu @ 10 am
#18 Jan 26; Spkr 16: Brent Law Jan 28 (lecture hall); Core Concepts 3 3rd set of lecture analyses due Tue @ 10 am
#19 Feb 2; Spkr 17: Keith Thompson Feb 4 (tutorial); WetLab for T01 (LSC Biology Room 2112); Graphics tutorial for T02 and T03 Reading for Thu tutorial on Graphics (T02 and T03); no reading for the WetLab (T01)
#20 Feb 9; University closed (snow storm) Feb 11 (tutorial); Graphics tutorial for T01; Wetlab for T02 and T03 (LSC Biology Room 2112) Reading for Thu tutorial on Graphics (T01); no reading for the WetLab (T02 and T03); Blog post due Tue @ 10 am
#21 Feb 23; Spkr 18: Christopher Taggart Feb 25 (tutorial); Revisions I: Global Reading for Thu tutorial; Lab report due Thu @ 10 am
#22 Mar 1; Spkr 19: Sean Brillant Mar 3 (tutorial); Revisions II: Paragraph Reading for Thu tutorial
#23 Mar 8; Spkr 20: Georgia Klein Mar 10 (tutorial); Revisions III: Sentence Reading for Thu tutorial; 4th set of lecture analyses due Tue @ 10 am
#24 Mar 15; Spkr 21: Robert Fournier Mar 17 (lecture hall); Core Concepts 4 2nd peer review due Tue @ 10 am
#25 Mar 22; Recap CC1&2 Mar 24 (tutorial); Responding to reviews 5th set of lecture analyses due Tue @ 10 am; Reading for Thu tutorial
#26 Mar 29; Final edits Mar 31 (lecture hall); Core Concepts 5  
#27

Apr 5; Wrap up and recap CC 3, 4&5

Exam question examples

   Final major project papers and responses to reviews due Tue @ 10 am
Final Exam: Friday, April 22 at 3:30pm at the Dalplex