2 credits
Spring 2026 Lecture Upper Division
The goals of the course are to expand a student's knowledge base in an area of research of their interest. The course will consist of lectures that establish the topic framework, which includes the research areas of Endocrinology, Cancer, Diet, and Obesity. Students will develop skills to effectively analyze, critically evaluate, and depict data while strengthening scientific communication skills through delivering information orally and in writing. To accomplish these goals, students will conduct a proper literature review, produce an associated written document for a specific scientific topic, give formal presentations on research articles, and generate an oral research proposal presentation. At the course conclusion, the student will have a better understanding of overarching themes embodied by the specific Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes.
Learning Outcomes1Develop an aspect of foundational understanding about the role of endocrine, obesity, or dietary factors in cancer.
2Describe a mechanistic aspect of the relationship between endocrine, obesity or dietary factors and cancer.
3Obtain a deeper understanding of the technical and theoretical aspects of methods represented in the topic of interest.
4Prepare short presentations based on the primary research articles identified.
5Construct a literature review document that introduces an area of research, describes recent findings in the area, and reveals a novel insight gathered through the analysis of the primary literature.
6Identify an unanswered question in the topic of interest studied.
7Prepare a research proposal presentation that explains a project that will address an unanswered research question.
Prerequisites
Restrictions
made by Purdue students.