Purpose of this class - Nourish the awareness of and habit of scientific thinking
and doing, motivated by why doing so and how to do it right.

Exemplified Material - https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-
biology-foundations/hs-biology-and-the-scientific-method/v/the-scientific-method

Teaching Methods - Lecturing & Group Discussions

Syllabus -
Week 1-3 – Definition of Science, scientific methods and thinking, types of
control and normalization https://youtu.be/VhZyXmgIFAo
Week 4-6 – Principle of Science – hypothesis, predictability, types of modeling,
reproducibility
Week 7,8 – Basic Statistics and how to read math;
definition, definition and definition
Week 9,10 – Communication empathy and presentation (Listening & Speaking &
Writing; understanding writing and verbal expression as a function of the depth
of
understanding)
Week 11,12 – Hands-on practice in scientific data handling and writing
Week 13 – Being a scientist and upholding research integrity
Week 14 – the culture/good practice of science
Week 15-17 – The structure & function of and human relation within a laboratory,
peer review in journal publication and grant application
Week 18 – Group presentations & Evaluation

Evaluation -
Final Presentation (75%) -
Groups write research proposals (or tender/標案), present the proposals to a grant
review committee constituted by a selected member from each group in order to
compete a fixed amount of budget; the goal of grant review committee is to see the
highest possible economic gain and/or highest possible impact on scientific
research.
Rated by group presentations where individual score is also weighted by member-
rated contributions

Quizzes – statistics and probability (10%),
listening and presentation practices (15%)

Homework Bonus (10%) –
sleep >6 hrs per day;
make daily gratitude;
meditate for 10 mins per day;
exercise >20 mins per day;


Itemizing what we will be teaching; the content includes but limited to -

Structure of Science;
what is control? how many types of controls? why must we have comparisons and
controls? why normalization is needed?
how many ways are there to normalize your data? everyday statistics for life
science? p-value?
why must you have a hypothesis in research? why do they report so many data?
simply showing the efforts or ruling out the alternative hypotheses？
Think counter examples for your hypothesis and proposed methodology to tackle a
problem.
Why are rules, principles and models seek in science? can science go without
these?
Let the claims be supported by the evidence.
Understand the difference between the goal and the data/results one get. Do the
results address the goal?
Communications; Communicate your research (what should be in abstract,
introduction, results, methods, discussions?)
Type of papers (research articles, reviews, comments/debate, Rxiv/bioRxiv)
Active reading, passive reading and google search (how to use, not to use certain
keywords).
How to listen? how to teach? why teaching is needed? why peer-review environment
is needed?
How is science reviewed? current system of peer review? what are citation and
impact factors?
what do reviewers and editors want in addition to that you want your papers to be
published?
what are the questions reviewers are asked in the evaluation of a manuscript?
Authorship & collaboration?
Credits?
Reproducibility;
how to cite my own or others' thesis and paper? Other research integrity issues.
how to write a grant proposal? how is it reviewed?
Lab structure - how does a lab run? why do you get stipend for your lab? why are
you called part-time RA?
Can I or when I can initiate a new research in the lab? Should I help others'
research in the lab? why?
Human relation in lab, each member's goal in the lab and sufficient communication
with your PI and school to solve interpersonnel conflicts.
team work, not your work; what do they mean a good team player?
Common misbeliefs in graduate school.
how are we conditioned by trainings before graduate school which contradicts what
a good research needs.
Good scientific practice - forgetting about exams - doing it correctly weighs much
more than doing it fast; obedience or skeptical? no prejudice is difficult.
planning and milestones (practice),
There is no "good" but there is "better" in science; turning adjectives into
comparative terms.
intellectual properties; do you own what your lab owns or schools owns?
basic ideas of patent filing and tech transfer;