|
|
What is Colloquium? Colloquium
began in 1998 as a way to bring members of the neuroscience community
together on a regular basis. A colloquium is held weekly during the
fall and spring semesters. It begins with a buffet lunch (either deli
sandwiches or pizza, dessert, and beverages) in a large reception area
and moves in to a large lecture hall at the sound of a bell for
platform presentations. A
coordinating committee composed of faculty and students organizes the
schedule each academic year. The oral component of a student's thesis
defense is scheduled during a colloquium meeting whenever possible to
recognize and celebrate completion of the program. Fall
semester: faculty describe their current research in a 45 min platform
presentation. Preference is given to newly hired faculty, postdocs who
want to practice interview seminars, and faculty who have low
visibility in the program. Spring
semester: graduate students in their 3rd and later years give a 20 min
presentation; 2 students speak during a colloquium meeting.
|
|
|
What data or evidence tells us that this works? Attendance:
90-100 people attend colloquium each week. In addition to students and
faculty in the GPN, undergraduates and graduate students in other
programs who work in the labs of training faculty in neuroscience also
attend the seminars.The faculty presentations will be increased next year to 2/colloquium to increase visibility of more faculty.
|
|
|
|
What are its educational roles? Learning
about ourselves. We are a large graduate faculty that is spread across
two large campuses separated by 5 miles. Intellectual community is
fostered by knowing the members of the community. Respect is fostered
by understanding the diversity of investigation.Learning
oral communication. To be a steward of the discipline one needs to
learn how to communicate information in multiple formats. In the fall
semester of their 3rd year graduate students give a 15 min presentation
about their research to a small group of faculty and students who give
oral and written feedback. The presentation is also videotaped. Written
feedback from the audience and videotaping also occur with the
colloquium presentation in the spring semester. Learning
expectations for a thesis. By hearing stories of the process of
research by faculty and senior students, new students in the GPN learn
how research problems are constructed. New members of the graduate
faculty learn the norm for a thesis in the GPN. Students are advised to
meet with their thesis committee after their colloquium presentation to
discuss their research plan.
|
|
|
|
Reflection from a faculty member Colloquium
is an excellent source of ideas for collaboration and an invaluable
forum for showcasing students' achievements. I recently presented my
own research in the Colloquium and received welcome feedback on my
ideas and approach. Moreover, I appreciated the opportunity to inform
new students of recent work in my laboratory. I encourage my students
to present their data as often as they can, particularly to diverse
audiences that span the breadth of neuroscience. I think that
neuroscience programs exist to encourage integrative thinking about a
complex system that spans many levels of study. The seed of the
Colloquium is a seminar that may be about molecules or behavior or
something in between. This seed germinates when the diverse audience
begins to raise questions and bridge the disciplines. Such a forum is
essential for our interdisciplinary program. --Teresa Nick, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, joined the graduate faculty in 2003.
|
|
|
Reflection from a student I
have attended many colloquium presentations in the past four years. In
addition to a free lunch, I feel that our colloquium is a valuable
element of our graduate program. I have presented my own research twice
and have benefited from feedback from the audience in the form of
questions and written evaluations. The videotape of my presentation was
a useful tool for self-evaluation. As a member of the audience, I have
learned what our program, and the larger scientific community, expects
a research presentation to look like and how it should be structured.
Finally, colloquium has given me the opportunity to see the breadth of
research that members in our program are pursuing, and the weekly
gatherings have served to build community. --Neil Schmitzer-Torbert entered the graduate program in 2000.
|
|
|
