The primary goal of this course is to help you develop the skills to research and understand issues related to behavior genetics in the future. The best way to do that is to guide you through actually developing your own understanding of a topic that you’re interested in.

The Course Project involves developing in-depth knowledge about a topic related to human behavior genetics that is of interest to you. To help you develop that knowledge, we break down 8 steps (assignments) to acquire and demonstrate the skills to:

  • Identify, understand, and synthesize recent and historic scholarly sources;
  • Develop expertise in a specific topic of interest; and
  • Communicate knowledge to a general audience.

Elements of the Course Project

  1. Topic & Five Scholarly Sources, due Week 4, 3 points
  2. 10 Scholarly Source Summaries, due Week 8, 15 points
  3. Draft Paper, due Week 11, 10 points
  4. Draft Popular Source, due Week 12, 3 points
  5. Paper Peer Reviews, due Week 13, 4 points
  6. Popular Source Peer Reviews, due Week 13, 2 points
  7. Final Popular Source, due Week 14, 4 points
  8. Final Paper, due Finals Week, 9 points

Late Policy

Course Project assignments (those listed above) EXCEPT FOR THE FINAL PAPER are due by the Monday after the listed week by 5 pm. Late assignments lose 10% per day late, where “day” increments automatically after 5 pm (eg. 5.01 pm on Monday is 1 day late = -10%).

The Final Paper is due by 5 pm on the day our “Final Exam” would have been held based on the noncombined finals schedule. Late Final Papers will not be accepted.

Next: Choosing a Topic & Finding 5 Scholarly Sources

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