Course Requirements

Graded work.- Grades will be based on points assigned to the following specific activities:

1. Position pieces.- Students will write three position pieces during the term. These can be on any topic of relevance to the course (students should make a pitch to me before getting too far into the process), but controversies make the most interesting position pieces and I have provided a partial list of some of these topics. Position pieces are flexible, but a good target style would be similar to reviews in Trends in Ecology and Evolution. The paper should have a conceptual basis whether it ends up focusing on empirical work, theory, or remains mostly conceptual. Target size should be at least 1500 words (~5 double-spaced pages, about the length of the introduction to a typical published paper) but no more than 2500. I would like you to cite at least 10 references and no more than 20. The goal of position papers is to review an idea or set of closely related ideas, synthesize them, and come to some positive but evaluatory conclusion. Papers are due the week the topic will be discussed. 100 pts will be assigned to each, total 300 pts.

2. Reviews of position pieces.- Each position piece will be handled as if it were submitted to a journal for publicaiton. I will assign two reviewers from the class using a double-blind procedure (the author of the submission won't be known to the reviewers and vice-versa). The reviewers will have a week to write a constructive yet critical review (1-2 pages). I will then act as editor and base the grade for the position piece on the reviews I receive, and the reviewers will get points based on their reviews. Given this set-up, each person in the class will have to do 6 reviews duringt eh semester. 20 pts each review, total 120 pts.

3. Questions on readings.- Each day a reading is due, students will prepare 4 “good” questions on the readings. A good question is well-constructed and penetrating, and so takes some thought to prepare. Questions focused merely on clarifying facts or asking for explanation are not considered “good”. A good question might provide an alternative explanation that reveals a potential flaw in an idea or contains a description of how the logic of an idea or model does not seem to hold together. The goal of a good question is to advance one’s conceptual understanding, and so it depends on the reader genuinely struggling with a concept.  We will have extensive discussion of what I mean by a “good” question.

10 pts/reading day times 15 reading days (out of a total of 17 possible reading days) = 150 pts.

4. Class participation.- Some points will be awarded to students who regularly contribute thoughtful ideas and questions to discussions in class. 50 pts.

Total points = 620 pts.
Grades assigned as follows: A: >558, B: >496, C: > 434