VETERINARY SCIENCE 443/543
  FALL SEMESTER 2009  -  SYLLABUS

I. Introduction

Research Animal Methods is a team-taught course focusing on the humane care and use of animals in research settings. The course is appropriate for those students who are planning careers in medicine, the biological sciences, or other fields where research, testing, or educational use of animals is a probability. Although specific classes concerning the ethics of animal experimentation will be offered during the course, VSC 443/553 is not a study of the philosophical issues related to animal use in our society.

The instructors for the course are from the Department of University Animal Care and others. Susan E. Wilson-Sanders, D.V.M., M.S. is the coordinator of the course and the contact for students who have questions about course content or have problems during the semester. Her campus number is 626-1066, and her office is located in room 1130 of the Basic Sciences Building (Bldg 201), Arizona Health Sciences Center (AHSC).

We have reviewed several texts for use in Research Animal Methods, but in order to reduce the cost to our students, we have elected to post class materials on the UAC website:

http://www.uac.arizona.edu/VSC443/Home/MIC443Index.shtml

Instructors will provide students with information as to which portions of the class notes are required or elective reading. Selected readings from current scientific, popular journals and news articles may also be utilized during the course. Students will be expected to read the additional materials, as assigned by the instructor. For students who miss a class session, copies of additional materials distributed for the lecture will be available at the next scheduled class session.

II.  Schedule

The class will meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday　from 11:00 to 11:50 AM in room 129 of the Veterinary Sciences and Microbiology Building. There will be several non-class period meetings scheduled to assist students with their research papers/protocols, which are described later in the syllabus. During the semester, there will be one class　period where proper methods of handling and experimentation will be demonstrated on several different animal species through a lecture and DVD format, with some live animals present for students to handle. All live animal procedures have been reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and will be performed under the supervision of veterinarians or certified, veterinary/laboratory animal technologists. Practice of procedures is optional for all students.

The format of the course will emphasize regulatory issues related to animal research, the process of research involving animals, the biology, husbandry and diseases of different laboratory animal species, and common methodologies applied to animal research. Several class sessions will focus on selection of animal models and experimental design to show students the process of conducting research. Early in the course, students will have an opportunity to develop an animal care and use protocol using an article from the scientific literature.

Beginning in September and through the remainder of the semester, students will be working toward completion of a research paper and/or animal protocol, depending on course section. Undergraduate students, and those enrolled in the 443 section, will each select a disease condition in humans or animals they wish to study. The programs Write N Cite and Refworks will be utilized to perform a literature search utilizing one or more scientific databases and find articles in scientific journals, from which to develop a review article, which will be written in the following format:

Additional information concerning the format and standards for the papers will be discussed during class periods. Sessions with small groups of students will be held outside of class hours to assist students with learning Refworks and WriteN Cite.

Graduate students and those enrolled in the 543 section will be working on a different research project, which will include writing a research paper in the format of a scientific journal article and completing an animal protocol based on the proposed research. The paper format will be similar to a typical journal article and will include abstract, introduction (literature review/preliminary data), research plan (specific aims/experimental design/materials and methods), expected results, and reference sections. Students will choose a biomedical or animal/veterinary science problem, perform a scientific literature search to choose an appropriate animal model, develop a hypothesis and specific aims, design the materials and methods for the study, and based on the literature, provide expected results. The overall length of the paper should be 8-10 pages, excluding references. Additionally, an animal care and use protocol will be developed for review by the IACUC. Refworks and WriteN Cite will be utilized in the development of the paper.

All students will work independently and complete their own papers and protocols.　Each student will be assigned a faculty member to serve as their mentor during the development of their project. Several graded assignments will result from the development of the papers/protocols. The first phase will be submission of the results of a literature search, including identification of "key words", search engines utilized, print outs of search results, identification of topic and selection of format style. The second phase will be submission of a draft of each undergraduate’s Introduction and each graduate student’s Introduction and Research Plan sections for their paper. At the end of the semester, the completed research papers/protocols will be submitted.　Graduate students will participate in a mock-IACUC review meeting, and each graduate student will serve as a Primary Reviewer for the protocol prepared by one of their peers.

In addition to the protocols and research papers, there will be three take-home examinations, at least five homework or in-class assignments and a final examination. Homework and in-class assignments will not be announced and there will be no make ups, unless students provide a doctor’s excuse or other evidence of valid reason for missing class (such as a conflicting class schedule, i.e., field trip with note from instructor). Assignments, examinations and points are as follows:

Examinations, with the exception of the final, are take-home and students may use their notes and other class materials to complete the exams. However, it is expected that students will do their own work. If evidence of collaboration is found on exams, students who have collaborated will have 20% deducted from their examination scores. Much of the information learned during the semester builds on earlier material covered during the semester, thus all examinations may include material from any lecture given prior to the specific examination. The final exam will include 50% new material and 50% from previous lectures. For examinations, instructors provide Dr. Wilson-Sanders with a set of questions for each lecture, and she selects questions from these. Questions may be of the following types: short answer, fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, matching, or essay. Slides may be used for some questions (posted on the website), for example: identifying a rabbit's incisor teeth. Dr. Wilson-Sanders will grade all examinations. Any questions related to grading should be addressed to Dr. Wilson-Sanders. If selected test questions are determined to be unfair, they will be eliminated for all students.

Grading of the protocols and paper will be based on the following criteria: adherence to instructions for the project, scientific accuracy, creativity/originality, proper format, and quality (readability, writing proficiency, grammar, punctuation). At the end of the semester, each student’s scores will be totaled and their grade established according to their percentage of the total possible points. A standard grading scheme of A=90% and above; B=80-89%; C=70-79%; D=60-69%; E=below 60% will be utilized. Dr. Wilson-Sanders may elect to curve scores in the students' favor, if needed, to assure a fair balance of grades for the course.

The Student Code of Conduct and the Code of Academic Integrity will be maintained at all times for the class. In recent years, particularly with the advent of the world wide web, university instructors are seeing many cases of plagiarism due to students using the simplicity of the copy and paste commands, which allow them to use the words of others instead of writing what is supposed to be their original work. Our class website has a number of references regarding plagiarism–what it is and how to avoid it. Students should access these references and become familiar with proper methods of citation when quoting or paraphrasing the work of others. Students who have additional questions or concerns regarding what plagiarism is and how to avoid it should contact Dr. Wilson-Sanders.

There are many methods to check work for plagiarism, such as the program Turn It In (see link to web site). While your papers for VSC 443/543 are not routinely checked using this program, the instructors reserve the right to utilize Turn It In, or similar programs, if plagiarism is suspected. If plagiarism or other Code violations occur, the University standards for violations of the Code will be followed (Academic Integrity Standards or Student Disciplinary Procedures). An initial instance of plagiarism will result in no credit given for the plagiarized assignment; that is a zero on the assignment. Additional instances of plagiarism or other violations by a student will result in further sanctions, up to a maximum sanction of expulsion from the University of Arizona. Students should familiarize themselves with the Student Code of Conduct and Academic Integrity (http://studpubs.web.arizona.edu/policies/cacaint.htm) Students suspecting violations by peers should report their concerns to Dr. Wilson-Sanders for investigation.

V.   Classroom Behavior

Students are expected to treat their fellow peers and the instructors with respect. Those students carrying cell phones or pagers must turn them off or silence them when entering the class. Calls or pages are not to be answered while in class, except in pre-arranged emergency situations (approved in advance by instructor for the day).

Students are expected to be attentive in class and not engaged in passing notes or talking while the instructor is speaking. Students violating this standard may be asked to leave class for the day, so that the attention of other students is not diverted or impacted by rude behavior.

"The University seeks to promote a safe environment where students and employees may participate in the educational process without compromising their health, safety or welfare. The Arizona Board of Regents’ Student Code of Conduct, ABOR Policy 5-308, prohibits threats of physical harm to any member of the University community, including to one’s self. Threatening behavior can harm and disrupt the University, its community and its families." (Quote from UA Policy on Threatening Behavior by Students.)

Threatening behavior will not be tolerated. If such occurs, UAPD will be called immediately and the student(s) removed from class. Please see the following website for further details: http://policy.web.arizona.edu/~policy/threaten.shtml

Graduate and Honors students are required by University policy to perform work beyond that of undergraduates in a class including both graduate and undergraduate students. In VSC 543, graduate and honors students will serve as the IACUC Primary Reviewers for one or more protocols. The grade for this exercise will be based on both written and oral presentations and will be further discussed during the semester. The presentation and accompanying written assignment will be worth 100 points. Additionally, all graduate and honors students are required to attend one meeting of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. This will assist students in understanding the process of protocol review. A list of meeting dates will be provided to students early in the semester, along with instructions for attending the meeting of the student’s choice. Students who fail to attend an IACUC meeting will have 10 points deducted from their grade on the protocol review assignment.

While attendance is not kept, students are strongly encouraged to be regular attenders. Students who miss excessive numbers of classes will find it difficult to keep up with the pace of the class, and may miss graded assignments. Excessive absenteeism will be noted and reported to the Registrar’s Office. If students must miss an exam due to personal or family illness or conflict with another classes schedule (such as field trip), they must provide a note from a physician or from the instructor. From time to time other emergencies will arise and cause students to miss exams. These circumstances will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

All holidays or special events observed by organized religions will be honored for those students who show affiliation with that particular religion, Absences pre-approved by the UA Dean of Students (or Dean's designee) will also be honored.

A Listserv (Research_Scoop) has been created to facilitate communication and discussion for Research Animal Methods students and faculty. At the beginning of the semester, each student enrolled in the class will invited to join the Listserv. Changes in schedule, announcements, readings, and questions to ponder will be placed on the Listserv. All students and faculty are encouraged to add their views on questions, and ask questions of their own on the subjects of animal care and use and other related topics.

Dr. Wilson-Sanders is available to meet with students to assist them with problems or other matters which they wish to discuss. Her office is in the Arizona Health Sciences Center, Basic Science Building room 1130. She is available on Wednesday mornings from 8:30-10 AM or by appointment. Appointments can also be scheduled so that she can meet with students at the CAF. Please contact Dr. Wilson-Sanders @ 626-1066, wilson-s@u.arizona.edu or Karelia Coronado, Administrative Associate, 626-1028, coronadk@u.arizona.edu to set-up an appointment.

If you anticipate issues related to the format or requirements of this course, please meet with me. I would like us to discuss ways to ensure your full participation in the course. If you determine that formal, disability-related accommodations are necessary, it is very important that you be registered with Disability Resources (621-3268; drc.arizona.edu) and notify me of your eligibility for reasonable accommodations. We can then plan how best to coordinate your accommodations.

Our goal in presenting Research Animal Methods is to improve understanding of the importance of biomedical research to the lives of people and animals, ensure students learn proper methods of humane care and use of animals, and to provide students information that will be useful in their everyday lives as they come into contact with animals. Many students will go on to careers as physicians, veterinarians, animal scientists, biological or biomedical scientists, and the information from the lectures and the Course Guide can serve as reference materials for future interactions with research animals. Others may not choose a career path that involves animal use, but most will continue to have many contacts with animals–as pets, in sports activities, or observing animals in the wild. For all, it is our desire that the knowledge you gain in Research Animal Methods will benefit your interactions with animals and assist you in relating with members of the animal kingdom in a knowledgeable and caring manner. We welcome your comments for ways to improve the course and hope that you will feel free to contact us in the future should you need assistance regarding the humane care and use of animals.

The information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.

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This page designed and maintained by K. Coronado
09/01/2009