Termpaper Page

BME 516, Principles of Biomedical Engineering
Term Paper Assignments

Updated 07/11/07

Term papers will be completed by all students enrolled in BME 516. Grades will be based on a combination of the oral presentation (25%) and the written review (75%). The combined grades will dictate 25% of the overall grade for the course (see Course Description)

Term papers will review/critique a recently published research article that covers some area of biomedical engineering. Students may choose papers that are relevent to work they are currently doing in lab rotations, but should not be in areas from previously work (it should be something fresh and new). To adequately review/critique an individual article, it is expected that students will read many more articles (8-10) in the same field. The written review will be 10 pages doubled-spaced, neglecting figures and references. All papers for review/critique must be approved by the course coordinator. Hard copies of the article being reviewed and of the important articles for background material need to be turned in with the term paper by 11/21/2007.

Oral presentations will be 20 minutes long, and presented via a computer (i.e. powerpoint or simlar program). Students are expected to give a rehearsed, polished presentation with appropriate visual aides.

Here is an example outline for the sections of the your term paper:

INTRODUCTION

Establish the background and significance of the subject
Overview of pupose and aims of the reviewed work

REVIEW OF WORK

Present in detail a review of the scientific paper
Organize this section intelligently
You may want to present

What was done
How it was done (brief)
How it was analyzed (brief)
Major results
Major conclusions and whether justified or not

Critically evaluate the presented work (important) in view of work previously published

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

This important section should summarize the work on the topic
Restate the research review questions that were to be addressed in the work
Identify the overall strengths and weaknesses of the research methods and results obtained
Identify what you see as the logical extension of this research work

REFERENCES CITED

Example format for citation of a journal article in the References section:

Reneman RS, Arts T, van Bilsen M, Snoeckx LH, van der Vusse GJ: Mechanoperception and mechanotransduction in cardiac adaptation: mechanical and molecular aspects. Adv Exp Med Biol 382:185-94, 1995.

Format for citation of the above jounral article within the body of the text:

Is has been shown that mechanotransduction most likely takes place at the cellular membrane [Reneman, 1995]. The resulting signal is transferred to the nucleus, where it can initiate alterations in gene expression. (List the last name of the first author follwed by the year of publication)

Please consult the course coordinator with any specific questions regarding the written term paper or oral presentation.

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