The Premier Undergraduate Neuroscience Journalimpulse.appstate.edu/sites/impulse.appstate.edu/files...McClellan became 5th EiC. Dr. K. Crisp joined as FA for 5th RTS, St. Olaf College,

Introduction In a previous FENS report (2010) we described a neurobiology course at Ursinus College that integrated submitting a manuscript to IMPULSE as part of the syllabus. The students carried out original, drug effects research on D. magna for their class, and then analyzed and wrote up their work, submitting it to the journal at the end of the course. The current report presents the data that was collected after this process, examining the impact of this experience on the students. Fifteen of the 20 students indicated that writing a paper to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal played a positive role in their experience with the laboratory exercise, some noting that they were more thoughtful about their experimental design. They also reported that they were more diligent in implementing the experiments. An important observation was that the majority felt that submitting a paper to a peer-reviewed journal increased their engagement in exploring the topic. Review Board Appalachian State University (USA) Grant Canipe, Miranda Cook, Kristi Davis, Kate Davison, Alaina Doyle, Ryan Draper, Ryan Duffy, Patrick Downs, Corbin Ester, Kyle Flores, Zachary Gillespie, Chase Gorowski, Michael Harmon, Alain Humblet, Matthew Kelly, Meghan Kusper, Jasmine Otu, Baldwin-Wallace College (USA) Kara Gawelek, Morgan Marie Rogers California State University, East Bay (USA) Mike Huynh College of Charleston (USA) Hanna Fields College of Wooster (USA) Rebecca Lang Davidson College (USA) Joel Ersenhofer, Charles Ford, Morgan Heinzelmann, Malcolm Moses-Hampton, Matthew De Niear, Ryan Price, Garrett Smith Drexel University (USA) Sravanthi Koduri Duke University (USA) Jordan Hall Emory University (USA) Jonathan Lin, Tamkeenat Syed Furman University (USA) Amanda Blau, Simone Dixon, Jane Hartung, Lindsay Haselden, Michael Jiang, Kristen Kerber, Lindsay Meyers, Katrina Morgan, Katie Newsom, Dylan Richards, Courtenay Stroud, Kenz Sybert, Kyle Townsend, Ashley Wagoner, Caroline Wallace, Sam Wooten Indiana Wesleyan University (USA) Trent Grable Madras Medical College (India) Vishala Mishra Miami University (USA) Zoe Ciambro Hesp Middlebury College (USA) Dana Callahan, Chris Chenelle, Sara Dinkin, Joanna Georgakas, Shannon Gair, Patrick Hebble, Noah Silverstein, Leanne Shulman, Kaleigh Spollen Moravian College (USA) Rania Hanna National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan) Victor Daniel Lee Aplicano Roanoke College (USA) Alex Arey, Paige Arrington, Kelsey Collett, Victoria Godwin, Kati Hurt, Aldijana Mekic, Rebecca Ward Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Ireland) Melissa Kah Poh Loh Salve Regina University (USA) Raymond Black, Daniela Galluzo, Lana Hoertz, Priscilla Perez, Zachary Valentine, Alison Shea, Gina Varuzzo St. Michaels College (USA) Rachel Sparks St. Olaf College Patrick Boland, Timothy David Buff, Kelly Culhane, Michelle Frank, Elizabeth Huggins, Caryn McKinney, Elsie Nord, Alicia Ostermann, Elisabeth Vreede University of Alabama (USA) Ashruta Patel University of California Los Angeles (USA) Brett Neely University of the Free State (South Africa) Marizna Barkhuizen, Roswyn Duke, Niël Joubert, Gerdien Kritzinger, Henk Kruger, Onthatile Tshepiso Serehete, Pieter Theron, Joseph Wessels, Dieter van der Westhuizen University of Georgia (USA) Ayan Hussein University of Illinois (USA) Pawel Laciak University of Kentucky (USA) Allie Lonneman University of North Carolina-Charlotte Anna Bawtinhimer, Joseph Hester University of Pittsburgh (USA) Michael Youssef University of South Carolina (USA) Rahoul Ahuja, Sonesh Amin, Nidhi Arashinagundi, Zachary Blake, Anna Capps, Celia Cui, Eashwar Chandrasekar, Pooja R. Choudhari, Purva Choudhari, Lauren Cole, Breana Carter , Darien Davda, Julio C. Diaz, Hassieb Din, Sarah Erlandson,Tori Espensen-Sturges, Mohammad Fatani, Humna Fayyaz, Lauren Gee, John He, Caroline Hendricks, Molly Higgins, Christine Hsieh, Courtney Marsh, Anjali Pathak, Kristen Polinski, Marcia Reeves, Nick Riley, Tori Seigler, Allie Turgeon Virginia Commonwealth University (USA) Kunal Kapoor Wake Forest University (USA) Jordan Hall Editor-in-Chief Associate Editors The Premier Undergraduate Neuroscience Journal Exec. Editor [email protected] u http://impulse.appstate.edu 2005 issue 2006 issue Kate Davison Publicity Editors 2004 issue Ashley Florence 2007 issue Cammie Curtin Site hosted at The Honors College at Appalachian State University Faculty Advisors Kevin Crisp, Ph.D., St. Olaf College (USA) Kim Cronise, Ph.D., Middlebury College (USA) Leslie Sargent Jones, Ph.D., Appalachian State University (USA) David Nichols, Ph.D., Roanoke College (USA) Stephanie Smith, M.B.Ch.B., University of the Free State (South Africa) Sarah Sweitzer, Ph.D., University of South Carolina (USA) Steven Symington, Ph.D., Salve Regina University (USA) Victoria Turgeon, Ph.D., Furman University (USA) Mng. Editor Lindsey Shapiro Meghan Kusper Impact of publishing in IMPULSE on student learning L. Jones 1 , M. Kusper 1 , K. Cronise 2 , R. Kohn 3 , S. M. Sweitzer 4 , 1 Honors College, Appalachian State Univ., Boone, NC; 2 Psychology, Middlebury Col., Middlebury, VT; 3 Biology, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA 19426; 4 Pharmacol. Physiol. & Neurosci. or Honors College, Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; 2008 issue Carly Redfearn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issue !"#$%&'#(')*#+, .((/ 0/1$%( .22%3#/$+ !"#$%&2 4/5&/ .11+( 6/&/* 7/&&+8 9+((#,+& !5:/(;2 )*/2+ <&/(3#2 =/>#?/ 4++ =/@+ A3)1+11/( .2*1+? A#11+& !&#( 4%B+ C#3;+&? D/E 0++" !F+35@G+ !"#$%& H/$/2*/ 95(+I/ A/(/J#(J !"#$%& .("? D/$+1 D5:1#3#$? !"#$%&2 6/(/ =*/1#K .>;/ H/>#& L%:+&$ ?%5(J Stephanie Savino Kasean Kitson Lauren Nixon Faten Ragaban Michelle Frank Simone Dixon Inge Seale Miranda Cook 2003 M. Wilkinson, A. Autry, L. Helmick, and S. Roudsari founded new journal with Dr. L.S. Jones; IMPULSE at 1 st SYNAPSE meeting and SfN (Soc. Neur. Abs . 29 :25.3). 2004 First issue posted online. IMPULSE at SfN (Soc. Neur. Abs . 30 :28.6). 2005 C. Warren became 2 nd EiC. 2 nd issue at SfN (Soc. Neur. Abs . 31 :20.19). 2006 Moved to rolling publication; IMPULSE at 2 nd SYNAPSE and SfN (Soc. Neur. Abs .); Publicity Editors created; ISSN # request completed. 2007 IMPULSE at 3 rd SYNAPSE, 7 th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience in Melbourne, Australia, and SfN (Soc. Neur. Abs. 33 :26.4). B. Goodlett became 3 rd EiC. IMPULSE invited to join Directory of Open Access Journals; 2 nd RTS at Middlebury College with Dr. K. Cronise. 2008 IMPULSE at 4 th SYNAPSE, 6 th FENS Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, and SfN (Soc. Neur. Abs . 34 :224.5). A. Walton became 4 th EiC. 3 rd RTS opened at Appalachian State Univ. Honors College (L.S. Jones moved). 2009 IMPULSE at 5 th SYNAPSE and SfN (Soc. Neur. Abs . 35:23.9) . Dr. S. Sweitzer (U. South Carolina) stepped in as 3 rd FA; Dr. S. Symington joined as FA for 4 th RTS at Salve Regina Univ. Website moved to Appstate hosting: http:// impulse.appstate.edu . 2010 IMPULSE presented at 6 th SYNAPSE, 7 th FENS Forum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and SfN (Soc. Neur. Abs . 36:24.7 ) . K. McClellan became 5 th EiC. Dr. K. Crisp joined as FA for 5 th RTS, St. Olaf College, Dr. V. Turgeon as FA at 6 th RTS, Furman Univ., Dr. S. Smith as FA at 7 th RTS, Univ of the Free State (South Africa). 2011 2012 IMPULSE presented at 6 th SYNAPSE and 5 th FENS Forum in Florence, Italy, and SfN 37:25.15S; Kate Davison is 6 th EiC. Social media Publicity Editor created. IMPULSE presented at 7 th SYNAPSE and 8 th RTS established at Roanoke College. Supported by The Honors College at Appalachian State University, The Department of Psychology at Middlebury College, the South Carolina Honors College and School of Medicine at the University of South Carolina, the Department of Biology at Salve Regna University, the Department of Biology at Furman University, the Department of Biology at St. Olaf College, and the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at the University of the Free State. 2010 issue History of IMPULSE Table 1. Quantitative assessment of student engagement in experiments and writing for a peer-reviewed journal. Compared to papers of similar length you have written for other biology courses, choose a number for each of the questions below. “3” indicates that your response is the same compared to other biology courses, “1” indicates that your response is much less compared to other biology courses, and “5” indicates that your response is much more than for other biology courses. n=15; questions Mean ± SEM. 1. How much time did you spend doing 4.5 ± 0.2 background reading for the paper? 2. How much effort went into experimental 4.7 ± 0.1 planning for the paper? 3. How much effort went into completing the 4.6 ± 0.1 experiments for the paper? 4. How much thought did you put into presenting 4.7 ± 0.1 your findings for the paper? 5. How much thought did you put into 4.5 ± 0.2 understanding the meanings of your findings? 2011 issue A further advantage not usually experienced by undergraduates was responding to peer review comments. This form of collaboration with peer scientists is an under-emphasized skill for all future science professionals and one the students appeared to appreciate. For the Instructor, including the process of manuscript writing, submission, and revision into the curriculum of the course provided the students with a full-scale model of the research experience, from experimental design and planning, through manuscript preparation and publishing, which she found very valuable. Conclusion Since student engagement is a key factor in learning and academic success, these results indicate that using IMPULSE to focus student interest and ownership in their learning can be a useful tool to enhance neuroscience teaching. Almost 87% of the students taking the course indicated that they were more engaged in learning the scientific concepts because their work would be submitted to the journal, illustrating that this trial was successful in increasing students’ investment in the course. Figure 1: Quantitative analysis of time spent writing a scientific paper for a peer-reviewed journal . Results from a student questionnaire are shown. White bars indicate time spent on a paper submitted solely to the professor. Black bars indicate time spent on a paper submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. The pair of bars labeled “First submission” represents the time students spent preparing a paper for submission. The pair of bars labeled “Revision” represents the time students spent revising a paper after receiving comments. Fifteen students completed the questionnaire. Error bars represent standard error of the mean. Asterisks indicate significant difference (Student’s t test; * indicates p<0.05 and ** indicates p< 0.01). Figure 2: Quantitative analysis of student engagement in a scientific study when writing for a peer-reviewed journal . Results from a Likert-style questionnaire are shown. Bars represent the mean of students’ responses to questions shown in Table 1 comparing their effort in a course for which a paper was submitted to a peer-reviewed journal to their effort in a course for which a paper was solely submitted to a professor. A score of 1 indicates less time, effort, or thought, a score of 3 represents the same time, effort, or thought, and a score of 5 represents much more time, effort, or thought spent on the writing assignment. The black line indicates where a response showing the same time, effort, or thought would be. Fifteen students responded to the questionnaire. Error bars represent standard error of the mean. Figure 1 Figure 2 Dana Cobb Alison Rossi Jessie Wozniak IMPULSE Reviewer Training Sites: Kelsey Collett

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The Premier Undergraduate Neuroscience Journalimpulse.appstate.edu/sites/impulse.appstate.edu/files...McClellan became 5th EiC. Dr. K. Crisp joined as FA for 5th RTS, St. Olaf College,