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This course report applies to NEVR 8010 as well as the self-study courses at the MSc-level, NEVR 3040 and 3050.  I have been teaching the course recurrently since the spring of 2016, taking over teaching duties for May-Britt Moser, who was the previous course coordinator. For the first 5 years the external examiner was Bolek Srebro, a retired professor from the University of Bergen with several decades' worth of teaching, mentoring and research experience. He was external examiner for several years already before I became course coordinator. Since the course is an independent study, there is a limited amount of curriculum which can be developed based on evaluations and discussion, but the following changes in the course have been made since I took over as coordinator: Based on discussions with Bolek Srebro, the following elements were added to the course and oral exams:*The number of required papers was reduced from 25 to 20. This was so the students could focus only on the most relevant literature (quality over quantity). A tradeoff was that the students now add a single, descriptive sentence stating the relevance of each paper to the topic. This was to help both the examiners and students have an informed overview of the topic and relevant literature. *At the start of each evaluation, each student tells some of their own personal story- who they are, what they are studying for the MSc / PhD project, and why they chose the topic they did. *After the presentation is delivered and the discussion / examination with the student is completed, we now always ask how the student felt about how they did. We ask them to reflect on what they learned from the independent study, if it helped them expand their perspective on the topic or their own work, and if it was helpful in their ongoing research.  Based on feedback from the student course evaluation:It should be noted that only 4 of the seven students answered the questionnaire from the Fall 2021, but the comments made it clear that the students would benefit from more detailed instructions earlier each semester, and that they wished to see examples of past good presentations. Based on this: *A longer, more detailed set of instructions is sent to the students within the first 2 weeks that the semester begins. The initial, "semester start" e-mail now includes (i) several examples of what a "good" literature list looks like (i.e. it is formatted correctly, the number of papers is appropriate for the exam level (e.g. max of 20 papers for NEVR 3040, max of 25 papers for NEVR 3050, and the topic and list are well-organized). *Examples of what "good" previous presentations looked like (examples taken from previous students who did well and were willing to share their presentations).

Since each exam and student are considered individually, this takes the form of a post-exam discussion with the student. The extent of the students' learning is reflected in the quality of the presentations, which can range from decent (B/C borderline) to excellent (easy "A"s). The quality of the NEVR8010 exams tend to be very high, and almost always with topical &amp; interesting discussions with motivated students who learned a good deal. We also make it a point to explain *why* we chose the grade we did (usually either an A or B), and give them concrete examples from the presentation about what was good and what was difficult. We give them pointers if they were speaking too quickly, spent to much time on one sub-topic, or did not clearly convey the material (usually from a lack of figures or illustrations, or overly complicated figures). Beyond this (as mentioned above), after each exam concludes, we now ask the students to reflect on what they learned over the semester, ask if they found it useful or having practical relevance to their own work. We found that students typically either (i) benefitted their research project by digging more deeply into the literature surrounding their research topic, or (ii) benefitted by broadening their horizon in taking on a topic they otherwise would not have investigated so deeply.

None. But I will add that Bolek Srebro has since fully retired and no longer acts as external examiner for the course. Since then I have done one semester with Ioanna Sandvig (Spring 2021), and one semester with Rosamund Langston (Fall 2021). Both examiners were excellent, easy to work with, and invested in their roles. Rosamund Langston will act as external sensor again in Spring 2022. I also have found that I have had good agreement with the different external examiners about the grades merited by the presentations for NEVR 8010-- and in all exams so far the presentations have been a "pass". It is always useful to have a 2nd opinion in discussing the presentations.

NTNU:TIA:REST

Kavliinstitutt for nevrovitenskap

Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience

Engelsk

Forkunnskapskrav

Opptak på ph.d.-programmet i medisin og helsevitenskap eller Forskerlinjen for medisinstudiet. Kandidater som ennå ikke er tatt opp og studenter fra andre institutter (for eksempel matematikk), kan bli akseptert etter individuell vurdering.

Faglig innhold

The course is meant to deepen the student’s knowledge of a particular topic pertaining to the biological foundation of behaviour and cognition. They are expected to assemble a list of relevant literature (from ~20 sources, including scientific articles, reviews and/or book chapters) and give an informed lecture on a topic. These could range from, but are not limited to, the neural mechanisms of sleep, motivation, learning and memory, language, attention, perception, or emotions. Other topics may include disease themes (e.g. stroke, dementia); a critical review of new developments in neuroscience methodologies (new techniques, etc.); computational themes, e.g. neuroinformatics, applied statistics, network models of brain function. Additional topics are welcome but must be approved by the course administrator. The course is based on NEVR3003 and NEVR3004. The student is advised to follow (a selection of) the lectures in these courses, but NEVR8010 requires a more in-depth understanding of the topics. For the exam the student will to deliver a 30-minute lecture, leaving 15 minutes for a post-lecture discussion with the examiners. The lecture should NOT be an open-ended survey of literature, but instead come to discuss a particular theme or debate within a sub-field of current neuroscience. The discussion will provide an informal opportunity to answer questions related to the lecture and to the field of neuroscience in general.

Kursmateriell

The student selects the appropriate reading list themselves or with their advisor. After the deadline for course registration is passed, the student will be contacted by an administrator providing information on submission of reading list and the exam date. The topics may be based on the students own preferences, as long as the presentation topic is approved by the course coordinator.

Læringsformer og aktiviteter

The student selects the appropriate reading list (if needed they can do this with their supervisor), which should be comparable in breadth to a lecture from the master’s level courses.1) The reading list shall contain approximately 20 papers (not less than 18, not more than 21) and must be approved by the course coordinator.2) In the reading list, the student will include a short (one sentence) statement under each paper describing the relevance of that paper to the topic.3) The student delivers a 30-minute presentation followed by an open discussion on the topic, usually lasting 15 minutes.Individual study. Students are advised to follow (a selection of) the lectures given in NEVR3003 and NEVR3004.

Læringsutbytte

Etter fullført og bestått emne skal studenten: 1) kunne gi en up-to-date muntlig presentasjon av et hvilket som helst tema innen nevrovitenskap ved å lese relevant litteratur; 2) kunne forstå og drøfte vitenskaplige artikler i nevrovitenskap, være kritisk og konstruktiv, samt være i stand til å foreslå alternative eksperimenter; 3) ha nok bred kunnskap i nevrovitenskap til at studenten er i stand til å svare på ikke altfor spesifikke spørsmål i nevrovitenskap uten å behøve å lese i bøker og artikler.

Fysiologisk psykologi og kognitiv nevrovitenskap

Nevrovitenskap

Biologi

Filosofi

Fysikk

Kjemi

Medisin

Psykologi

Nevrovitenskap - doktorgrad (ph.d.)

Medisin - doktorgrad (ph.d.)

Medisin og helsevitenskap - doktorgrad (ph.d.)

Web/Lists(guid'8b698a2d-6ad0-4f7d-b3be-219cc1979f02')/Items(14736)/FieldValuesAsText

Fysiologisk psykologi og kognitiv nevrovitenskap - NEVR8010