BAA 193 Research Independent Study
• Topics: Independent Studies/Tutorial topics must focus on a relevant subject within biological anthropology and/or anatomy. Though students may work on an aspect of their mentor's research, the student is responsible for carving out a portion of the research for which they are responsible for creating a hypothesis, developing methods, data collection, analysis, etc. Note that shadowing faculty in one of the clinical departments is not appropriate for independent study credit in BAA.
• Mentors : Faculty mentors must be BAA faculty (see list in the BAA Handbook or Undergraduate Bulletin). Students should meet with their prospective mentor the semester before they plan to carry-out the project (prior to registration). During this meeting potential project topics, meeting schedules and expectations should be discussed. If students wish to get BAA credit for working with faculty outside BAA, they will still need to identify a faculty sponsor within BAA.
• Time Requirement : students should expect to spend as much time on their independent study as they would a lab course in BAA (approx. 150-170 hours a semester based on 4 hours/week in class plus another 7-8 hours of prep. and study time/week).
• Meetings: The university requires that students meet regularly with faculty mentor to discuss progress (once/week or, at least, every other week).
• Paper: Research independent studies require a substantive paper or report (this is a University requirement and cannot be “negotiated”). This is typically in the form of a formal research paper that outlines the background and rationale for the study, methods, results, and discussion.
Some possible research projects in BAA