Course Structure

Through this course, undergraduate students are eligible to receive credits for successfully completing the QCB Collaboratory Workshops.

Workshops are offered quarterly with the exception of summer. Each workshop runs for 2-3 days, 2-3 hours per day, and are held weekly. All workshops must be attended in-person to receive credit.

Course Description

Through this course graduate students are eligible to receive credits for successfully completing the QCB Collaboratory Workshops.

Workshops are offered quarterly with the exception of summer. Each workshop runs for 2-3 days, 2-3 hours per day, and are held weekly. Attendance is mandatory for all days.

To receive course credit for Research Prep 199, students must register for at least 4 workshops taught during the quarter; while receiving course credit for Research Prep 99, students must register for at least 2 workshops taught during the quarter. All workshops must be attended in-person to receive credit. If the course is full, please request a PTE by emailing matteope@gmail.com

The workshops introduce graduate students to contemporary methods and techniques in bioinformatics that are used to analyze high-throughput genomic data. Workshop topics include Introduction to the Unix, NGS data analysis, R Programming, BS-Seq, RNA-seq, Python, Single-Cell RNA-seq Analysis among others.

For a complete list of workshops, click here: https://qcb.ucla.edu/collaboratory/schedule-of-workshops/

How to Succeed in this Course (Expectations for Students)

The students are expected to learn to use the informatics tools in the lab portion of the course. While they will support from instruction and classmates, this work is largely conducted independently.

Collaboratory Interactive Workshop Overview

Grading

How Your Learning Will Be Assessed (Grading Policy)

The final grade will be determined by participation (25%), a final exam for each workshop (50%), and a homework assignment for each workshop (25%).

Why I do not grade on a curve: In recent years, research into higher education assessment practices have shown that grading on a curve can create unnecessarily competitive environments for students and result in outcomes that disadvantage some groups of students over others. This is true in data collected and analyzed for our students at UCLA as well. For this reason, I do not grade on a curve. Your grade is therefore not based on how you did in comparison to your peers, but instead how successful you are at evidencing that you have mastered the intended learning goals for that specific assessment. However, if I do find that particular assessment questions I gave an assignment or exam were unreasonably challenging, unclear, or unfair for any reason I will  provide additional credit as appropriate. If you ever feel that an assignment or specific question is unfair or confusing please come and speak with me or your TA (ideally before it is due or during the assessment, but afterwards is okay also) so that we can address this concern as soon as possible. I am committed to making sure the assessment of your learning is comprehensive, fair, and incorporates best practices from education research on assessment design and inclusive practices.

Grading Scale: (Modify as appropriate)

Letter Grade Percentage
A+ 99-100%
A 93%-98.9%
A- 90%-92.9%
B+ 87%-89.9%
B 83%-86.9%
B- 80%-82.9%
C+ 77%-79.9%
C 73%-76.9%
C- 70%-72.9%
D 60%-69.9%
F 0%-59%


COVID-19 Policy

Keeping our community safe depends on each of us following the latest UCLA health and safety guidelines. While campus policies fluctuate with shifting local, state, and national mandates, current information is available at covid-19.ucla.edu.

At present, each of us:

  • Is responsible, regardless of vaccination status, for wearing an approved mask that fully covers our nose and mouth for the duration of class, office hours, or other course-related activity.

○ Disposable masks are available at the Wooden Center for anyone unable to obtain a mask or who has forgotten to bring one to campus.

○ Appropriate medical grade masks include surgical masks, non-woven KN95 masks, and N95 respirators.

○ Please note that scarves, balaclavas/ski masks, single-layer fabric masks and neck gaiters, bandanas, and turtleneck collars are not adequate.

○ For those that have a medical reason not to wear a mask, you can contact the Center for Accessible Education (CAE) to have this exception approved and sent to instructors.

  • Must be fully vaccinated by September 9th, 2021. Per the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force, unvaccinated students must comply with twice-weekly testing.
  • Is required to complete daily symptom checks, regardless of vaccination status.

Be advised that refusal to comply with current campus directives related to COVID-19 mitigation will result in dismissal from the classroom and referral to the Office of Student Conduct. If you have any questions or concerns about UCLA’s COVID-19 protocol, go to https://covid-19.ucla.edu/information-for-students/; if you have any questions specific to this course, I am happy to talk further. Thank you for protecting your fellow Bruins!

Research Prep Syllabus

For the Research Prep 199 and 99 Syllabus – Winter 2023 quarter, please click: RP199-Winter-2023