Neuroscience: Adventures in Neuroscience

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Summer Academy Course; Dates: June 30-July 25, 2025; Synchronous Online Course; Professional & Continuing Education Dept Permission only; Please contact 802-656-2085; Special Topics courses cannot carry CC designations

The aim of this course is to introduce fundamental concepts in Neuroscience. The course will be broken into four weekly modules; 1. Electrical properties of the neuron, 2. Synapses and networks, 3. Sensory systems, and 4. Beyond the cell. In addition, throughout the course there will be a student-led discovery of gene expression, structure and function of a gene of interest and how it relates to human disease. Lectures will be synchronous but recorded to allow students to work on their own time, and there will be four each week. I will be checking Brightspace and email several times a day during the course and will hold office hours on Microsoft Teams. You can expect a response from me usually within a few hours or first thing in the morning if you post later at night. Learning Objectives: • Acquire foundational knowledge in Neuroscience emphasizing the breadth of the discipline. • Investigate the function of a gene of interest from a cellular and molecular level leading to mechanisms of human disease. • Collect data and generate a poster to present data in a visual format.

Technology requirements: Students will need to have access to internet, word processing and software to make a poster such as PowerPoint (all available through UVM). All videos and assignments will be posted on Brightspace and Microsoft Teams. Office hours will be weekly on Microsoft Teams.

Evaluation: Quizzes and Exams: There will be short quizzes daily following each lecture. Additionally, weekly exams will be assigned at the end of each of the first three modules. They will be assigned Friday at 8:00 AM and are due Sunday at 11:59 EST. All quizzes and exams will be given on Brightspace. There will be no make-up exams without prior approval and late work will not be accepted. Assignments: For the gene discovery project, students will be completing 8 assignments on their assigned gene of interest. All modules will be posted at the beginning of the course to allow students to progress at their own pace. There will be a short write-up due after each module. Final project: At the beginning of the last week of the course, students will generate a poster on their discoveries on their gene of interest. There will be virtual poster session on Brightspace where students will look at each other’s posters and make comments. Points Breakdown Exams: 50 pts each X 3 150 pts Daily quizzes: 5 pts each X 15 75 pts Online assignments: 5 pts each X 8 40 pts Final Poster Project: 30 pts Poster Questions: 5 pts 300 pts