The student research proposals have not only served as capstone writing experiences for the graduating senior but have also been used successfully as the basis of graduate predoctoral research proposals.
In each module students posed their own research questions and hypotheses, presented and critiqued student research proposals and final research papers, collected and statistically analyzed their data, and presented their research in the form of a scientific journal article or poster.
Additionally, instructors evaluated students' research proposals, developed during the Summer minicourse, through the provision of written, ungraded, feedback throughout the development process.
The present study aims to fill the gap by adopting an integrative approach that combines textual and contextual analyses of student written research proposals.
Not excepting Cadman (2002), there are currently no genre investigations of student-written research proposals for purposes of gaining entry into graduate programs.
Twenty years ago, as a graduate student, I presented a doctoral research proposal to a group of eminent scientists, experts and advisors: build a diverse sea turtle conservation network, fill the vast holes in our existing knowledge, and strategically communicate the solutions to restore sea turtle populations in northwest Mexico.
In the first instance, we simply requested students to submit key documents (research proposal, proof of residency, budget, and evidence of ethical clearance to conduct their research).
The integration of the Principles of Biomathematics class and seminar into the BioMaPS program in the spring semester provided training for the students as they developed their research proposal.
In addition to research proposal presentations, students cross-pollinated F1 individuals within the 25% most highly pigmented group (n = 25% of the population) and then cross-pollinated an equal-sized population of randomly selected F1 individuals, as done in Goldman (1999).
Whatever the case, should RECs/IRBs in the universities where students are based not be functioning, it is advisable that students submit their research proposals to the other functioning RECs/IRBs.
