Bachelor [Biochemistry] From DePauw University

Coursework in the chemical sciences prepares students to understand the physical and living world and to make scientifically informed contributions to many academic fields and society at large.

Students engage in collaborative research with faculty and participate in internships at national laboratories, in industrial or medical settings.

Careers include drug development, instrumentation, bio-technology, cosmetics, environmental monitoring and agrochemicals. Students go on to graduate study in a variety of fields, including medicine.

Scientists write for a variety of purposes and audiences. Sometimes the writing is formal, such as an article or poster conveying the results of a research project to an audience of knowledgeable peers. Other times the writing is informal, used to facilitate the research process when the audience is limited to the author and his or her research partners. This could be in the form of brief research reports, or sharing laboratory notebooks. At other times, scientists write for a general audience of intellectually curious non-scientists. Just as the practice of science requires careful design of experiments, and precise and accurate measurements, a scientist must have command of the written word in a manner appropriate for diverse purposes and audiences.

Writing instruction in the department parallels the vertical nature of our curriculum, in which upper-level courses build on concepts learned in introductory courses, to build and reinforce skills in writing across a student¿s four years. Students in our introductory courses learn to maintain a laboratory notebook and to report the results of their laboratory work in a journal article format. Writing instruction at this level is carefully structured to give attention to different purposes and audiences. Particular attention is given to the design of tables, graphs, and figures that summarize results and illustrate ideas, and to the effective use of such devices in clearly communicating information and supporting the written narrative. As students progress through the curriculum, their laboratory work becomes more independent, open-ended, and complex, and their written reports become correspondingly more demanding and require greater sophistication. At all levels, the department¿s focus is on carefully organizing and presenting information, constructing meaning from complex data, and effectively communicating the results of scientific experiments.

The writing requirement for majors in chemistry and biochemistry consists of keeping a portfolio of writings from several key courses in the major and presenting them with a written reflection. The purpose of the written reflection is two-fold. First, it is intended to allow the student to critique the development of his or her own writing and analyze its evolution in relation to coursework at DePauw. Second, it is intended to provide the student with the opportunity to project how his or her writing needs to grow going forward.