1. How would you describe your progress so far?

I’m not too sure how to describe it; while I would say that there has been improvement since the beginning of the term, there is still room for improvement. The material that we learn in class is incredibly interesting, but there are still moments where I feel a mental roadblock or confusion in understanding concepts. (I do think this is fair though as I think everybody goes through this at some point during a course!) It’s moments like this where asking questions, reaching out to classmates, has definitely help shed clarity on the subject matter.

2. Are you satisfied with your progress so far?

I remember feeling quite lost and intimidated beginning of term! I don’t feel that way so much now and actually feel more comfortable with the subject material!

Although while I do feel satisfied with my progress so far, I don’t feel 100% satisfied. I’m not quite as engaged in class discussions as I would hope to be. I definitely hope to use the remainder of the term in a resourceful way to further my education of gene-regulation.

3. What evidence/pieces of evidence did you use to determine whether you have made progress?

I’m finding that as I read assigned papers for this course, or genetics papers for other courses, I’m linking themes that we have learned in class and applying it critically to the readings.

I also found it helpful to keep a little section for myself in my notes to jot down questions or interesting tidbits as they come up during assignments/lectures. Following on these thoughts of mine often lead me to a paper, article, etc. that contributes to a bigger picture understanding, which is really helpful for me!

1. Two things that I learned in drafting my research question for the final project is that

A. It is easier to come up with a question in an area that you are interested in studying. I thought I had been interested in looking at the distribution of maternal gene products in developing embryos, but I was actually more interested in genomic imprinting and epigenetics! At first, I was initially focused on looking at the RNA-binding protein, Smaug as it plays an important role for pattern-differentiation. However, because I was more interested in genomic imprinting and epigenetics, I switched my interest and have decided to look at H19.

B. I learned that reading lots and lots of primary articles on the interested gene/protein/RNA gives a good understanding of what has been understood, what hasn’t been understood, and how other researchers have approached their hypothesis. 

I expected to learn these lessons for sure. I didn’t expect myself to stick with the first question that came to me. I actually expected myself to explore what was out there in the literature before I found something that I was happy with studying.

2. I had expected myself to read conflicting results from researchers as I would be looking at an area of active research. I was also expecting myself to have difficulties in reading the paper and critically evaluating the experiment. 

For the most part, I have not come across any controversy on H19, nor any conflicting results. This could be because I haven’t read enough papers yet though! 

As for difficulties reading papers, I’ve yet to encounter any difficulties in understanding papers.

3. In developing a sound, well-research hypothesis, my strategy is to 1) do my research 2) know exactly what I want to test 3) make sure my hypothesis is testable and 4) Decide if it will be a 1-sided or 2-sided hypothesis. As the hypothesis will influence the research design, I’m sure I’ll be spending time fleshing out my question!