Honors in the Major (BA Health & Human Physiology, BS Human Physiology)

Students have the opportunity to graduate with honors in the major. Departmental honors students must maintain an overall UI g.p.a. of at least 3.33 in work for their major.

In order to graduate with honors in the major, students must successfully complete the honors research course sequence HHP:4800 Research Methods and Ethics (2sh) and HHP:4900 Honors Research (3sh); write an honors thesis that is deposited with the University of Iowa Honors Program and is judged to be of honors quality; and make an oral or poster presentation of the honors thesis in an approved venue, such as a department research seminar or professional conference. HHP:4900 counts as a major elective; HHP:4800 does not.

Prior to enrolling in HHP:4800 student must have secured a position in a research lab on campus. The lab can be in the HHP department. However, it can also be outside the department in related areas such as Biology, Chemistry, Psychology or the College of Medicine. Visit the Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates (ICRU) for information on getting starting in research. 

Honors course details:

HHP:4800: This course provides students an introduction to concepts, principles, and methods of research. Topics include research design, data collection, data analysis, and reporting research. Students identify and formulate research questions, design appropriate research, collect data using different methods, conduct data analysis, present research findings, and critically critique research literature; main ethical issues and professional conduct in scientific research. Students must also develop a research proposal in consultation with a research mentor (faculty member who is actively involved in research) that explores a health or physiology problem related to their interests using the scientific method. The research proposal will consist of an Introduction section with review of related literature that develops an appropriate rationale for the experiment and a Methods section describing the subjects of study, experimental design, protocol, data collection and planned data analyses.

HHP:4900: Each student, in consultation with their approved research mentor, will execute the research proposal presented in HHP:4800 and will develop a written report. This report will consist of: (1) Abstract – a brief summary of the purpose, methods, major results and conclusions, (2) Introduction - review of related literature that develops an appropriate rationale for the experiment, (3) Methods – describes the subjects of study, experimental design, protocol, data collection and planned data analyses, (4) Results – describes findings and includes appropriate tables and/or figures of the results, (5) Discussion – provides interpretation of the results and discusses the results in relation to major theories/models and previous research. Students will give a final oral presentation of the project at the end of the semester.

Contact HHP Honors Director, Dr. Thorsten Rudroff for more information: thorsten-rudroff@uiowa.edu or 467-0363.