Methods Introduction

The METHODS project was had each student create multi-panel scientific figures and document the methods used while creating the figure. The set of methods was then followed by a different student, and the two figures were compared. The purpose of the METHODS project was to highlight the importance of specificity in method sections of scientific papers. While choosing an interaction to document, it was necessary to keep in mind that the interaction would have to be captured again by another student. Therefore, mobility was a key factor in the selection process. Any interaction with an organism that moves a lot would not be ideal. The location of the interaction was also limited by accessability and identification of the organisms. This interaction had to be somewhere that all students could get to on campus and there had to be a clear understanding of the exact organism used. Factors that had to be considerd while capturing an interaction were camera angle, distance from the object, and body position.