UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Guidelines - v2019
UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Guidelines - v2019
UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Guidelines - v2019
1. All graduating seniors who are in their last two semesters of academic work must enroll in
Biology 99R (3 units). They must have their oral defense before the faculty on banc at least one
semester before their graduation.
2. There is no limit for the number of times that a student can enroll in Biology 99R.
3. Final grades will only be released upon the submission of three bound copies and one PDF file to
the Department Secretary and
4. formally endorsed by the Department Chair.
5. Students and advisers must adhere to pre-set deadlines for presentations and submission. They
must also adhere to the format provided.
THESIS PROPOSAL
(A) The thesis proposal is the final requirement of Biology 68 (Introduction to Research). The
proposal will then be orally presented to a thesis panel at scheduled dates. Those who cannot
present their thesis during these dates will have to wait until the next scheduled colloquium.
(B) Selection of Thesis Adviser –Refer to Section 4.
(C) At least a week before proposal presentation, the student must get a signed endorsement of
their manuscript from his/her adviser and provide copies of their manuscript to the Biology
68 teacher, Department Chair and members of their panel. The student has the option to
provide more copies for other faculty members.
(D) Oral Presentation/Colloquium - Refer to Section 6.
(E) The revised thesis proposal, which should incorporate all suggestions and revisions of the
thesis panel, must be submitted to the Department Chair and his/ her adviser to get a grade for
Bio 68.
DATA COLLECTION
(A) The student needs to apply for and secure an ethics clearance from the University Research
Ethics Committee (UREC) prior to data collection. The ethics clearance is a requirement for
scheduling the thesis presentation.
(B) After obtaining an ethics clearance, the student is encouraged to start data collection as soon
as possible. He/she must try to follow the submitted timetable of activities presented during
the colloquium.
(C) The student is encouraged to regularly consult with and submit monthly progress reports to
their adviser.
THESIS WRITING
(A) Thesis writing will be under the supervision of the adviser. The draft thesis manuscript must
be endorsed by the adviser prior to scheduling of the thesis presentation/oral defense.
(B) The thesis manuscript should follow the format prescribed in Section 8.
THESIS PRESENTATION
(A) The student must prepare at least four copies of the approved draft manuscript and distribute
it to his/her thesis panel members for perusal at least 5 days before (for thesis colloquium) or
10 days before (for thesis oral defense) the schedule of presentation.
(B) Schedule of presentations to the thesis panel will be posted at least 1 week before the date. A
student must present during their scheduled date. Failure to present without a valid,
documented excuse may cause the student to get a grade of ‘F’.
(C) Failure to comply will mean a re-schedule of the thesis presentation within the semester;
however, if it is beyond the due date for presentations, the student will have to re-enroll the
subject in the succeeding semester.
(D) Body of the Oral Presentation – Refer to Section 6.
1. The thesis panel is tasked to ensure that the basic minimum requirements for the undergraduate
thesis are satisfied by the proposal and the final thesis manuscript by suggesting necessary
revisions, modifications and others.
2. A panel is composed of the department chair, thesis adviser and two regular faculty members. If
the department chair is the thesis adviser of the student, a 3rd regular faculty member will be
added to the panel. All regular faculty members of the Biology department can be members of the
thesis panel. Professionals/researchers who are not part of the department may be included in the
panel upon the discretion of the Chair or recommendation of regular faculty members.
3. Considerations – Considerations will only be given to students who have valid reasons for not
finishing their thesis which may include seasonal sampling (as predicted from thesis proposal
stage), illness and other uncommon circumstances. The student has to write the Chair outlining
his/her reasons for not finishing his/her thesis and endorsed by the thesis adviser. Considerations
will be discussed only upon the final recommendation of the Chair.
Section 4. ADVISER
1. All faculty members with at least a Master’s degree are qualified to act as an undergraduate
adviser.
2. Each faculty adviser is limited to advise three undergraduate students only. This is to ensure that
majority of the faculty members will be involved in this activity and that the advisers will have
ample time for consultations with the students.
3. The faculty adviser is responsible for ensuring that their advisees graduate within the timetable
agreed upon with the student. Problems with student advisees must be reported as soon as
possible to the Chair of the Department who in turn will set up a committee so remedial measures
can be immediately instituted.
4. Selection of Adviser – Students are given the option to select their adviser but their choice is
subject to the approval of the involved faculty and the number of advisees. The student then
writes a formal letter to the Chair declaring his/her adviser (Appendix 4). The faculty in turn
endorses a formal letter thus indicating acceptance of the student.
5. Change of Adviser – If valid problems between student and adviser arise and remedial measures
proposed by the chair are not accepted, the student can change adviser only upon the approval of
the chair.
Section 5. TIMETABLE
1. A timetable must be presented during the thesis proposal presentation. It should include the
inclusive dates, activity and other details. A sample of a timetable is shown in Appendix 5.
2. The timetable must be agreed upon by both students and adviser.
3. If a student does not comply with the agreed timetable, this may be used as a basis for the final
grade in Bio 99, and/or the adviser may elevate the matter to the chair who will then set up a
meeting for both parties involved. Remedial measures will then be discussed and agreed upon.
1. Proposal Presentation/colloquium – Student must present the title, scope of study, objectives,
theoretical framework, limitations of the study and methodology during the presentation. The
presentation must also include a timetable of activities.
2. Thesis Presentation/oral defense – During the presentation, the student briefly reiterates the title,
scope of study, objectives, theoretical framework and methodology. The presentation must focus
on the results and discussion of the study.
3. First semester presentations will be convened for the oral defense of senior students who are
graduating in the second semester. These will be scheduled during the last 4 weeks of the
semester but not later than final exam week.
4. Second semester presentations will be convened for thesis proposal presentations of Bio 68
(Introduction to Research) students and oral defense of senior graduating students (Bio 99).
These will be scheduled during the last 4 weeks of the semester but not later than final exam
week for graduating students.
5. A student is given 20 minutes for their presentation. Afterwards, thesis panel members may ask
questions, clarify points, provide comments and/or recommendations to the student regarding
his/her thesis. Advisers are discouraged from answering questions for their thesis advisees.
6. Only the faculty present during a specific presentation will be signatories of the approval sheets
(Appendix 1 and 2).
7. Equipment needed for presentation (LCDs and others) must be arranged and prepared by the
student before presentation. Department equipment can be used upon the approval of the Chair.
1. The undergraduate thesis must be more complex than the usual course paper requirements.
2. Topics like one spot surveys and purely descriptive work are strongly discouraged. The
undergraduate thesis must incorporate quantitative measurements and statistical analysis
(parametric or non-parametric).
3. The thesis panel will decide if the scope of the proposed undergraduate thesis presented by the
student is sufficient.
The student must obtain a minimum grade of 2.0 for this subject. The final grade for the thesis will be
based on the following parameters:
Research performance will be evaluated by the adviser based on the student’s compliance with ethical
requirements, conduct of field work and/or experiments, adherence to approved protocols/methods,
monthly progress reports, data presentation and analysis, and student-adviser consultations/discussions,
among others.
For the thesis manuscript and presentation/oral defense, the score will be given by the thesis panel based
on criteria for the written thesis manuscript and oral defense (see rubrics below). Theses that result in
publications and participation in conferences and competitions will be given due credit.
Grading Scale:
UREC application
Thesis writing
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Approval Sheets i
Acknowledgements iii
List of Tables v
List of Figures vi
Abstract vii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Introduction 1
Statement of the problem 6
Objectives of the Study 6
Statements of Hypothesis 6
Significance of the Study 7
Scope and Delimitation 7
Species Description 8
Definition of Terms 11
LITERATURE CITED 40
APPENDICES
Raw data – Density of Acanthaster planci 45
Raw data – Feeding preference of Acanthaster planci in the field 46
Raw data – Feeding preference of Acanthaster planci in the laboratory 47
Results of Homogeneity Tests 48
APPENDIX 7. List of Tables
Table 1. Criteria for total and fecal coliform for coastal and marine waters. 25
(DENR Administrative Order No. 34 1990)
Table 2. Mean E. coli, other coliform and total coliform, MPN in 28
October, 2003 and their tentative DENR Classification.
Table 3. Mean E. coli, other coliform and total coliform, MPN in 29
November, 2003 and their tentative DENR Classification.
Table 4. Tentative classification of BMT coastal water based on DENR standard 32
Table 5. Results of Mann-Whitney U Test (p values) for October High tide 36
against Low tide
Table 6. Results of Mann –Whitney u Test for October nearshore against offshore. 38
Table 7. Results of Mann –Whitney u Test for October high tide against low tide. 40
APPENDIX 8. List of Figures
Figure 1. Maps showing the study site within the Bohol Marine Triangle 12
Figure 2. Map of Bolod, Dauis showing sampling station 15
Figure 3. Map of Danao, Panglao showing sampling station 17
Figures 4. Map of Doljo, Panglao showing sampling station 20
Figure 5. Photograph of the crown –of-thorns seastar, Acanthaster planci 25
Figure 6. Mean length of arms of the crown –of – thorns seastar Acanthaster planci
in the different sampling sites 27
Figure 7. Mean disc diameter of the crown-of- thorns seastar, Acanthaster planci
in the different sampling sites 29
APPENDIX 9. Table
Table 7. Mean density (ind/Ha), mean estimated weight (g) and mean biomass (kg/Ha) for H.
arguinensis in each site and transect during the different seasons. Different letters indicate
significant differences among season within transect at each site (Nemenyi post hoc, P < 0.05).
APPENDIX 10. Figures
Figure 4. Specific growth rates (SGRs) of red type and green type of Apostichopus
japonicus at different light colors (mean±SE, n=16 per treatment). Values with different
letters in the same column represent significant differences from each other (P < 0.05).
Values with * represent significant differences between two types of sea cucumbers (P <
0.05).
Figure 1. The Asian lyrate hard clam Meretrix lyrata (Photo by C. Villamil)