Module 01 Activity Worksheet

Module: Module 01: Scientific Curiosity and Motivation
Duration: 3-4 hours
Generated from the module page. Edit modules/module01.md, not this file.

Capability target

Write one connectomics study question with measurable structural outputs and one explicit non-claim. Articulate a personal motivation statement linking daily annotation work to a larger scientific mission.

You are done when you can demonstrate this, not when you have filled in every box below.

Before you start

Check that you have:

• Nothing. This module assumes no prior work in this curriculum.

Bring one question you already have about this topic. Write it here so you can check at the end whether it was answered:

My question:

Questions this module answers

Keep these in view. At the end, answer each in one sentence.

1. What can connectomics answer today?
   • Your answer:
2. What claims require additional evidence beyond structure?
   • Your answer:

The task

Scenario: Learners produce two artifacts: a question-to-hypothesis sheet and a personal motivation statement. Part A (30 minutes) builds the sheet, Part B (20 minutes) drafts the statement, and a 10-minute peer review closes the session.

1. Question-to-hypothesis sheet (Part A, 30 minutes): state your broad curiosity question (1 sentence).
2. Narrow to a specific circuit, region, or organism (1 sentence).
3. Define the structural measurement you would need (e.g., synapse count between cell types X and Y).
4. Specify the dataset you would use (e.g., FlyWire, MICrONS, FAFB).
5. State one non-claim: what your structural data cannot tell you.
6. Define a falsification condition: what result would disprove your hypothesis?
7. Motivation statement (Part B, 20 minutes): write 150-300 words addressing: Why connectomics? What drew you to this field? What specific aspect of brain circuitry fascinates you? How does your daily work (annotation, proofreading, coding) connect to the larger mission? What is your plan for sustaining motivation through tedious stretches? (Be specific: milestones, rewards, accountability partners, rotation between tasks.)
8. Peer review (10 minutes): exchange motivation statements with a partner. Provide feedback on: (1) specificity — does the statement name concrete goals? (2) sustainability — does the plan for maintaining motivation seem realistic?

What you hand in

• Question-to-hypothesis sheet: broad question, narrowed target, named structural measurement, named dataset, one non-claim, one falsification condition
• Motivation statement of 150-300 words, including a specific plan for sustaining effort through tedious stretches
• Written peer feedback on a partner’s statement, addressing specificity and sustainability
• One revision made to your own sheet or statement in response to that feedback

Working checklist

Tick as you go. If you skip a step, write why — a skipped step with a stated reason is a decision; a skipped step without one is a gap.

• Identify curiosity question.
• Convert to measurable structural hypothesis.
• Define one metric and one limitation.
• Plan first dataset/tool touchpoint.
• Write a personal motivation statement connecting your question to a long-term scientific goal.

Evidence and reasoning

Fill one row per claim you make in your artifact. A claim without a limitation is not finished.

Confidence. For your main claim, mark one and say why:

• High — two or more independent lines of evidence agree
• Medium — one strong line, or several that share a weakness
• Uncertain — the deciding evidence is not available to me

Why:

One alternative I considered and rejected, and the reason:

Misconception self-check

These are the errors this module is designed to prevent. Confirm you did not make them, or note where you nearly did:

• I did not assume: Tools generate good questions automatically.
• I did not assume: A completed connectome is a full explanation of behavior.
• I did not assume: Broad vision statements are sufficient project plans.
• I did not assume: Excitement at the start is enough to carry you through a multi-month project.
• I did not assume: If the work feels tedious, you chose the wrong field.
• I did not assume: Good annotators never make errors.
• I did not assume: My individual contribution is too small to matter.

Session timing (facilitator reference)

Rubric

Score yourself before anyone else does. Where you fall short, name the specific next action rather than a general intention.

• Minimum:
  • Question names organism, region or circuit, and one structural measurement with units.
  • Metric, dataset, and non-claim are all present and consistent with each other.
  • Motivation statement addresses both why and how.
• Strong:
  • Falsification condition names the specific result that would count against the hypothesis.
  • Scope is sized so the first milestone could be finished within a week.
  • Motivation statement names at least two sustainability strategies with triggers (“when X dips, I will Y”).
  • Non-claim correctly identifies a functional inference the structural data cannot support.
• Failure:
  • Motivational text without measurable outputs, or a question no result could contradict.
  • Motivation statement is generic (“I like brains”) or omits a plan for the motivation gap.
  • Claim language exceeds the evidence class of the proposed measurement.

My self-assessment:

• Strongest part of my work, and the evidence for that:
• Weakest part, and the specific next action:

Exit prompt

Write a 3-sentence hypothesis with one metric and one caveat. Then write 2 sentences explaining why this question matters to you personally.

Your answer:

Peer review (swap worksheets)

Reviewing someone else’s reasoning is the fastest way to see the gaps in your own. Assess the evidence quality, not whether you agree with the conclusion.

• Is every claim paired with specific evidence?
• Is at least one limitation stated, and is it a real one?
• Is the confidence level justified by the number of independent evidence lines?
• One thing this person did better than me:
• One question I would ask them:

Module page: /modules/module01/ · Slides: /modules/slides/module01/ · Facilitator guide