Assignments: Independent Presentation Project
This project provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate your understanding of Issues in Science and Technology, and how they relate to your interests or discipline.
All topics should be decided during the first weeks of the term. In addition to the Scientific and Technological aspects, your research must include consideration of political, cultural, economic, and religious issues. Be sure to explicitly address these aspects in your written paper. (See this link for more details.)
Scoring rubrics are used for many of the assignments. An
article in Educational Leadership (Andrade, 2000) provides an explanation
of scoring rubrics. The bulk of the assignments have been designed to
help you meet the criteria which will be used to evaluate your presentation:
A very helpful essay to read as you consider all of these issues is Garrett Hardin's Tragedy of The Commons. He wrote it in 1968, but it is perhaps even more valid today.
"Scaffolding"/Peer Evaluation/ Technological and Information Literacy (65%)
List of Five Issues in Science & Technology (2%) Using a variety of resources, prepare a list of the five most interesting issues in Science and Technology that face us today. There are several magazines (Scientific American, Popular Science, Smithsonian, Science News, Omni, Discover, New Scientist, National Geographic) that should aid you in identifying topics to consider. Links are available from the course website.
State each of the five you select in the form of an issue. Take a stance on an issue. This stance will be your starting point of a defensible position you will attempt to disprove.
Forming a Question/ Making a Research Plan Worksheet (5%)
Forming a Question WorksheetThis assignment assists you in your initial research of your independent topic. It was prepared as part of the information literacy program, and should be completed as soon as possible after the advanced library training session.
Your assignment is to attempt to falsify your hypothesis regarding an issue in science and technology. You should include as much detail and exact resources you can at this time, so that I can provide you with valuable feedback, and potentially additional resources to aid your work. You should be working closely with the reference librarians who can help you find appropriate and valuable information. You could consider this worksheet a draft of your annotated bibliography.Use the resource pages available on this website in addition to the library databases. Take this and the other deadlines seriously and you will have a final project that is interesting, informative and earns a great grade! You should strongly consider making an appointment with My Librarian soon.
Mining Resources (5%)
Resources RubricMine the resources pages on the course web pages to find information regarding your issue that will assist you in preparing your timeline and final project. Consult the rubric for grading details. My goal with this assignment is to get you to look at lots of resources to find out the breadth of what is being said and by whom. It is probably true that you can find a single website that has a whole lot of articles about your issue. Asking you to "mine the resources" is an attempt to help you find that there are other resources in addition to any single great one to help with the task- and if you take all the articles from that site you won't get the breadth of perspectives that you can with a wider search.
Select a particular article (from each site) for this assignment.
That way you can end up with the assignment showing that you have got all aspects of the issue covered with specific articles for your bibliography. I imagine that you may find that you see a lot of the same information in many places, and that helps you understand what weight to give the information.
It may well be that for the Website evaluation you'll use a particularly rich website "portal" as one of your best pro or con... sites.
Don't forget that this work should be helping you with the timeline too- think about the historical perspective as you select the terms you use to mine those resources for helpful information.
Be sure to keep good track of your citations as you'll be using these resources for your timeline and the final report.
Here is a sample Mining Resources assignment.
Evaluation of Websites (4%)
Evaluation WorksheetSelect what you consider to be the most valuable websites that are for and against your stance (pro and con) that you have encountered while researching your topic, and complete this critical analysis using the Evaluation Worksheet. The goal is for you to demonstrate your proficiency in evaluating information, and recognizing the bias of authors. Annotated Bibliography (8%)
Rubric for BibliographyWrite a short summary of how each resource relates to your project (not necessarily what the article was about!). Also provide information about the author and publisher for the resource. Use APA format.
Consult rubric!!Timeline of Independent Topic (5%) Develop an "intellectual history" of the issue. This assignment asks you to provide an historical perspective of the issue you have selected to research. Go as far back in time as you can and provide an historical context for the most pertinent events that have helped shape your topic into the issue of such a magnitude that you selected it for this course. Historical information will tend to be general to the fields you have selected to explore. As you approach more recent times, the information should become more specific to your issue. Provide the names and dates of the most important historical contributors to your issue- and as usual- provide complete citations for your timeline. A well-constructed timeline will present a rich history of your topic that shows how the issue has developed within the cultures over time. As you approach the 21st Century the intervals between events should become much closer together and the diversity of resources cited should increase. By the time you reach today. There should be no question to anyone who is looking at your timeline what the issue is that you have selected or what your point of view is on the evolution of the issue within the world cultures over time.
This assignment asks you to compile the information you are acquiring about your issue and put it together. It does not ask you to simply find a timeline website about the general issue you have selected. Take this assignment seriously so that you will acquire a valuable intellectual history that helps you better understand how issues in science and technology evolve within our cultures and societies.
Cheating, dishonesty, and plagiarism will not be tolerated and may result in failure of the assignment and/or course. Please review these articles on plagiarism: "What is Plagiarism at Indiana University"; "How to Avoid Plagiarism"; "Avoiding Plagiarism"Here are some additional comments to assist you in preparing this assignment:
YOU NEED TO CLEARLY STATE YOUR ISSUE as an issue ASAP!
You need to consider your topic in a larger context...for example:
You'll need to be able to demonstrate you have acquired a broad historical perspective regarding the issue you have selected.
Although manipulation using genetic engineering to modify organisms is rather young- we've been selecting and hence genetic engineering since civilization began...timelines and historical perspective you learn needs to reflect that. Make sure your timeline shows the evolution of the technologies that have become the advanced strategies that we are using today. Describe what technological advances occurred (in what era) and how each of them was used to build on the prior to allow the technology to advance to the degree that it is presently in use.
Although behavioral disorders and treatment may be fairly young, the same comment as above holds true- I bet the Egyptians had treatments for behavior disorders too!
The same comments hold true for virtually every technology and issue being considered!
You'll need to consider all aspects of your issue-
i.e. what is the role of politics and economics in your issue? Morals? Ethics?
Develop those historical perspectives too (specific to your issue)!
A revision of the timeline can be included as an appendix in your final paper, allowing you to focus on the most pertinent aspects within your written report.
Even though this does not address the social and economic issues, here is an example of an timeline that is exemplary in how it addresses the scientific and technology aspects of the issue. This was submitted by a student in a former class who gave permission to share with you.
My Librarian (5%) Sign up at My Librarian, for a private, individualized session with a Science Librarian. You should have already done the advanced research that was demonstrated during the training session. This assignment gives you an opportunity to consult an expert research librarian to help fill in any gaps or discover difficult to acquire material that you may need to support your stance on the issue. Data & Information on Topic (8%) Due with Oral Presentation
Rubric for Data & ResourcesAs you research your selected issue, you should will find many resources that provide visual data and information demonstrating interpretations of various aspects of interest related to your issue.
You will provide those data, complete with references properly cited, on the day of your oral presentation. Use the data and information in your oral presentation, and turn in a copy of them to complete the assignment.
First Version/Written Presentation: (5%)
Peer Review of First Version (Draft) (3%)
Peer Review Worksheet
Second Version (5%)On the day the first version is due, provide TWO copies. One will be reviewed by the faculty member, and the other by a reviewer in the class. The peer reviewed article will be returned to me to be graded and then returned to the author.
While preparing your paper, consult the rubrics and worksheets provided on this page to gain a better understanding of what is expected, in addition to the following suggestions:
Here is a link to a resource that helps with outlines. Use it to help you structure your paper.Please take the following remarks in the manner they are intended, as helpful suggestions. They are not intended to offend, and not all remarks are applicable to all papers, but they all are worth your consideration as you prepare your first version.
1. Make up a title that states your stance.
2. Use page numbers & author name in the footer.
3. MAKE EXTENSIVE USE OF the resources you have found to provide DATA, RESOURCES, TABLES, CHARTS, DIAGRAMS, AND MORE DATA TO support your claims (defend your position). Then you can simply add a few of your own words to remark, introduce, clarify or restate, what the data indicates to support your stance!
4. You should have NUMEROUS sources to support your stance. (Having a single source, or that infamous author named anonymous, does not lend to your credibility! How do we know that source is not a "quack", crazy, or alone in their opinion?)
THE SOURCES SHOULD PROVIDE REAL DATA DATA DATA. NOT opinions.Your opinions about your issue MUST BE be supported by data.
Provide section markers to guide the reader and help to organize the paper.
In the introduction, tell us what's coming, tell us enough to entice the reader to continue through what may seem to be a "boring" technological and scientific discourse, so we can understand your presentation of data surrounding the issue, tell us your stance and how you will support it.
Support your stance in the body of the report (see 3 & 4 above).
In the conclusion, restate your position, and deliver the final "knockout punch" making it so the reader should have every reason to accept your opinion (this means you've addressed the opposing views with evidence (from more than one source etc).
Summaries of Presentations (10%) Each student is expected to prepare a brief written summary of each independent presentation. take notes during the presentation so that you can type up a brief (1 or two paragraph) summary of the author's stance, supporting evidence, and whether or not you agree with their position.
After you have written all the summaries, take a moment to reflect and consider the issues we have explored. Use this to provide part of the course evaluation; to demonstrate your acquisition of the outcomes defined for this course, providing specific examples.Each summary should contain
1. a summary of the author' stance
2. your interpretation of whether they provided adequate credible evidence to sway your opinion
3. whether you agree with their position and why
The packet of summaries should contain a brief summary paper (1-2 pages) in which you provide specific examples of whether or not the course helped you achieve the described student learning outcomes.
