Signature Assignment/Writing Assignment

Biol 1010 SLCC

Spring Semester 2019

This short writing assignment fulfills the signature assignment requirement for
Biol 1010 – Intro to Biology.

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your ability to:

1. Choose an appropriate and manageable topic in biology to summarize

clearly and concisely in 2-4 pages
2. Demonstrate your ability to use proper research databases to acquire
appropriate, current, and relevant sources of information
3. Utilize the SLCC Writing Center to acquire editorial help/comments to
revise a rough draft
4. Organize your paper into an appropriate format that includes a proper
‘Literature Cited’ section with complete and proper citations
5. Meet the assignment deadline by turning your paper in as a hard copy
in class on the day it is due

Purpose:
This issue exploration assignment asks you to learn about a particular topic/issue in
biology through researching credible sources, and to present a summary of the
topic/issue and current research being conducted on it.

Writing Expectations:
In an issue exploration, a typical writing plan is to present a general overview of the topic
or issue first, followed by summaries of current research on that topic/issue. Issue
explorations do not include the writer’s opinion on the issue or the sources. They are
intended to be objective presentations of information and research.

As you do your research, look for two types of sources: 1) those that provide you with an
overview of the issue/topic and 2) those that report on current research being done on the
issue/topic. You will need at least three credible sources that report on current research.

As you research and write, imagine that your audience has the following question: “What
is happening with [insert your biological issue/topic here] lately?” Your job is to answer
that question.

Sources and Citations:

Finding suitable and appropriate sources for this assignment may be the most
difficult part of this paper. It is easier than ever to access information, but increasingly
difficult to assess the quality of that information. To make matters worse, one of the
most commonly used formats for academic papers (APA) does not use acceptable
practices in citing sources in a scientific format. For that reason, among a couple of
others, APA IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE FORMAT FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT!!!!!
Web sites, web addresses, URL’s, hyperlinks, or whatever you want to call them ,
ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE SOURCES FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT!!!!! If I see any
reference to a web site in your ‘Literature Cited’ section, it will not count as a legitimate
citation.
To that goal of ensuring your best chance for acquiring legitimate sources, you are
only allowed to access articles, books, ebooks, etc. from the electronically accessed
science database known as ‘OneSearch’ which is accessed through the Markosian
Library web site within SLCC.edu.

As for the actual formatting of your citations, as long as all the appropriate
information is present and consistently presented in all your citations, I don’t care what
formatting program you use. But again, DO NOT INCLUDE WEB ADDRESSES OR
URL’S in your citations.65

VERY IMPORTANT: You likely will write quite a few papers this semester and over
the course of your college career. As such, you will be asked to write in different styles
and formats (e.g., argumentative, instructional, informative, opinion, etc.) in different
classes.
In this case, you are writing a summary of the information you found in the
sources you recovered to demonstrate your understanding of a biological topic. (In some
cases, this is called a “literature review” which is a summary of research on an
issue/topic.) This is NOT an argumentative paper, or an opinion piece. Do not try to be
entertaining or funny, and do not waste time with introductory comments or anecdotes.
This is about science and science is about data and facts. Stick with that and, you will be
fine.

1. Choosing a Topic. DEADLINE: February 6 (LIB 218)

a. We will meet in the library that day instead of in class where you will get
instruction on how to 1) access appropriate articles for your paper and 2)
assess the quality of that article for use in your paper
 There will be a worksheet for you to fill out for each article

2. Collecting Sources. DEADLINE: February 20

a. You will need to have all of your resources collected by this date so that
you can begin working on your Rough Draft. This rough draft is just
that; a ‘rough’ draft. However, it needs to be a Complete Draft, so that
you can bring it to the SLCC Writing Center for editorial help.

3. Rough Draft DEADLINE: March 27

a. Once you have completed the rough draft, you will turn a hard copy into
me. Then, within for weeks, you will schedule an appointment with the
SLCC Writing Center for editorial help on style and technical writing.
 You will then incorporate those corrections into your paper for a final
draft.
 You can always provide me with a copy of your draft
BEFORE the deadline so that you have more time to schedule
an apt. and work on your final draft
 You will need to schedule an appointment to visit the writing
Center, so budget your time appropriately.
 The Writing Center will provide you with an ‘Attendance
Notice’ that you will turn in to me for verification of the
completion of this part of the assignment

4. Final Draft DEADLINE: April 17

a. This is a hard deadline and your final draft is due in class that day. If it is
not done by that time, it is late and you will lose 20% off your earned
grade for every class period that it is late.
 Make sure that you print your paper early so that it is presented
in
a professional manner.

Topic Selection:
You have many options for topics that you could choose that are appropriate for
this assignment. Based on my experience, many of you will choose either a medical
disease or a genetic disorder as your topic. That is fine. However, I have provided below
an incomplete list of topics that may interest you. Feel free to choose any of these or
choose one of your own. The only requirement is that the topic has to be biological AND
manageable. For example, Alzheimer’s disease is too big of a topic to discuss everything
known in 2-4 pages so you will need to focus your interest to make it manageable.
Another example would be biotechnology. Biotechnology is interesting and used in
scientific investigations all the time, but it is still just technology and is not biological in
nature.

EXAMPLE TOPICS

MEDICINE
Cloning
Human genome project
Gene Therapy
Genetic engineering
Cancer research
Alzheimer's
AIDS

ECOLOGY
 Habitat destruction
Endangered species management
Climate Change
Conservation
Biodiversity

EVOLUTION
Bioinventory (bar-coding)
Tree of Life
Speciation
Extinction
Evolutionary theory
Evolution/Creation debate