Below are examples of high-stakes, formal writing assignments used by instructors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

You may also want to check out our step-by-step guide to designing a high-stakes writing assignment. Interested in designing a high-stakes assignment for your course but not sure where to start or what to include? Contact the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) team to set up a one-to-one consultation.

German, Nordic, Slavic+ – Research Essay

Grading Rubric for Assignment

Population Health Sciences – Critique Assignment

Classics – Research-Based Revision Assignment

FINAL RESCRIPTIO of Scriptio #1: EXCAVATING THE OTHER IN ANCIENT ROME 

8-page essay to be submitted as a Word file on Canvas.

Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences/ Environmental Studies – Carbon Footprint Analysis

For this assignment, you will conduct a self-reflection about your own personal carbon footprint and relate it to how proposed climate mitigation policies might affect your own behavior.

Steps:

First, compute your carbon footprint, a measure of your personal fossil fuel based contribution to the addition of CO2 to the atmosphere. You will need to know something about your electric/heating bills, miles you drive, flights you’ve taken, etc…

If you are not sure of a specific answer, make your best guess. You are welcome to try other sites than this one:

https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator

Compare your footprint to your average for your zip code and for the nation based at:

https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/maps

Some sites to help you find average energy usage:

https://www.mge.com/customer-service/home/average-use-cost/

https://myaccount.alliantenergy.com/OUCSSPortal/faces/public/cmPropertyBudget

Then, read the following articles (web link articles are online):

• SPM.1 and SPM.2 in IPCC, 2014: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ipcc_wg3_ar5_summary-for-policymakers.pdf
• Richard Conniff, “Blue Sky: Thinking: The Political History of Cap and Trade”, Smithsonian Magazine, August 2009 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/air/the-political-history-of-cap-and-trade-34711212/?no-ist=
• Mankiw, N.G., 2007, One Answer to Global Warming: A New Tax, New York Times, 9/16/07 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/business/16view.html
• Planet Money podcast, 2016, Oil #5: Imagine A World Without Oil,http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/08/24/491216303/oil-5-imagine-a-world-without-oil

Using these sources, write a short reflection piece of 1) the nature of your fossil fuel use, 2) economic policy options that would influence that use, and 3) how would you change behavior were those implemented.

Consider the following questions:

• What was your carbon footprint in tons of CO2 equivalent (note that 1000 kg = 1 metric ton). Was your footprint higher than the average for your area or the nation (you may need to do additional research to find these values)? What is your largest source of emissions? What difficulties did you have in estimating the numbers for the surveys? What does that say about the complexity of measuring individual carbon emissions?
• Using the readings above and/or supplementary materials that you find, discuss the nature, merits, and disadvantages to climate change mitigation by reduction of CO2 emissions by carbon tax, cap and trade, offsets, or command and control. Do you think alternatives to fossil fuels will be found fast enough and change the way you live?
• Imagine if one of these carbon emission policies were adopted and it affected your personal finances such that you paid (through taxes or increased prices) an extra $100/ton per CO2 emitted (i.e., costs from oil companies, gasoline, electric utilities, etc… were passed onto you so that your expenses increased as such). How would your behavior change (if at all)? What ways (if any) would you try to reduce your carbon emissions? How about if the costs were $10/ton and $1000/ton? Will your carbon emissions increase in the future? See if you can find the current price of carbon on an existing market and whether that is influencing behavior.

Paper guidelines:

• 2-3 full pages, maximum of 4, exclusive of any figures and bibliography
• Double-spaced, 1” margins, 12-point standard font, number your pages, no title page, your name and title on top of page 1

• In-text citations required and should be in any standard accepted, academic format, and bibliography (does not count toward 2 pages) must include full academic citation (journal name, title and author, page numbers or web link, date of publication and/or access)

Please be sure to note your carbon footprint value and bring that number to class.

Astronomy – Writing for a Public Audience Assignment

Political Science – Two Service-Learning Writing Assignments

The first paper assignment is to craft an argument in response to the following question: How is the work that people are doing in your organization related to politics? You could answer this in a wide variety of ways. Allow yourself to be creative in how you choose to do so.

Here are some possible themes you might pursue to write this paper:

• Where does the organization get its funding? What levels of government provide funding and what do the employees and volunteers at this organization have to do to secure this funding?
• What are the public problems that the organization is trying to address? Would they be better addressed through new legislation? Through government providing services the organization currently provides? Why or why not?
• How does participating in the programs the organization provides affect how the clients of the organization view themselves as citizens? How does it affect how they view their relationship to government and public officials? Does it increase or decrease the likelihood that people will participate in politics in the future?

To write this paper, you should draw upon what you have learned from our course readings and class sessions, as well as the observations and reflections you record in your journals. That is, I want you to reference class readings as well as your experience in your service work. It is acceptable—in fact, recommended—that you explicitly talk about your own personal observations of your organization in your paper. Aim for informed observations rather than mere anecdotes. You can write in the first person. In addition, you should actively gather information from your organization by doing such things as attending staff or board meetings and interviewing members of the administrative staff and clients of the organization. It may also be useful for you to do research on the background of the organization through searching the archives of local papers online or through the Lexis/Nexis database available through the UW Library homepage. I also strongly encourage you to do additional background research on topics related to your argument, such as research on the public problem that your organization is facing.

The paper should be 9-11 pages in length of double-spaced, 10 or 12 point type, using reasonable margins. The pages should be numbered and stapled. You may use any standard form of citation. Whichever style you choose (e.g., APA, Chicago), you should use both in-text parenthetical references as well as a reference list. For a useful guide on proper methods of citing sources, see the UW Writing Center web page “FAQs About Documenting Sources” (http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Documentation.html).

Second paper assignment

For the second paper, you will write a citizenship autobiography. The question you will address is, What does it mean to me to be a good citizen? You are to revisit your first journal entry in which you described what it means to be a good citizen (see this assignment under the first day of class in the Calendar below), and then in detail explain how your understanding of citizenship has changed (or not) across the course of the semester in response to your service activity, the assigned readings, our class sessions, and your journal work. I want you to aim for a clear conception of citizenship—do not just state that conceptions of citizenship vary widely and that the proper definition depends on the individual. This paper is your chance to clarify what good citizenship means TO YOU. To formulate your argument, think about these questions: How has this class changed you, if at all? How do you view your role as a citizen? What does service learning mean for your understanding of democratic citizenship? How have the experiences of this semester helped you to understand what citizenship means today? This paper should also be 9-11 pages in length of double-spaced, 10 or 12 point type, using reasonable margins, stapled with pages numbered.

Political Science – Analytical Essay Project

Political Science – Individual and Group Research Papers on Social Identities

Paper plan 3: Annotated Bibliography and Data Collection Plan, due April 9th, 11:00 am (3% of the final grade)

• Include your name, the date, and a descriptive title;
• Length: 1 to 2 single-spaced pages, plus Plan 2 attached, and revised if necessary;
• This plan has 2 parts; an annotated bibliography, and a data collection plan:

For the annotated bibliography:

1. 1. Based on hypotheses developed and revised from Plan 2, find 6 academic sources, i.e. journal articles or books found in the UW-Madison library system that support your hypotheses. Note: Other web-based sources or course readings can be used in the paper in addition to these from the library, but you still must find 6 from the UW library system.
   2. Write out the research question and each hypothesis and those will serve as a section headings, then under each, list a full citation (MLA) of a library source;
   3. Under each source, write 2-3 sentences explaining how it supports the research question or hypothesis.

For the data collection plan:

1. 1. Describe either the texts that you will use in the paper (if doing content analysis) or the pool of respondents or interviewees and timeline for collecting responses for a survey or interviews.

Grading rubric for the three Paper Plans:

1. The structure for each Plan noted above is followed and includes all elements;
2. Each element demonstrates thoughtful effort;
3. No typos or errors;
4. Correct citation of sources;
5. Turned in on time; late papers will be marked down one grade if not posted by 11:00 am on due date, two grades down if not posted within 2 days.

Final Paper Presentations: Slides due May 2nd, 12:00 pm

This is an opportunity for you to share your work from the semester with your fellow students, and to develop presentation skills.

• Based on the number of papers, the amount of time will probably be 4-5 minutes
• Presentations should consist of 6 slides:

1. 1. Title slide (your name, date & presentation title)
   2. Research question
   3. Hypotheses (possible explanations)
   4. Evidence 1: Method description (how CA, Survey, or Interviews were done)
   5. Evidence 2: Results
   6. Conclusions

• Slides should use consistent style;
• You may add images or other relevant visual design elements.

Grading rubric final presentation & slides (3% of the final grade):

1. Contains 6 slides as noted above, turned in on time;
2. Text is adequate to convey points, but is not too wordy;
3. Visual images are relevant and helpful in conveying points;
4. Style is consistent on all slides; no typos;
5. Speaker addresses audience, makes eye contact and keeps audience engaged;
6. Presentation is within the time limit.

Final Paper, due May 7th, 9:45 am:

• Paper length should be approximately 15 double-spaced pages, excluding references and appendices; use 12-point font, 1-inch margins.
• Suggested minimum data collection:
  1. Content Analysis: at least 2 long (30+ pages) documents (for comparison), or at least 20 short news articles
  2. Survey: 10 questions, 50 responses
  3. Interview: 1/2 hour long, 10 people
• Use MLA parenthetical citations; References in text should include author and year, and page number if appropriate. Journal and book titles in bibliography should be italicized.  Annotations of sources is not necessary for the final paper bibliography.
• Include a title page with your name, date, and a descriptive title; use appropriate style for the title page.
• Paper should include the following sections, which should should be labeled with headings:

1. Introduction, stating the research question, a summary of the methods used to collect data, and a brief summary of the argument (2 pp.).

2. Theoretical section (2-3 pp.): should contain:

a. Definition of identity, based on course readings or other sources;

b. Summary of possible different explanations (these are the theories or hypotheses that might answer the question), based on academic sources or course readings.

3. Methods Section (1-2 pp.): Explain how you collected data:

a. For content analysis include a description of the texts (length, source, etc), and coding rules, description of dictionaries, or key words, etc.;

b. For a survey, describe the questions, the pool of respondents & how you recruited them, when the survey was conducted, how many responses you got, etc.;

c. For interviews, describe who you interviewed, how you found people, when you did the interviews, how long the interviews lasted, where they took place, etc.

4. Data section (5-6 pp.): Discuss your findings: You should use tables, figures, or a set of extended quotations to highlight key points. Discuss how the findings support (or do not support) each the hypotheses (answers to the question).

5. Conclusion (1-2 pp.).

6. Bibliography (not annotated, does not count toward page limit).

7. Appendix (does not count toward page limit); include interview or survey instrument, full texts (if not too long, otherwise just links to sources); extra tables or figures, etc.

Grading rubric for final papers (30% of the final grade):

1. Clear and well-motivated research question related to course content;
2. Clear definition of identity that is being studied;
3. Comprehensive discussion of explanations from existing literature;
4. Use of at least 6 academic sources, and citation of course readings where appropriate;
5. Clear discussion of methods used in paper;
6. Data collection meets minimum requirements;
7. Good analysis of evidence for different hypotheses based on collected data & findings;
8. Proper citation of sources;
9. Appendix contains required material;
10. Follows structure set out on syllabus, and includes title and sub-headings;
11. Good word choice and tone;
12. No typos or errors;
13. Within the page limit.

Group Work:

Students may choose to work in groups of up to 4 students on the proposals, the final paper, and the presentation.

• If you are interested in working in a group, indicate that on proposal 1 as outlined above.

If you choose to work in a group:

• For the Paper Plans 2 and 3, add an additional section to discuss how work will be divided by each student
• At least two measurement techniques must be used on the final paper.
• The final paper length will be longer (by 5 pages per additional person, e.g. from 20, 25, or 30 pp); the additional pages will be in the data section (to discuss the additional data collection).
• Make sure the final paper is integrated, even though the paper has different section, and different people might do more work on one or another of them.  Make sure all sections are connected; each group member should read the entire paper to make sure all sections are integrated.
• In a separate document for the final paper, each group member should turn in a one-half page description of their own individual contribution and evaluation of others’ contributions to the research paper.

Communication Arts – Grant Proposal Assignment & Peer Review

English – Written Analysis of a Photograph

English – Action Project and Rhetorical Critique of Applied Rhetoric

English – Collaborative Essay Assignment

For this final paper, you will write a ten-page collaborative essay with your group members analyzing a single cultural object (movie, book, or graphic fiction) that we have not discussed in class. I have included a list of possible texts to study below and only one group will be allowed to analyze each option. You may approach the text you choose from any scholarly angle and focus on any aspect of the text as long as it relates to the key themes of this course and has something to do with fantasy. The essay must also include the following three components:

1. A historical assessment of the text at hand (the historical context in which it was made and/or discussion of the historical moment the text is set in).
2. An extended analysis of the text itself that uses the historical context and outside scholarly sources to unpack its content.
3. At least two scholarly sources (one from our class and one that you find on your own) that you use to analyze the text.

You should not approach these three components as a list or an organizing structure for the paper. Rather, they should all be synthetically woven together. You will need to find scholarship that helps you situate the text in its historical moment as well as an outside scholarly source that is more theoretical or conceptual. You will develop this paper in parts. Your group will start by developing a short proposal describing your projected argument and plan for organizing and executing the paper; your group will then produce a five-page rough draft version of the longer paper; finally, you will complete and submit the final paper. The due dates of these various components will be decided by your TA. This is not a traditional research paper, which means you do not need to conduct extensive outside research on the text beyond what is being asked here.

All members of the group will receive the same grade, meaning that you must all equally contribute to the completion of the paper. You must decide amongst yourselves who will do what (or else equally engage in all activities simultaneously). Collaborative writing comes in many forms; you may all wish to write different portions of the paper on your own and then synthesize them. Alternately, you may wish to write it up together. There are many options and it is up to you to delegate responsibilities. When you turn in the final paper, you will also turn in a self- AND peer-assessment statement where you will discuss what you contributed to the paper, what you think you did best (and what you could continue to work on), and how you think your peers did in contributing to the project.

Anthropology – Writing About Habitus

Habitus and Mental Maps Assignment

The goal of this assignment is to help you recognize the kinds of challenges that archaeologists face when they try to integrate the empirically-grounded interpretations of static spatial data that emphasize what the archaeologist sees as important to past peoples, usually settlement patterns, subsistence practices, and ancient technology, with interpretations informed by the concept of habitus. You will also reach a deeper appreciation for why it is so important to justify and support your interpretations with evidence so that they make sense to other people.

Mental Map

What is being mapped here is an abstraction, not physical reality itself but the generalized impressions that real form makes on an observer indoctrinated in a certain way (Lynch 1960:143).

Mental maps are personal and are usually a mix of your objective knowledge of the world around you (based on your observations) and your subjective perceptions of that world that are influenced by how you use and experience space. Mental maps help to create a framework for understanding the world—in the past, the present, and the future. Mental maps are thus idiosyncratic and dynamic.

In this assignment you will explore mental maps as a way of understanding your own experience of the world. In discussion section, you will have the opportunity to learn how your fellow students understand their experiences of the world and to see how these may be similar to or different from your own. In particular, you will consider how aspects of your identity and upbringing influence the ways in which you experience and use space.

Instructions for Assignment 3

This assignment is worth a total of 20 points. The breakdown of points is provided below.

Part 1: Draw a mental map of your hometown or, if you are from a rural area, the county in which you live. If you feel constrained by the size of the paper, you can do two maps—you can draw one map that shows the entire community or county and then you can draw a box around the segment of the map that you feel you know the best and draw this area on a second map (all of it—some parts of it you might know better than others). At the end of this document are some examples. (Worth 8 points)

The Basics:

For each map, use an 8.5×11 sheet of paper (letter size)—no bigger, no smaller! It can be plain or graph paper.
You should draw only what you remember from your own experience.
Include a north arrow, a legend for any symbols/colors that you use, and a way of referring to parts of the map that you explicitly mention in your essay (you could name these, give them letters or numbers, or use another system that makes sense)—you will want other people to be able to read and understand your map so that they could navigate their way through your town or county.

Some Things to Help Get You Started:

• Make a list of places that you frequent—think very broadly about the types of places you go to and use. You can also include things like landmarks—places that you observe in the landscape or think of as significant in your own mind even if they are not places you frequent.
• Think about the major streets that you use—are there certain routes that you take frequently to get to and from certain places?
• Consider how your most common modes of transportation influence how you get from place to place (e.g., walking, driving, buses, bicycles, taxis, or subways). Include things like bus and subway stops, bus routes and bike paths if that is how you get around your hometown.
• Consider labeling neighborhoods or districts if you know them well or even if you do not know many streets or details of that area.
• Don’t be afraid to leave parts of your map blank—remember that you should only draw what you know, and leave blank the things that you do not know. Your map may look somewhat schematic, and that is fine!
• Don’t strive for “objective” accuracy—the goal is to represent your hometown as you experience it and know it. Don’t obsess over street names or accurately depicting how streets curve or connect with one another. Don’t stress about scale or accurate representation of distance.
• Feel free to include historical information—places that were formerly important but are no longer places you visit regularly (your elementary school for example), or places that no longer exist but are nonetheless meaningful to you in your memories of you hometown (in other words the map can reflect your historical memory as well as more recent memories/associations).
• Your map should include 5 object types:
  • Paths, streets, roads, transportation routes (major and minor)
  • Districts and neighborhoods (business, historic, campus, etc.)
  • Edges and boundaries (breaks on the map between districts; consider how these are defined—fixed, vague, fluid)
  • Nodes (meeting places, locations where pathway cross)
  • Landmarks

Examples of places to consider include:

Part 2: Write an essay in which you address the questions listed below. Remember to provide explicit references to you map (or parts of your map) when appropriate. Justify your answers. Maximum of 4-5 pages double spaced text. (Worth 12 points)

• Start by presenting a bit of background on your hometown or county—where is it located; how large/small is it; what is the topography like; what are the major industries/businesses there; etc.
• What was it like drawing these maps? Was it hard? Easy? Frustrating? Were you tempted to cheat by looking at published or on-line maps? What made you want to cheat?
• Where on your map do you feel the most safe/comfortable, and where do you feel the least safe? Think about comfort both in terms of personal safety, but also in terms of where you fit in and feel like you belong. What makes a place feel “safe” for you? What makes a place feel “unsafe”?
• What about the edges and blank/sparse parts of your map?
• What is the center of your map? Why did you choose to center your map on this feature?
• Why did you leave some areas of your map blank, or sparsely filled? What did you choose not to include and why?
• How did you choose the boundaries of your map? What lies beyond the boundaries of your map?
• Did mapping make you more aware of the parts of your hometown/county that you do not know very well?
• Think about the different aspects of your identity: gender, class, race, ethnicity, religion, ability/disability, nationality, socioeconomic status, education, and so forth. How do these different parts of your identity appear (or not) on your map? Do you see these areas reflected at all in your map? What does this map say about you? What does it not say?
• If someone else looked at your map from the perspective of an archaeologist grounded in empirical data, what kinds of dimensions of your hometown do you think would be emphasized in their interpretations? How would these compare with yours? How do you think they would you go about integrating these empirically-grounded interpretation(s) with interpretations informed by the concept of habitus?
• Consider what would happen if an archaeologist excavated your hometown in 200 years and created a detailed to-scale map. Then they find your map in the archives. How much correspondence would there be between your map and the excavation map? Why might there be differences?

References cited:

Bourdieu, Pierre 1977 Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Lynch, Kevin 1960 The Image of the City. MIT and Harvard, Boston, MA.

History/ Environmental Studies – Animals Making History Writing Assignment

Grading Rubric

A

• Fresh, creative, nuanced understanding of McNeill’s maxim, or student’s own update
• Clearly articulated analytical thesis statement
• 3 well-chosen examples convincingly illustrate thesis
• Effectively uses historical detail to make point
• Makes nuanced argument to avoid determinism
• Cover letter reflects thoughtful engagement with peer comments & reflections on the writing process
• Free of grammatical and punctuation errors
• Correctly formatted bibliography and citations

B   

• Insightful understanding of McNeill’s maxim, or student’s own update
• Straightforward thesis statement, shows some analytical depth
• 3 examples adequately illustrate thesis
• Uses some historical detail to support main point
• Uses some detail to avoid determinism
• Cover letter demonstrates consideration of peer comments & writing process
• Few grammatical and/or punctuation errors
• Few formatting errors in bibliography and citations

C

• Satisfactory understanding of McNeill’s maxim, or student’s own update
• Thesis statement lacks analytical depth
• 3 examples related to thesis but do not strongly support
• Uses little detail to illustrate main point
• Lack of nuance leans toward deterministic argument
• Cover letter rushed, offers little reflection on editing process
• Some grammatical and/or punctuation errors
• Some formatting errors in bibliography and citations

D   

• Unclear articulation of maxim, little evidence of understanding
• Thesis statement vague, unclear, or missing
• 3 examples poorly chosen
• Detail missing or detracts from story
• Argument deterministic
• Cover letter missing or does not reflect engagement with peer editor’s comments
• Contains several grammatical and/or punctuation errors
• Contains several formatting errors

Geography – Collaborative Paper

During our field trip on Thursday, September 21, we will locate six different places on or near the UW campus. Each group of three students will study one of these places throughout the semester from as many geographic perspectives as possible. You will first identify the various geographic realms at your site; consider the natural as well as the cultural attributes. To do so, you will find it helpful to look at your study site from the viewpoints of as many different types of geographies as possible (e.g., biogeography, cartography, climatology, economic geography, geomorphology, historical geography, population geography, geography of recreation, tourism and sport, regional development and planning, remote sensing, transportation geography, urban geography, etc.).

As you are working on your projects, think about what you have learned from the readings for this course: What do geographers do? What kinds of questions do they ask? What techniques do they use to answer questions? You will then use these approaches to find out more about your study area.

I expect these projects to represent substantial effort on each of your parts, and I will be reading your work for both content and technical aspects. I have not set a minimum or maximum number of pages for your final document, but I offer possible page lengths below. A general guideline is to be as thorough yet concise as possible. Bring questions and comments about the project to me as they arise. You will work toward your final group project in stages:

Step 1 due 5 October: a description of what geographic realms you will study (1‑2 pages). In the description you submit as a group, highlight the perspectives that you will take and why you have chosen them. Indicate what geographical questions you wish to answer and how you plan to do so (your methods). Also describe who in your group will research each perspective and when you will meet as a group to consult, compile, and complete each part of the assignment (your timetable).

Step 2, due 19 October: an annotated bibliography of the references that you are using to answer your geographical questions (five sources per student, 3‑4 pages total). An annotated bibliography is a list of sources—using the notation I will describe in class—with a few summary sentences about each source. We will discuss an example during class. Each student is responsible for at least five sources, and you will put your references together into a bibliography for the group.

Step 3, due 16 November: draft of group project, including introduction written by group (1‑2 pages) and individually written sections (10 pages each). Although I expect that much of the work that you turn in as your draft will be text, I encourage you to be creative in the types of material that you incorporate and the ways in which you present your findings (e.g., maps, photos, graphs, etc.). In your group introduction, clearly define the focus of your group project and map out for the reader the individually written parts. Make sure that each of your individual sections contains a brief introduction that outlines the topics you will discuss and a more extensive conclusion section that discusses how your part relates to the project as a whole and to the larger themes in geography that we have read about and discussed this semester. I am looking for specific links to the readings, i.e., properly cited quotations and paraphrases that support your conclusions. Make sure that you end your sections with your own bibliography. I will return these drafts after Thanksgiving for you to revise with your group.

Step 4, due either 7 or 14 December: a detailed presentation of your particular area (10 minutes per group member). Think carefully about what is important to say to the class about your project. Most of you will not have time to share all of your research findings, so pick out the essential facts pertaining to your site. Visual aids such as overheads, blackboard outlines, and videos will be especially effective. The first person to present in a group should outline the various sections to follow, and each member should introduce and outline his/her section. Practice your presentation beforehand to ensure that you can establish eye contact and stay within your 10 minutes with time for audience questions. In hearing from each group, we will develop a mental picture of a larger area . . . a transect across campus. We will try to understand the spatial patterns of similarities and differences in the campus environment.

Step 5, due 14 December: final draft of entire group project (approximately 30 pages). Please submit your final draft with the November draft and my comments.

Group Project Assignment Handout

Name:

Debriefing on the process of writing collaboratively:

Very few of you raised your hand when asked by Kirsten Jamsen of the Writing Center whether you had worked on group writing assignments before. I’d like for you to take a few minutes to evaluate for yourself and for me the process of completing a collaborative writing assignment. The main question to answer is, “How does writing with others differ from writing alone?” After you have answered the following questions (which you will turn in to me), we will discuss as a group your various perspectives on this type of learning experience. Please continue your answers on the back of this page if you need more space.

Explain how the group paper took shape over time:

What was the hardest part of writing this paper?

From what phase of writing the paper did you learn the most? What did you learn?

What are the advantages of collaborative thinking and writing? What are the disadvantages of collaborative thinking and writing?

What are you still dissatisfied with in the draft of the group paper you turned in today? (Hint: Think critically about your project and about what you wish to revise for the final draft.)

What would you do differently if you could do the project and written paper again?

Students’ Responses

“What are the advantages of collaborative writing and thinking?”

• It’s nice to get different perspectives on how to solve a problem—when I get stuck, I can talk to one of my partners for assistance.
• You are given many different angles on the subject from viewpoints you yourself did not previously consider.
• You get many diverse perspectives on what is being researched, and more information is collected.
• Brainstorming is intensely enhanced …
• As we move into careers, we will see this idea of “group” be more relevant and it is important to know how to interact with each other on the same topic.
• Having help proofreading and discussing options.
• It has also helped tremendously to get an outsider to help with ideas [using the Writing Center for group conferences].
• Each person brings in strengths and knowledge about the topic that the other group members may not have.
• Spread the work load.
• Less individual time involved.
• You have other people to bounce ideas off of and you get different perspectives on what you wrote. It makes for a better paper because there are “editors.”
• Gives one an opportunity to hear different styles or ideas for writing and researching.

Biochemical Engineering – Team Research Projects

Team Project 1: Engineering Beyond Natural Boundaries

The chemicals of life include lipids, sugars, nucleic acids, and proteins, as you have encountered in your biology and biochemistry coursework and reading.  Today an active and growing area of research is to biochemically expand the repertoire of biological products and processes by use of non-natural building blocks.  For example, one may incorporate non-natural amino acids into proteins, non-natural bases into nucleic acids, or non-natural sugars into polysaccharides.  These examples will serve as topic areas for your group assignment.

Review the recent literature in your topic and prepare a group presentation on the topic**.  Address the following:

a) Why would anyone want to use non-natural building blocks in the synthesis of proteins, nucleic acids or polysaccharides? Give technological motivations.

b) What challenges does one encounter when using non-natural building blocks? Provide at least one specific example to show how this challenge has been overcome.

c) Describe how a specific non-natural product has been characterized and how its offer new properties or activities. What opportunities are opened?

d) Discuss the broader technological (engineering) challenges to making and applying such non-natural products.

**In-class group-work on Thursday, 4 Feb

Deliverables due on Thursday, Feb 11, during class:

• Title and Abstract, 300-500 words
• Group presentation to the class (10-12 min) + Q&A (3 min)
• Annotated bibliography of references used in the assignment. Annotations should be 1-2 sentence descriptions of how the specific reference was useful to you.  For examples of brief annotations, see cited reference lists in articles in Current Opinion in Biotechnology.

Team Project 2: Research Proposal

A broad goal of biochemical engineering is to apply chemical and biological engineering approaches to define and solve problems that impact human health, energy, agriculture, the environment and food. An aim of this course is to provide an opportunity for you to gain research experience as a member of a team.  Each team will:

• identify a societal need/problem, determine its magnitude, and quantify specifications for a solution to the problem.
• supply evidence that demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed solution. Evidence may be drawn from the literature, or theoretical or computational studies.  In addition, teams should propose relevant experimental or theoretical/simulation studies to demonstrate the feasibility of their idea.
• learn to work effectively as a member of a team and communicate your idea to your peers and to Prof. Yin

Each team will prepare a 10-12min presentation (plus 3 min questions), and a 12 page double-spaced proposal that describes a novel approach to address an important societal need. The project should be completely new, not based on previous project(s) you may have proposed for other classes or related to research being actively pursued anywhere, as detected by a keyword websearch. The 12 pages includes at 3500-word maximum that include all tables and figures.  The bibliography does not fall within the length limits. Each team will meet with Prof. Yin: 15 min team meeting to present and briefly discuss preliminary ideas (aim to meet before Spring recess).

Presentations & Written Proposals due on Tuesday, 3 May

Project Summary (1 page max)

The proposal must contain a summary of the proposed activity suitable for publication, not more than one page in length. It should not be an abstract of the proposal, but rather a self-contained description of the activity that would result if the proposal were funded. The summary should be written in the third person and include a statement of objectives and methods to be employed. It should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields and, insofar as possible, understandable to a scientifically or technically literate lay reader.

Project Description

The Project Description should provide a clear statement of the work to be undertaken and must include: objectives for the period of the proposed work and expected significance; and relation to the present state of knowledge in the field. The

Project Description should include: Specific aims (2 or 3, one page max), Research Strategy, Significance (background), Innovation (1 page max), Research Plan (addressing how each specific aim will be carried out)