The whole purpose of this course is to give students some experience with writing about a topic of THEIR CHOICE. Those listed in the syllabus are only examples. At least 1/2 of what students write about are not in that list, rather they are selected because they have an interest in the topic.
Topic selection is a timely manner is very important, especially for the SUMMER term, where getting finished on time is difficult. The topic needs to lend itself to finding science-based papers with information to write about. It’s nice to pick a topic where references are available that contains both quantitative and qualitative information (e.g., numbers etc. as well as just concepts and principles). Also important is to focus on a portion of a larger topic so that the paper doesn’t get too big. For example, if one was to write about Salmonella (a hugely broad topic), you could focus on any of several subtopics such as its: Biology, Salmonellosis, Role in a particular food, Microbiological techniques for Salmonella, Significance in world health, Analytical methods, etc. If you happen to focus on the controversial issues of a topic, please be aware that you must present an unbiased evaluation of both sides of the issue. You might like to deemphasize the controversy and focus on the scientific documentation of both sides of the issue.
Where do you find references? Using the internet resources are probably best and easiest, but you must be EXTREMELY careful that the reference is reliable, not just someone’s opinion. You must also get all the details as the to the internet site, when it was accessed etc. to put into your reference list. Get the authors name if at all possible and use it to help identify the citation. Many students utilize KSU DCE office’s help in getting library copies of articles. Details are in the course syllabus.
Papers vary in length, often 5 (too short) to 30 (too long) pages. Length is not as important as QUALITY OF CONTENT. Generally 12 to 15 pages of text (plus the cover and reference pages) is average. References should be cited in the text in a manner similar to that done in the paper sent with the syllabus. Please do not use footnotes. For information from the WEB you need to give a citation that can be directly linked to the material. THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF DOCUMENTING YOUR SCIENTIFIC FACTS, FIGURES, AND IDEAS IS FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO BE ABLE TO TRACE YOUR INFORMATION AND RETRIEVE REFERENCES THEY WANT.
Perhaps the best advice I can give you besides spending some time on an outline, is to review the suggestions for the paper in the course materials. It is suppose to be a SCIENTIFIC paper, not some newsy magazine article. It should give you an opportunity to practice some of your knowledge of the science of food by incorporating into your “story” both quantitative data as well as the qualitative description of the topic. When ever possible, work in some of the pertinent science for the point you want to make in the text or as tables and/or figures. Again, for technical articles your readers MUST be able to tract back your facts and figures to a particular reference, so be sure to check the sample paper in the course materials to see how they cite references.
Please submit manuscript and Power Point to me (not DCE) directly via an email attachment of Word and Power Point files. Start the file name with your last name, first name_short title_FdSci 500_semester and year.
Please be sure to use continuous line numbering – see sample paper. This helps a lot during the critique and if you need to make edits, additions, deletes etc. It is not uncommon that I give students the opportunity to revise their papers (if necessary) after my first evaluation (if there is enough time remaining in the semester). Often students can correct some mistakes and improve their grade. Since it takes time for me to evaluate the papers and possibly ask for some revisions, it works best if you can get the paper to me 3 to 5 weeks before the semester ends. If your paper arrives at the end of the semester, I may have to give you an INCOMPLETE, and then you can finish it up after the semester ends.
Turn in manuscripts and Power Points anytime you have them done, but NOT BEFORE you have proof read the paper several times and have “spit and polished” the paper as much as possible before sending. The Power Point presentations does not have to include ALL details listed in the paper – rather is should be a NEAT outline/prompter for an oral presentation.
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