News and Views
Research Biology 2015-2016
Science involves the discovery of new information. Many things, including the values of
society, personal beliefs, laws, politics, and economics can determine how new information is
used. In this assignment you will explore printed media and scientific data to see how that data
is being used and interpreted.
It will be easier to analyze and give your views on the article and related issues, if you
become a critical reader. After you select an article, decide if the information presented in the
article is biased. Is the author trying to persuade you to agree with his/her point of view? Look at
the people involved in the article: the writer, the researcher, the people funding the research—do
they stand to benefit from skewed data interpretation? Are they influencing how the research
data is being presented? What are the values and beliefs of these people? Look at how new
scientific data is collected and how it is used and developed within our society.
The Process:
1. Locate and read a recent article from a newspaper, magazine or the internet. The
article should be written within the last 6 weeks and should relate to a science topic
covered in biology. A list of due dates and topics will be given out along with this
assignment and posted on my website. Some places you might want to look for articles
include:
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The Washington Post
·
Science News Magazine
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The New York Times
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Time Magazine
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Discover
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The Washington Times
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Scientific American
·
Science Daily is not an option—I’ll explain why in class
These sources may be found in the library or on the internet. You do not need a copy of
the article to turn in with your review; however, you will need to properly reference the
article, as you would in a works cited.
2. Summarize the information contained in the article. The summary should be 2-4
paragraphs in length and should include the basic facts given in the article. The summary
should be about one half of the total length of the paper (single spaced).
3. Give your views about the article; your views will be unique, they will not be right or
wrong. Your reaction to the article should be supported with thoughtful reasoning and
explanations. Following are some points you might want to consider, but keep in mind
that they might not relate to all of the articles you choose.
·
·
Is the article related to topics covered in class?
Is the article biased in any way? Is the author trying to convince the reader to agree
with him/her?
Do your personal beliefs influence the way you think this information should be
used?
Will this information affect you or someone in your family?
Who is going to benefit from research in your article? Will all people have equal
access to this information? Will this new discovery benefit many people or just a
few?
Who is going to benefit economically from this research?
If a new technology is developed, will new laws need to be made to protect
citizens?
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4.
5.
The total length of the paper should be approximately one page, typed, 1.5 spaced in 12
pitch.
Credit the Author! Use a reference citation for the article just like one in a
works cited. The web address is not a proper citation! Use APA format.
Examples:
Hard copy articles:
Author. (date of publication). Title of the Article. Source. Volume (Issue). Page number.
Jones, K., & Day, J. D. (December, 2014). Discrimination of Two Aspects of CognitiveSocial Intelligence from Academic Intelligence. Journal of Educational
Psychology. 89(2). 486-497.
Online articles:
Benton Foundation. (September, 2015). Losing ground bit by bit: Low-income
communities in the information age. Journal of Socioeconomics.
http://www.benton.org/Library/Low-Income/two.html
6. Submit your paper to http://turnitin.com/ . Log in information will be given out in
class and posted on my web page.