| NS121 |
Human Biology: Selected Topics in Medicine |
NOVEMBER 2008 ASSIGNMENTS
Check the web site
each week as the assignments page is updated.
PLEASE WORD-PROCESS ALL WRITTEN
WORK YOU HAND IN.
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| DATE DUE |
ASSIGNMENT (blanks
will be filled in when we see where you are in the case solving
process) |
| Nov
3
Monday
<top> |
Assignment #25 |
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- Turn in a substantial revision
of your analysis of Article #3 that incorporates
suggestions from your reviewers as well as additional
insights you gained from reading your first draft."
Mark this as Article #3, version 2
REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR PREVIOUS DRAFT WITH THE COMMENTS
OF YOUR PEER EDITOR AND OUR COMMENTS AS WELL AS A COPY
OF THE ARTICLE ITSELF.
- If you turned your first draft in late and haven't
gotten all the feedback from your editors yet, you
can turn this in late--drop it off by Wednesday morning
in Merle's mailbox in the Lizare Lounge.
- WHEW!!!
You've completed all the assignments for the semester except for organizing and
revising your final paper, and now you can really dig into the next big phase
of your final paper that is due before you leave for Thanksgiving break.
After that, it's just revisions and polishing of that paper so it will really
be a polished piece of work. The only related assignment is to prepare a 10 minute
talk about that paper, but we'll give you lots of guidance about that when the
time comes.
Some of you may still have to find one more article to reivew for your paper,
and for most of you we will be recommending more reading that will help you understand
your topic better. But that work will be individually assigned and designed to
help move you along on your paper.
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Class Activities
- About 20 minutes of class today will be a discussion
with the Rashi design team from UMass.
- The rest of the activity is a step in helping you know
how to write about data in your articles for your final
paper.
- Group work: QMDC analysis of 2 Figures from a primary
article:
You will be assigned two graphs or tables
to work on for 30 minutes. The work you do today will
be handed in at the end of class on Friday (that way
you won't have to do it as homework). Each
person should write a QMDC for each article, even though
you will work in groups to figure things out.
Include your
name and the full citation of the article that contained
the data you wrote about.
Answer to the best of your ability, the questions listed
for the two you work on. You are being given the title
and citation of each paper and one table or graph that
was in that paper. From that, we're asking you to infer
a lot about the study, so have fun playing with these
puzzles.
- A few helpful hints for reading statistical notations:
In
the column heading that looks like it says p squared,
that little
"2" to the right of the p is really a footnote indicator,
not a "squared" sign.
OR means "odds
ratio." This is used when comparing
the effect of a condition (like eating leafy green vegetables)
on the risk of getting breast cancer. An odds ratio of "1" is
arbitrary put on one (control) condition, and the
other conditions are either fractions of or multiples
of that. So if the odds ratio is 0.73, that means
the risk of breast cancer in that group is 75% of
what it was for the control condition. So that condition
was associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer.
If the odds ratio is 1.35, that means the condition
showing that results ws associated with an increase
risk of breast cancer.
In the graph with the dots all over the place with a
few lines, look for correlations between two conditions.
If the correlation was perfect, the dots would all be
arranged in a straight line that was at a 45 degree angle
to the graph's axis. That is called a correlation coeffecient
of 1. Sometimes it is written as r = 1. If the data points
are randomly scattered and show no pattern, then the
correlation coeffecient r = 0. Usually it is somewhere
in between, so you'll use other means to determine if
the correlation is statistically significantt.
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| Nov
5
Wednesday
<top> |
Assignment # 26
ADVISING DAY |
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- Be sure to sign up to see your advisor this week.
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Class Activities
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| Nov
7
Friday
<top> |
Assignment # 27 |
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- Check
the help sheet on how
to write final papers.
- Final paper assignments.
- Introduction. (3-4 pages +
bibliography)
Develop the short paragraph you wrote earlier
about your interest in a topic, and fullly address
the following questions and conventions:
- What is it that you are interested in and
why is it interesting to you?
- What questions or debates or issues are
being discussed in this field? This is the
place to talk about a lot of the things that
interest you and that you think are important
but that you won't have time to address fully
in the paper.
- Which of these questions are you going
to address in some detail in your paper?
- How are you going to structure your paper
to address the question you're going to focus
on. (Say here something about the background
section you are including and the nature
of the articles you will analyze; you might
add how you expect to conclude the paper--we'll
talk in class about strategies for doing
this).
- Include all through your text citations
to material that you read that led to these
interests.
- Include the latest version of your bibliography
and start to use full, standard bibliographic
conventions (we'll help with this)
- Data analysis. Since we've
spent several classes now going over how to write
analytically about graphs and tables, we'd like
you to apply this to two of the Figures you are
going to discuss in your paper. Choose two Figures
that have numbers and some kinds of statistical
analyses in them. If you're not sure which to
use, show them to us (earlier) and we'll help
you choose.
Use your own best language to talk about the
statistical analysis, and if you're not quite
certain you're saying it correctly, indicate
what part you think is most confusing. If
we can figure out what you don't understand,
we can give you some help.
For instance, use language
like this: "They
showed that the difference between
the means for (whatever two points
are being compared) was statistically
significant. The reason you can
say that is that the p value was
less than 0.05. What that means
in common sense language as I understand
it is....,"
LEARNING GOAL: YOUR WORK
ON THIS ASSIGNMENT IS ONE OF THE
THINGS WE'LL LOOK AT IN ASSESSING
PROGRESS YOU'VE MADE ON USING QUANTITATIVE
INFORMATION.
- Article #4 (if necessary). Write
an analytical summary of Article #4 unless you
already have 3 article summaries written that
you will use in your final paper.
This should also be a primary article that you
found as a possible resource for your final paper.
Bring two copies and a copy of the article itself
to class to exchange with your editing partner.
- LEARNING GOAL: REMINDER
THAT YOUR PROGRESS IN WRITING YOUR FINAL PAPER IS
ONE OF THE THINGS WE'LL LOOK AT IN ASSESSING PROGRESS
YOU'VE MADE ON FOUR OF THE LEARNING GOALS:
1. Learn to read and interpret intellectual or artistic
works.
(your analysis of primary articles that has progressed
all through the semester should show in your final
paper how your analytical reading of has improved)
2. Write critically and analytically.
(check the rubric for
details of what we'll look for in all aspects of this
writing)
3. Understand quantitative methods of analysis
(sensible and analytical use of statistical information
used to analyze data in tables, charts, and text of
primary articles; appropriate use of the language of
statistics in writing your article analyses)
4. Conceive and complete project-based work
(Finding a topic and finding appropriate primary references
is the first big step in completing a project. That's
the part you're working on now, and getting a strong
start on a topic as your work through improving your
analytical reviews will help the rest fall into place.)
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Class Activities
- Finish up QMDC exercise and turn it in.
- Article summaries, citations/voice, background
work, and statistics--how to start pulling
together all this work for your final paper.
Have you made any progress?
How come we keep finding things for you to improve and
how many revisions are you going to write? "Will
I ever get it right?"
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| Nov
10
Monday
<top> |
Assignment
# 28
Spring Term Preregistration begins today
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- Final Paper assignments (a variation on a text
Study Questions assignment).
Instead of answering
a list of questions, write the first draft
of the background section of your final paper. Push
yourself a little. Don't just skim over things you
don't understand or use words you don't understand.
If your answers are a little weak, that will give
us a clue to help you understand that material better.
Find some diagrams to include in this section that
will help you explain how certain organs, tissues,
or cellular processes work.
If you'd like help to figure out which chapter (or
other source) would be most helpful for you, check with one
of us. We will suggest further reading or work on that chapter
after we read the work you did on this one. Remember
to include a full bibliographic citation to any sources you
use and to cite those sources in your text.
- A bit more statistics help
Bring one of the articles you've been working on
that has graphs or tables in it. We'll ask you
to write--in class today--a QMDC of one or two
of those Figures. You should finish the class today
with a good draft of something that will be incorporated
into your final paper.
- BRING ANY GRAPHS OR CHARTS YOU ARE USING
IN YOUR PAPER TO GET HELP ABOUT HOW TO WRITE ABOUT
THE INFORMATION IN THEM AND THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS.
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Class Activities
- Merle and Fatemeh will give a QMDC on 2 of the Figures
you have been working on in class. The point it to model
what we want you to be doing for at least 2 figures in
your final paper.
- Individual work: write a QMDC on one or two of the Figures
in one of the articles you have reviewed. We will help--so
use us as resources. You should end class today with a
good draft of something that you will use in your final
paper.
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Nov
12
Wednesday |
| Assignment
# 29 3rd Floor Open |
|
- Final paper assignment
1. Turn in an updated bibliography of resources you
are using for your paper so far. Format these as well
as you can in the formal citation style suggested
here
that you will use in your final version. That will
allow us to point out refinements you can make for
the draft you will hand in next week before Thanksgiving.
2. Turn in one other part of your paper that will
show progress you've made.
- For help with understanding statistics in the articles
you are reviewing, check this "handout"
on data analysis.
- Bring in a survey of one day of your food intake.
Try to keep at least approximate records of amount
as well as identification of food.
Here are some suggestions for how to approximate
amounts:
- 1 cup = fist or baseball
- 1/2 cup = single scoop of ice cream
- 1 teaspoon = fingertip
- 1 tablespoon = last segment of thumb
- 3 oz. cooked meat = size of a deck of cards
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Class Activities
- The Food Processor: Playing with nutrition: analyze your
own diet for fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and
minerals.
- Group work: construct posters to instruct the rest of
the class about the molecular structure and digestion/absorption
of your favorite nutrient.
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| Nov
14
Friday
<top> |
| Assignment
# 30 |
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- Final paper assignment
Follow Assignment #267and hand in one more
part of your paper (either a revision or new section).
What this means is that by now, each of you is at
a slightly different point in working on your paper,
and it doesn't make sense to give you all the same
assignment. So you should turn something in--large
or small--to get a bit of feedback that will help
you move along in yourpaper.
Review the help
sheet on how to write final papers.
This is generic (it doesn't apply only to this course),
so you might find parts of it helpful for other papers
you are writing.
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Class Activities
- Jamie Moody (TA, EMT) will talk about the Hampshire EMS
and how you can be involved and also about the Gene Cloing
Jan term course.
- Poster session Part I: Favorite nutrients and favorite
FoodPro surprises!
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| Nov
17
Monday
<top> |
Assignment
# 31
Last day to drop classes with a Withdrawal (instead of
a No Eval) |
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| |
Class Activities
- Poster session Part II: Favorite nutrients and favorite
FoodPro surprises!
- REFRESHMENTS (with nutritional information).
- Now that you've got most of the pieces of your paper
started, we'll give you some fine points about organizing
and polishing the first complete draft of your final paper
(that is due before you leave for Thanksgiving). Talk with
your editing partner about exchanging drafts with them
as well as turning them in to us.
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| Nov
19
Wednesday
<top> |
| Assignment
# 32 |
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-
Turn in a complete draft of your final paper
BEFORE YOU LEAVE FOR THANKSGIVING. We will
get it back to you next Wednesday with our comments
so you can have time between Thanksgiving and the
end of the term to work on your substantial revision.
Switch copies of your draft with your editing partner
if you wish. This isn't required, but a number of
you suggested this might be helpful--especially
if you are working on similar topics.
- You MUST turn in an abstract on Monday after
Thanksgiving. Please submit this assignment
on-line (in an email). Check last year's abstracts
to see what format to use.
Make sure all your work is
up to date and all your assignments handed in BEFORE you
leave for Thanksgiving Break.
Leaving without giving us a copy of your
paper is not an option!
We have been flexible about
other deadlines, but we aren't about this one.
After Thanksgiving all your homework time (for
this course) will be focused on two things:
- doing additional reading and consulting with us
that is necessary to write a substantial revision
of your paper
- preparing your final class presentation
- Check here
to see where your name is on the preliminary program.
If you want to edit the title, e mail Merle and give
her the corrected title.
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Class Activities
- Finish nutrition group presentations
- Short discussion about final presentations; Q&A about
final papers.
- Small group and individual appointments about final papers
and presentations.
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| Nov
21
Friday
<top>
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Assignment # 33
DAY IN THE LAB |
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- Even if you aren't teaching or helping with running
Day in the Lab, please stop by and observe in this
building between 9 am and 1:00. It's a Hampshire institution
and something you should know about (and maybe help
next time).
- Remember that a full draft of your final
paper is due BEFORE you
leave for Thanksgiving.
Do not leave town without giving us something
to read, no
matter how patched together it may seem to you.
We'll talk about this in class today.
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Class Activities
- TODAY IS DAY IN THE LAB!!!!!
If you didn't sign up to do something, come anyway
as an observer.
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| Nov
24
Monday |
Assignment # 34 |
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- A FULL DRAFT OF YOUR FINAL PAPER is due BEFORE you
leave for Thanksgiving. We will accept these as late
as tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4 pm--but no later!
Do not leave town without giving us something to
read, no matter how patched
together it may seem to you.
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Class Activities
- Writing the abstract of your paper. It's due on
Monday after Thanksgiving.
- Bring any questions you have about your
paper or your talk.
- While you work, Fatemeh and Merle will hold consultations
about any questions.
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| Nov
26
Wednesday
<top> |
| NO
CLASS TODAY |
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- Enjoy the holiday
- No assignments due until Monday Dec 1 when
you should e mail your abstract to Merle.
Check the abstracts for
last year's talks to get an idea about what abstracts
look like. It should set out briefly what your topic
is and the topic of one research article you will talk
about in detail.
- Check here to
see where your name is on the preliminary program. If
you want to edit the title, e mail Merle and give her
the corrected title.
- Also note that many of you are assigned to act as moderator,
timer, or the person in charge of response forms. Look
ahead to see if you have one of these jobs. If so, you
also will need to arrive by 8:45 am on the day you are
helping to get ready for the talks to begin.
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|
| Nov
28
Friday
<top> |
No
assignment due today
THANKSGIVING BREAK |
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- Enjoy the holiday
- No assignments due until Monday Dec 1 when
you should e mail your abstract to Merle.
Check the abstracts for
last year's talks to get an idea about what abstracts
look like. It should set out briefly what your topic
is and the topic of one research article you will talk
about in detail.
Or, check this year's abstracts as
they come in.
- Check here to
see where your name is on the preliminary program. If
you want to edit the title, e mail Merle and give her
the corrected title.
- Also note that many of you are assigned to act as moderator,
timer, or the person in charge of response forms. Look
ahead to see if you have one of these jobs. If so, you
also will need to arrive by 8:45 am to help get ready
for the talks to begin.
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<top>
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Assignment
# 31
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- E MAIL
AN ABSTRACT OF YOUR FINAL PAPER TO MERLE. IF YOU'RE
NOT SURE HOW TO WRITE IT, CHECK THE LINKS IN THE THE
PAST FEW ASSIGNMENTS TO SEE SAMPLES.
PREPARATION
FOR GIVING FINAL TALKS: DO NOT MISS THIS CLASS!
BE ON TIME!
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Class Activities
Final
paper, self evaluation, and portfolio, due
by December 15 (no later!)
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| GO
TO DECEMBER ASSIGNMENTS
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