W3006   "01   Physiology                     Final Writing Assignment

 

Goal:

 You are expected to work in pairs.    You can either work together with a friend, choose two articles, read and discuss them together, and write both papers together.   OR you can each choose one article, write the paper, then exchange papers, add comments on each others’ papers, and rewrite your paper based on your partner’s comments.  

In either event, your grade will consist of the combined grade for the two papers, so take the collaborative nature of this seriously.

Working together with someone else gives you a chance to brainstorm about the ideas in the paper, to edit your writing, and to ensure that your work reflects logical thinking and that your arguments are clearly developed.   With two sets of eyes looking over the first draft, your final draft should have no vaguely worded sentences, spelling mistakes, or grammatical errors.  

If you don’t know anyone in the class you want to work with, you can start with finding one article that interests you, and then send me an email, eg, “I’m working on an article that asks whether drinking soda decreases bone density” and I’ll post those messages so someone interested in that topic can pair up with you.

 

 1.    Find a recent article in the popular press (1999-2001) that deal with an area of physiology we covered.    ie, anything on endocrine, reproductive, skeletal, immune, digestive, cardiovascular systems.   The article should be something that reports a new finding (eg, “Scientists find that chocolate prevents PMS”), not just a general health article on the topic (“Ten sure-fire ways to prevent PMS”).  

 A. You may find an article in a recent newspaper or magazine.   Tuesday’s Science Times, for example.  

 B.   Or you can find something by searching the databases of articles.   You may need to be on a campus computer to get free access to this resource: Follow one of these links:  

Columbia University > Libraries >  > Databases > General and Interdisciplinary > Newspaper Abstracts
Columbia University > Libraries  > Databases > General and Interdisciplinary > ProQuest Direct
Columbia University > Libraries  > Databases > General and Interdisciplinary > Reader’s Guide Abstracts

C.   Or you can look for online articles on various news sites, such as http://www.cnn.com or http://www.msnbc.com or http://www.abcnews.com or http://dailynews.yahoo.com and search through archived articles under Science or Health or Medicine.   If you look through some of the health-oriented sites that are less concerned with journalistic accuracy, then you are more likely to come up with an article that is less well designed, and therefore easier to critique. http://dir.yahoo.com/Health

 

Hint:   Although the newspaper article may sound interesting, you may find that the original research article is incomprehensible, or worse, unavailable.   So I strongly suggest that when you are looking for a newspaper article you don’t just take the first one, but   rather find 3 or 4 or 5 that sound interesting, then find the original research articles, and glance over them to figure out which one seems most accessible to you.

 

2.   Find the original research articles on which the newspaper articles are based.    Sometimes the name of the journal will be included in the article, other times you'll get just the name of the scientist.   Use Medline or Pubmed to find the article.   You may find the article online, or you may have to go to the library to get the article.   This should be a report of original research, not a review article.  Note:   when a newspaper article describes something that has just been reported at a conference, it may take a few months before those results are published in a scientific article, so the article may not be available yet.

 

3.   Read the original article.  Read the article, but take notes in your own words.  This will help you be certain that you understand what you're reading, and also help you avoid the more serious offense of plagiarizing.   Some hints on reading a scientific article.

4.   Write a critical review