GENERAL EDUCATION COMMON ASSIGNMENT

Note: This is the assignment that all professors teaching a section in the San Jacinto College Core Curriculum during fall 2014 will agree upon, teach, assign, assess and document in Blackboard. Submit one assignment per course to the Office of Vice Chancellor for Learning and Assessment. Due no later than February 7.

  1. TITLE & NUMBER OF THE COURSE: BIOL 1409 Biology for Non-Science Majors II
  1. TITLE OF THE ASSIGNMENT: A Can of Bull: Do Energy Drinks Really Provide a Source of Energy?
  1. GENERAL EDUCATION CORE OBJECTIVES TO BE ASSESSED WITH THIS ASSIGNMENT (List specific general education outcomes and any student learning outcomes):

General Education Outcomes:

A. COMMUNICATION SKILLS - Student will communicate ideas, express feelings and support conclusions effectively in written, oral, and visual formats.

B. CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS - Students will develop habits of mind, allowing them to appreciate the processes by which scholars in various disciplines organize and evaluate data and use the methodologies of each discipline to understand the human experience.

C. EMPIRICAL AND QUANTITATIVE SKILLS - Students will develop quantitative and empirical skills to understand, analyze and explain natural, physical, and social realms.

D. TEAMWORK - Students will consider different points of view and work interdependently to achieve a shared purpose or goal.

  1. DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT (as it would appear in your syllabus or class handouts)

BIOL 1409 Group Project Instructions

During BIOL 1409 this semester we will be instituting a group assignment that emphasizes team work and interpersonal communication. These skills are vital to success in the modern workforce; teams of people work together on projects in every possible field. It is better to learn these skills now before you have to learn them the hard way on the job.

For the Group Project you will form teams of 2-4 members. Each team member will assume one of the following roles:

  • Group Leader – Responsible for assigning tasks and keeping the group on target
  • Recorder – Responsible for taking notes during group meetings and keeping a written record of each team member’s duties and responsibilities
  • Communications – Responsible for group communications (via text, e-mail, phone, or other), including any correspondence with the instructor, and making sure everyone is kept informed of any new developments
  • File management – Responsible for maintaining the digital records of the group and keeping track of which version of any documents is the most recent or most complete
  • Progress Monitor – Responsible for understanding the assignment, making sure all parts will be answered, and making sure tasks are being completed in a timely manner

Note that none of these roles determine who will perform the various tasks involved in completing the assignment – it is up for the group to determine together how that will best be accomplished.

The group project will revolve around the case study “A Can of Bull”. Individual members of the team will receive grades based on the quality of work shown in answering questions of the case study as well as anonymous evaluation of their contributions to the team’s effort, as determined by their team members.

You and your team members must discuss and answer fifteen questions found on page 8 of the case study. These questions are worth 4 points each, and the following rubric will be used to evaluate your answer:

  • 0 = no attempt to answer
  • 1 = answer is not responsive to the question being asked
  • 2 = answer attempts to address the question, but the reasoning is faulty
  • 3 = answer offers a rational solution to part of the question but is incomplete
  • 4 = answer provides a full and adequate solution and there is an element of added value, e.g. a good follow-up question or an extraordinarily creative idea or solution.

If your team has two members, you must complete the data table for two energy drinks. If your team has three members, you must complete the data table for three energy drinks. If your team has four members, you must complete the data table for four energy drinks. Completing the required number of tables with complete data is worth up to 20 points.

Finally, one of the goals of this group assignment is to help you learn to work together as a team – science is collaborative! In addition, the ability to work constructively in a team is valued in all types of employment, even in non-science-related fields. This means part of your individual grade for this assignment will be determined by how well you collaborate with your teammates.

At the conclusion of the assignment, all groups’ members will fill-out an online assessment to determine how well their teammates contributed to the group’s activities. Part of this will be describing each member’s contributions, and part of it will include assigning “points” to each team member. These evaluations will be kept anonymous and confidential. Team members will learn how many points they earned in total, but will not be told who gave what points.

All team members will receive the same number of points for the answers to the questions and tables of the case study. These points are based on the quality of work done by the group as a whole. However, each team member can receive a different number of points for the teamwork portion of the project. The teamwork element counts for 20% of an individual’s cumulative project grade (for more information, see the grading rubric below).

A Can of Bull Grading Rubric

Criterion: / Points Possible: / Points Awarded:
Part I:
Question 1 / 4
Question 2 / 4
Question 3 / 4
Question 4 / 4
Question 5 / 4
Question 6 / 4
Question 7 / 4
Question 8 / 4
Question 9 / 4
Question 10 / 4
Question 11 / 4
Question 12 / 4
Question 13 / 4
Question 14 / 4
Question 15 / 4
Question Total: / 60
Part II: Required Tables / 20
Part III: Teamwork evaluation by group members: / 20
OVERALL TOTAL: / 100