This is just a summary. READ the complete instructions here
Biology/Health Science majors will perform literature research to present a review
of the biology of a human disease, detailing four areas:
Environmental Biology/Science/Studies majors may choose to do the disease overview project, or they may choose to focus on a current environmental issue and summarize the solution options currently being discussed/implemented, as long as their topic is not covered
as part of any Ethical Issues presentation.
1. Unique disease or environmental issue topic uploaded to Canvas by October 31st. (10 points)
2. Literature Search/Annotated bibliography (WITHOUT AI, can use Zotero) due Monday, November 17th. (30 points)
Identify at least 2 (but not more than 5) relevant peer-reviewed journal articles for each major point, list these under the major point title in an annotated bibliography. The annotations should summarize the main points of each article. Non-peer-reviewed articles may be included as well, serving as supplemental information.
For a biological disease:
The causative agent of the disease
The biochemical mechanism by which the disease results
How the individual is affected by these molecular events of the disease, including a description of current treatments/cures available
How the disease agent(s) and their symptoms affect the population
For an environmental issue:
The current state of the environmental issue
The biological and/or physical mechanism(s) that impact this issue
How the environment is affected by the particular issue (including impact on us), both now and projected into the future
What current approaches are being used or considered to mitigate the issue
3. Paper due December 12 start of class (200 points)
The introduction, history, and conclusion are to be written exclusively by the student based on your research.
The main sections of the paper are to be written primarily using an AI content generator(s). Ai is selected by the student (some suggestions include Perplexity, Undermind, Claude, or Gemini, as they provide references for their output).
To produce the paper, the student should start with the first major point and their bibliography as the prompt. They will document this process in a Word, Google Doc, or PDF file titled “AI Report”, and will start with the AI generator employed, then list the prompt used. The AI response SHOULD NOT be included in the AI Report –it should be saved as the start to your paper. BUT you can’t stop at one prompt – you MUST follow up with a request for further refinement (like “are there other sources that should be used?” or “are there other aspects of this topic that should be included?”). The secondary prompt is also to be included in the AI Report (and any subsequent prompts as well), again NOT including the AI response, which is saved separately
Once this process is completed for the first section, the student is to make an appointment to review the results with a librarian, who will provide suggestions for improvement – see https://libguides.grace.edu/BIOSeniorSeminar/appts to make an appointment.
Email both the AI Report and your first section content to the librarian before the meeting. After the meeting, take a selfie with the librarian and include that in your AI Report at the end of your first section results.
Using the suggestions from your meeting, repeat the AI writing process for the remaining 3 sections of your paper, logging the AI generator used and the prompts by adding them to your AI Report, and compiling the output in your paper.
IMPORTANT: once you have all the sections compiled, go through the report carefully and make final edits to ensure it is work you are willing to stand behind – don’t just trust the AI output blindly. Any final AI assistance (using Grammarly, for example) should be included in the AI Report. The paper and the separate AI report are to be submitted by the December 12th due date.
4. 12-15 minutes Presentation due by 8 pm the night before your presentation (100 points).
Locate at least 8 recent journals articles (usually within the last 5 years) dealing with your topic. Articles must be cited properly and relevant to the topic. Most likely you will have to locate and read more than 8 articles.
No matter which citation style you use, your professor requires a Persistent/ Permanent URL in the bibliography.
Groups of 3-4 students will choose a current ethical issue with a biological/environmental basis from a provided list (other topics are welcome but must be approved by the instructor).
Include:
Range of Views concerning the issue that are held within the broad group of Christendom (ranging from liberal to fundamentalist).
Also investigate specific views held by a secular humanist and a Christian with a Biblical worldview.
