Zoology

ACBS 160D: Human and Animal Interrelationships

 

Critical Perspective Taking

Term PaperInstructions

 

 

General Instructions

 

You will prepare a term paper on an issue concerning human-animal interrelationships [see Schedule for due dates]. In this paper you will develop alternative [pro and con] positions on the identified issue, taking into consideration different perspectives [e.g., from the perspective of a medical research, conservationist, ethicist, farmer, etc.]. Please know that our Teaching Team is there to support you! A specific Teaching Assistant [TA] is assigned to help you through the process of developing a well-crafted paper. The Term Paper project will have 3 stages of development:

 

• Stage 1: Outline [100 points]
  • You will first develop a detailed We recommend you meet and go over your outline with your TA, but this is optional. The outline will be graded and you will receive feedback. If you earn a grade lower than 70%, you will be required to meet with your TA and go over the Outline feedback to prepare for writing Term Paper version 1.
• Stage 2: Term Paper version 1 [200 points]
  • The feedback on the outline will guide you to successfully write your first version of the Term Paper. Put in your best effort–write it as if it is your final version. The more you do for your version 1, the more your TA will be able to help you! This Term Paper v.1 will be graded and you will receive feedback.
• Stage 3: Term Paper version 2 [200 points]
  • You will be able to incorporate the feedback of Term Paper v.1 into a revised, rewritten paper. Even with your best effort, you will likely make some mistakes, but making mistakes is part of learning and Gen Ed courses [like this one] recognize that students need the opportunity to make those mistakes without being penalized. Therefore, you will be given the opportunity to read the feedback given on Term Paper version 1, learn from your mistake, and submityour work that has been improved as Term Paper version 2. If your grade on Term Paper version 2 is higher, as we expect, then it will replace your previous grade.

 

To be clear we will only record the highest grade of these two Term Paper versions [and it is worth 20% of your course grade].  This way you can take the feedback from your Term Paper v1 and improve your grade for Term Paper v2. We expect each student to turn in both versions of the term paper.

 

 

 

Specific Instructions

 

• Topic: Please select one of the topics [see Term Paper Topics provided in D2L]

 

• Length: 6-10 text pages [must be at least 6 pages and no more than 10 pages]; Your Outline does not have a page length requirement.
  • not including Title page
  • not including References section
  • important graphs or illustrations may be included [with proper citation] but will not be counted toward the text page length

 

• Format Specifics:
  • double-spaced lines
  • 12pt font
  • 1 inch margins
  • page numbers [bottom right] on all pages following the title page [i.e., NOT on title page]
  • each section should begin with a heading [e.g., See template section headings]
  • References section of your paper should include at least2 peer-reviewed sources that are in bold See “References” section below with further explanation.

 

• Pro & Con Positions: Though you may have strong opinions and feelings supporting one side of the topic/question you selected, you will present both a pro and con positions on the topic.

 

• Different Perspectives: Think of all the possible perspectives that might answer the question in different ways. Put yourself in their shoes of different people and answer the topic question. Examples of different perspectives:
  • Animal welfare proponents
  • Animal rights advocates
  • Food security proponents
  • Ethicists, philosophers
  • National and local economic / employment interests
  • Educators
  • Medical researchers
  • Parents
  • Small business owners
  • Family ranchers or farmers
  • Large-scale agriculturalists /factory farmers
  • Wildlife managers
  • Conservationists

Think of2 different perspectives for the PRO position, and 2 different perspectives for the CONposition [see Term Paper Topics provided in D2L for an example topic with different perspectives.]

 

 

• References: provide at least2 peer-reviewed articles that supports bothpositions[1 for Pro and 1 for Con] in APA reference style
  • Watch the video posted in D2L on “What is a peer-reviewed article?”
  • Use the Library Tools [see top menu in D2L] to find resources, such as:
  • Library Tools tab also has “Citation Style Guides” which shows the APA style citation we require. There you will find a handy website called the Online Writing Lab  [OWL] which shows you the format for different kinds of references and how to do in-text citations: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/
  • Note: The entire paper is NOT in APA format, only the citation style and references format.
  • Your TA can also demonstrate some tools that will automatically format your References.
  • You are using the articles as support for one [or more] of the perspectives by summarizing the findings or relevant statistics.
  • You will probably use other sources of information such as magazine articles or websites. Make sure these are credible sources [i.e., they are based on evidence not just opinion]. If you are not sure about the reliability of a source, ask a librarian to help you assess the source.You will list all your sourcesin the references. But be sure to include at least 2 peer-reviewed articles for your paper.
  • In the References section of your paper, indicate one reference for the “PRO” position by showing it in bold font and adding this note after the reference “Note: This peer-reviewed reference was used for the PRO position.” Likewise, bold a peer-reviewed reference used for the “CON” position and add this text after it: “Note: This peer-reviewed reference was used for CON position.This notation allows the TA’s to verify that you have included a peer-reviewed article for both the Pro and Con positions.

 

• In-Text Citation:
  • For citing your sourceswithin the text of your paper, use in-text citations in APA format. See the “Citation Style Guides” above. For example: “Archaeological evidence suggests that the beginning of the human-dog mutualism began about 40,000 BP [Steklis & Steklis, 2018].”

 

• Plagiarism& Paraphrasing
  • Plagiarism is a form of cheating.Plagiarism is taking another person’s words or ideas and using them as if they were your own words or ideas. Plagiarism will not be tolerated—It can lead to failing the course or being expelled from the university!
  • You may not copy or use direct quotesfrom one of your sources or any another material for this paper. You must paraphrase or summarize the idea in your own words.[Using quoted text and providing the source of the quote is not plagiarism, since you are giving credit to the creator of the text. However, in this paper we want you to write the ideas in your own words, and provide the citation of where the idea came from.]
  • For the outline, paraphrase any ideas you might use later when writing the term paper
  • For the term paper, any evidence of plagiarism will result in a grade of 0 points, and any use of direct quotes with citation will result in a loss of -10 points.
  • Take this tutorial on how to avoid accidental plagiarism:

http://www.library.arizona.edu/tutorials/accidental_plagiarism/

 

 

• Assignment Delivery:Turn in the Outline or Term Paper to the Assignment folder in D2L by the due date/time [late papers will be penalized].

 

• File Format: Submissions must be in MS Word or PDF file format.

 

• Help: There are several sources of help for you— we encourage youto make use of
  • Think Tank Writing Center https://thinktank.arizona.edu/writing-center provides these helpful options for free:
    • In-Person 30 minute sessions
    • Online 45 minute sessions
    • Feedback Loop- upload your document for a tutor to review
  • Your Teaching Assistant can also help [see “Who is my TA?” in D2L under Contents->Term Paper section]

 

• Template:We have provided a template for your outline in D2L under Contents->Term Paper section. If you use the template and address all points, your outline will be well organized and complete. Use the section headingsas indicated in the outline, but you can add additional subheading if you think it helps the reader. Continue working from your developed outline to write your Term Paper.

 

• Punctuality: If your Outline or term Paper is submitted late to the Assignment folder, points will be deducted: