Write and Post your Opinion Column. It should be a 1000 word editorial-style piece, based on the following information:
Intro: Come up with a catchy title and a “hook” to start your column – your goal is to start your column with a statement or a short paragraph that will draw your readers in. What are the essential attributes of the topic, and why should readers care? Try to find an exciting way to hint at the story to come, without giving the whole thing away upfront.
Body: Succinctly explain the research in your column. Who are the authors of the study? Where are they based? What were they studying? What led them to their current work? What were the main results? Explain any scientific definitions or concepts that most general science readers would not understand. Now interpret the study. Put the issue into context for your readers.
Conclusion: What conclusions do you draw as a result? Based on what you’ve learned so far, what are the implications of this research?
I highly recommend that you first type your draft Opinion Column in Microsoft Word (onQ will time out after 1 hour and doesn’t recognize typing as ‘activity’). It may also help you to refer to the marking rubric when considering how to structure the content of your Opinion Column. When you are happy with what you have written, cut and paste your draft Opinion Column into the forum.
Post (50%): Show me you’ve thought deeply about the article. Summarizing is important, but to achieve Level 5 you need to go beyond that. Demonstrate that you understand the complexities of the research and why this research matters. For example, I’ve often read, “this research on Canada geese migration is important because we need to understand how climate change is affecting animals”. That’s true, but it really doesn’t show any depth of thought. Instead, you might discuss how changing climates have already altered their food chain/migration habits and further repercussions. If you answer the questions “How? Why does this matter? Who cares?” then you’re on the right track.
Comments (30%): You must post on TWO fellow students’ Opinion Columns. The posts need to be more than “Hey John, great ideas, I like the approach you’ve taken with your post.” Instead, you need to extrapolate on WHY you like the idea and further push the conversation. If it helps, imagine those awkward conversations we’ve all had where someone says something that drives the conversation to a dead end, where you can’t really respond in any way that digs deeper. Try to avoid that. Your comment should itself be respond-able. Aim for around 300 words but the word count isn’t strict.
Style and Clarity (20%): A significant and important part of reading/writing/interrogating scientific literature is knowing and making reference to OTHER literature. That’s why this section is worth 20% of your mark.
a) I am EXPECTING you to reference literature in your original post with at least one scientific paper. (NOTE: citing literature is not necessary for the peer comment portion, although it may help bolster your comment.)
b) The reference needs to be a scientific paper, not a magazine/newspaper article.
c) There is certainly an art to citing literature: it needs to be relevant and purposeful. This following is an example of a bad citation: Prior studies have demonstrated that Canada geese fly really far during migration (Smith, 2020). This is a poor citation because 1) Smith certainly didn’t discover this in 2020, it’s been known for a long time, and 2) it’s common knowledge so it doesn’t need to be cited at all. If it was citing a specific distance which is new research that was only found in 2020, then it would be an appropriate citation. The take-home message about citations is to make it purposeful and supportive, it should contribute to your argument and not just be there because it’s an assignment requirement.
d) Please cite your references IN TEXT. That means you put the (Author, Year) at the end of the sentence you are citing. Then at the bottom of your post put the full citation with the journal, article title, volume, etc. It doesn’t matter the reference format the bottom, it just needs to be present and complete.
choose one paper:
https://doi-org.proxy.queensu.ca/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0336