BIOL 2420 CASE STUDY PROJECT ASSIGNMENT

BIOL 2420 CASE STUDY PROJECT: SPRING 2018

BIOL 2420 CASE STUDY PROJECT ASSIGNMENT

Your project will be to choose an organism and write a case study scenario using that organism to show how it can cause disease, complications, and how it is treated (as well as other requirements contained in the rubric). You will be researching the organism, creating the case study and presenting it in class at the end of the semester (science fair style).

ORGANIZATION and GETTING STARTED

Case studies are a great tool for the development of critical thinking skills that you will need as you become health care professionals. Writing an original case study will allow you to use your knowledge of microbiology to integrate presenting symptoms, diagnostic test results, epidemiological considerations and other information such as virulence factors, antibiotic mechanisms, and antibiotic resistance to determine the etiology of infection and determine a course of treatment.

For this assignment, you will write a case study over your chosen organism individually or in groups of two. Your case study must include a clinical scenario about a disease caused by your organism, showing your knowledge of the organism and its mechanisms of infection, virulence factors, etc. Listed in the rubric below are all of the topics that must be covered in your case study.

Sometimes, it is hard to cover certain topics in a doctor/nurse/patient scenario, such as PCR, or virulence factors, which are topics you would not normally discuss with patients. To allow you to incorporate that type of information in your scenario, you will also include 5 questions and answers about the case study (letting you go outside of the scenario to ask questions like, “why did the doctor choose this treatment over another?” or “what known virulence factor for this organism could be causing the patient’s symptoms?” The 5 questions should be well thought out questions and must include complete answers to each question. You can also use the questions to bring up topics your scenario does not cover (ie, if your organism can cause different signs/symptoms in other cases, or different virulence factors, etc). Your questions must be thought provoking and your answers must be thorough to get full credit for this portion of the project. Each question and answer is worth 4 points, adding up to a substantial 20 points of your grade.

FORMATTING (15 points)

Standard tri-fold poster (48 x 36 ONLY)                                                                  2 points

TITLE/NAME(s) visible on front                                                                                 2 points

At least 5 visual aids/graphics that aid in understanding the                          5 points

topic — no clip art/crafty display, etc

All text must be typed, NO handwriting on poster at all                                2 points

Organized/neat/clean/PROFESSIONAL                                                                  2 points

No uneven edges, tape/glue showing, etc

Correct grammar, spelling, punctuation                                                                 2 points

Correct formatting for organism names

TOPIC CONTENT (65 points)

Appropriate clinical scenario for your organism                                                  5 points

Clear and organized, readable on poster                                                                               5 points

Included topics:

Signs and symptoms                                                                                       5 points

Route of transmission                                                                                    5 points

Diagnosis                                                                                                             5 points

Treatment                                                                                                          5 points

Complications                                                                                                    5 points

Vaccine and/or preventative measures                                                 5 points

At least 2 virulence factors: mechanism must be                               10 points

explained in words (toxins, adhesins, drug resistance, etc)

BONUS: explain up to 2 more virulence factors over the                 2 points EC

                                ones included above

5 appropriate questions with complete answers               (3 points each)                  15 points

Thought provoking questions, not simple recall

                                Use questions to bring up important topics not in the

scenario. I expect substantial answers (at least 1 paragraph);

this is an important part of the project

CITATION OF SOURCES (20 points)

Uses at least 5 scholarly sources                                                                                                10 points

Journal articles, reputable health care website such as

                                Mayo Clinic, or a foundation for the disorder with

                                cited sources. NCBI is a good start but it is a search engine

                                not a source. No Wikipedia.

At least 2 sources are from peer-reviewed scientific journals                      4 points

All sources cited correctly using APA style

Works cited on back of poster in APA style                                           2 points

                                APA in-text citations                                                                                       2 points

                                Citations on visual aids/graphics (unless you created them          2 points

                                yourself, they must be cited as well).                                                       —————

100 points (+2 bonus)

SOURCES: BIOL 2420 CASE STUDY PROJECT ASSIGNMENT

A good starting point for your project are our class powerpoints and your textbook.  Your book will have more extensive coverage of the organism than I can cover in class. Another good starting point for lots of information is the Centers for Disease Control (). You may also want to look at other public health sites at the county, state, and world level. BIOL 2420 CASE STUDY PROJECT ASSIGNMENT

A good place to start looking for journal articles is:   There are many different links to explore on this site but remember it too is only an aggregation of information. Each particular page/resource you use should be properly cited within and you should use those citations for your project, not the website in general. It is not acceptable to cite the NCBI search result/abstract as your source. You must go forward from there and get to the original research paper and cite that. If you can’t get access to the full text of the research paper, you should not use it as a source.

Finally, sometimes asking Google and Google Images is a really good strategy to get what you want. You may want to start there and find diagrams and graphics and then start to develop information around them, always making sure that the source of information is reliable. You can get lost in Google so you have to learn to move on if it does not seem easily understandable. Be careful and skeptical most of the time on sources.

You should not use a magazine or newspaper such as New York Times or USA Today as a source. They are only reporting the information, not the scientists who did the work. If they are a reputable source they will often give enough information for you to find the scientist who wrote the paper and the scientific source. Most researchers these days have a webpage where you can access their publications (especially if you have a hard time accessing them on the open internet). BIOL 2420 CASE STUDY PROJECT ASSIGNMENT

You should not use doctor/clinic webpages as a source, as anyone can make a webpage. If they are a good doctor/clinic they will have publicly cited their sources as well. It is OK to use a reputable medical information webpage like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, WebMD, UpToDate and the like but sites like these should be considered less important than journal articles and the CDC or WHO. If you are unsure if a source is OK, ask me.

Wikipedia should never be cited as a primary source. However, a good Wikipedia page should have properly cited sources that you can access by clicking on the footnote or at the end of the article. These may or may not be acceptable sources, but you can use your judgment from there.

Finally, I want you to look back at the rubric and see the importance I have placed on citing sources correctly using APA style. I can’t tell you how many times a good project has gotten an average grade because of mistakes here. Be particular about the citations and ask for help from me or the writing center on how to cite sources.

For more help with APA style visit the following links:

 

			make sure you check APA, not MLA!

It is also important to remember that your sources should be cited in APA style, printed and pasted on the back of the poster. You should cite every source you use. If you use my powerpoint, if I have not put a link to an external source, you should cite the book, not me.

In addition to having a works cited page, within the text on the front of the poster you should be including in-text citations. For example, if you list a bunch of signs and symptoms you get from the powerpoint or textbook, the in-text citation should be with your list (author, year) and the full citation should be on your works cited page on the back.

Unless you have created the visual aids/graphics yourself, these also need an in-text citation with the graphic on the front of the poster and a full citation with your works cited. It is preferred to have all citations listed in alphabetical order, whether it is for the text or the graphics (ie, don’t make separate lists). BIOL 2420 CASE STUDY PROJECT ASSIGNMENT

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.