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Final Project Once you have read the information provided on the Final Project, post a short description of your topic choice

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Final Project Once you have read the information provided on the Final Project, post a short description of your topic choice. Your answer should include: ? your main thesis or research question ? a brief outline of supporting points you will include ? how you will include numerical data ? the format you will use to present your project (A Word or PDF document are the best choices for this project type) The instructor must approve your research topic. Be sure to check back into the Discussion area to see that your choice has been approved before you begin you research. Description The Final Project is due at the end of this module. Your assignment must have a quantitative aspect—it must pertain to the course material and include information of a quantitative nature. Late work will be accepted with a reduction in grade. Notes: Your file is not considered submitted until the instructor has verified that it downloads and opens properly, and you have submitted your assignment to Turnitin.com. Remember that your file must be in one of the following formats: ? .doc ? .docx ? .pdf Note that this project must comply with the Liberal Arts Written Work Guidelines found on the Discussion page. Final Project Topic Decision, Part 1 This course fulfills the Liberal Arts Quantitative Literacy requirement. All courses fulfilling the Quantitative Literacy requirement require the completion of a Final Project. By the end of this module, you will need to decide on a topic and commit to it in the Class Discussion. The Final Project is due by the close of Module 13 and comprises 15 percent of your course grade. Late work will be accepted until the end of the semester, but your grade will be reduced by 35 percent. The Final Project is a presentation that you create and upload to the Class Discussion. The presentation must include information of a quantitative nature. No matter what you are majoring in, an ability to communicate and work with quantitative information will enhance your career. The goal of this project is to practice and improve that ability in the form of a research project. Your grade for this project does not depend on demonstrating math skills. Rather, the accuracy and clarity of quantitative communication are the most highly valued elements for this project. Being able to think critically and creatively and generate original material (whether it's text, images, graphics, or computer-generated media of any kind) are highly valued skills. Regardless of your major, these attributes are a necessary part of succeeding in the real world. There are three principal criteria for this presentation: 1. That you spend some time furthering your current math-related knowledge, understanding or skills. 2. That you present your knowledge and understanding, and/or demonstrate your skills in a professional manner. 3. Most importantly, that you include quantitative information. For example, any use of numbers, percentages, statistics, physical units, changing units, graphs, tables or diagrams (preferably that you make) should be labeled with the proper units. Use of scientific notation, ratios, any relevant formulas, statistics, or calculations are also ways to include quantitative information. The most important aspect of the quantitative information you include is that it supports your thesis, is integral to or in context of the research and that you reference and explain it. Final Project Topic Decision, Part 2 Choosing a Research Topic For the Final Project, you must choose a research topic that relates to any of the course content. One approach is to go further into something that we covered in the textbook or that was briefly covered in the modules. Although we have not yet reached Modules 8 to 12, you may choose a topic that related to those modules as well. The titles of these modules are: ? Module 8: Mental Health ? Module 9: Effects of Alcohol Use and Drugs on Health ? Module 10: Understanding Stem Cell Research and Gene Therapy ? Module 11: Infectious Diseases and the Immune System ? Module 12: Public Health and Sustainable Food Production List of Example Topic Ideas ? Research the nutritional effects, health effects, and history of a specific food, supplement, or phytochemical. ? Example: tea, caffeine, tannins, or soy-based foods ? Study a medication that is controversial in some way. ? Example: statins, antidepressants, or Ritalin ? Research the health effects of a synthetic sugar or other food additive. ? Example: saccharine, Splenda, aspartame, or hydrogenated oils ? Research a question related to a vitamin or mineral. ? Example: Does Vitamin E protect against oxidative stress? ? Explore the health effects of an environmental contaminant, additive, or technology that may be controversial. ? Example: BPA, fluoride in municipal water, link between cells phones and brain tumors ? Analyze a popular diet plan or a training plan. ? Develop a diet and/or exercise plan for a particular individual. ? Study a health condition or illness. ? Example: autism, ADHD, breast cancer, obesity, or diabetes ? Research a particular genetically modified food. Final Project Topic Decision, Part 3 One way to make sure your project meets the requirements for quantitative literacy is to include and discuss numerical data from other sources that supports your thesis. You may include relevant graphs, tables, or simply discuss the numbers from your source. For example, a student doing a research paper on the consumption of sugar and other sweeteners might choose to include the graph shown here. You may also find data in a table or list and create your own line, circle, or bar graph to include in your project. Graphs and tables such as these should be included in the narrative where they apply. The student should discuss the numbers in the graph and write about how the data support the point he or she is making. When referring to any numbers such as the concentration of a molecule or medicine, make sure to use the proper units and convert units if it applies to the topic. For example this student might write, "There are 180 mg of aspartame in a 12 oz. soft drink. An individual who drinks three soft drink containing aspartame per day would consume 540 mg of aspartame a day from soft drinks alone." A student doing a project or exercise would make sure to include the proper units as well. For example, he or she might write the following sentence, "The athlete’s resting heart rate was 56 beats per minute." rather than, "The athlete’s resting heart rate was 56." Yet another approach to making your project quantitative is to collect and analyze your own data. This could include designing a survey and analyzing the results. You could study peoples’ knowledge or opinions on your subject with this approach by asking questions such as, "Do you think GMO foods should be labeled?" or "Are you concerned about BPA in plastics?" Alternately, you could study peoples’ health-related behaviors with questions such as, “How many of the past three days did you eat breakfast?" Collecting and analyzing your own data on a subject can complement a research project well but in most cases will not suffice as a project unto itself without any additional research on the topic. You could design and present an exercise or healthy diet plan based on the quantitative concepts in this course. Lastly, you might choose to have your entire project based on testing your own hypothesis. Come up with a hypothesis and collect data to support or refute it. You can collect your own data either physically or by using the Internet. Then use Excel or a Google Documents spreadsheet to process the data. Statistical correlations are easy (and fun) to do if you are competent working with spreadsheets. You would then discuss your methods, and report and analyze your own results. Feel free to run other project design ideas you may have by your instructor and he or she will let you know if it is an approach that meets the goals of this project. Remember, any topic is fine as long as you use quantitative information as part of your communication. Ideally you will show that you understand the numbers you use by explaining them and how they relate to and support your thesis. Here are several examples of health-related quantitative data, so you can get an idea of how numerical data can be used to support a variety of topics that would apply to this course. Final Project? The Three Principal Criteria for Completing the Final Project When working on your Final Project, please keep these three main criteria in mind: 1. The first is that you spend some time furthering your current knowledge and understanding of course-related content. The emphasis should be on content that highlights quantitative information. 2. The second is that you present your knowledge and understanding in an approved format. This includes the parameters outlined in the Grading Rubric for this assignment as well as the Liberal Arts Written Work Guidelines. 3. The third and most important is that you integrate quantitative information into your presentation. This includes any use of numbers, physical units, changing units, charts or diagrams (preferably that you made yourself) labeled with the proper units and numbers, scientific notation or powers of ten, ratios, linear or exponential models, any relevant formulas, statistics, and calculations. List of Example Topic Ideas The following list suggests several Final Project topic ideas. Feel free to choose from this list or create your own! 1. Research the nutritional effects, health effects, and history of a specific food, supplement, or phytochemical. For example: tea, caffeine, tannins, soy-based food, blueberries 2. Study a medication or drug that is controversial in some way. Ideas: statins, antidepressants, Ritalin, alcohol or any psychoactive drug 3. Research the health effects of a synthetic sugar or other food additive. Such as: saccharine, Splenda, aspartame, or hydrogenated oils 4. Research a question related to a vitamin or mineral. For instance, does vitamin E protect against oxidative stress? 5. Explore the health effects of an environmental contaminant, additive or technology that may be controversial. Such as: BPA, fluoride in municipal water, or the possible link between cell phones and brain tumors 6. Analyze a popular diet or training plan. For example: the Atkins or South Beach diets 7. Develop a diet and/or exercise plan for a particular individual. 8. Study a health condition or illness. Ideas: autism, ADHD, breast cancer, obesity or diabetes 9. Research a particular genetically modified food. Like corn, soy, or wheat 10. Research the known functions of a particular neurotransmitter, hormone, or other biological molecule. If you're having trouble choosing a topic, you can always construct a report on any of the topics in that textbook that were not covered in this course. You can use the textbook as your first source, and then use web, journal, or print articles and other textbooks as additional sources. Specific Ways To Include Quantitative Data 1. Include and discuss numerical data already collected and analyzed in reference to your topic. You may include relevant graphs, charts or simply a discussion of the statistics. A. Example: 2. Refer to levels of a molecule or medicine using proper units. Convert units if applicable. A. Example: "There are 180 mg of aspartame in a 12 oz. soft drink. An individual who drinks three soft drink containing aspartame per day would consume 540 mg of aspartame a day from soft drinks alone. The advisable intake according to the FDA is 50 mg per kg of body weight a day. Therefore . . ." 3. Include data that you collected and analyzed on popular opinion or knowledge related to your topic. A. Example: Do you think GMO foods should be labeled? B. Example: Are you concerned about BPA in plastics? 4. Another approach is to have your entire project based on testing your own hypothesis. Come up with a hypothesis and collect data to support or refute it. You can collect your own data either physically or by using the Internet. Then use Excel or a Google Documents spreadsheet to process the data. Statistical correlations are easy (and fun) to do if you are competent working with spreadsheets. You would then discuss your methods, and report and analyze your own results.