Extra credit essay - Microbiology lab

• This extra credit assignment is worth maximum of 5% to be added to your final overall grade, but the precise amount you get is determined by the grade you receive for the essay (e.g. a grade of 80% for the essay is equivalent to 4% towards your overall class grade). Extra credit essay points are added to the overall course grade at the end of the semester. The rules for the extra credit assignment, the choice of topics and grading rubric are listed below

• There are two parts to this essay:
• The essay: create an essay (in something like Microsoft Word) on a topic from Microbiology. In Microbiology this must be about a microorganism (bacterium, virus, fungus, protozoa, or helminth).
• A scientific research paper evaluation (in something like Microsoft Word): Find an original scientific research paper on the disease you signed up and answer the 5 questions in the scientific research paper evaluation detailed information section about that paper. It cannot be a review paper, they must actually do lab work, present data, and discuss the data. Failure to do this part of the assignment will result in a zero grade for the overall assignment. Only upload your file, do not copy and paste the file in to turnitin. If you copy and paste your assignment in to turnitin then all formatting and tables will be removed and your submitted work will not have the correct formatting. You will lose formatting points this way that will not be credited back.
• Both parts will be in a single file (in something like Microsoft Word). The essay will be at the start. The Scientific research paper evaluation will be after the essay.
• Make sure you read the section “Scientific Research Paper Evaluation” below.
• Both parts must be in the single word file for the essay to be graded. If you only do one part, then the grade will be zero.
• If you do not include the Scientific Research Paper evaluation section and meet its requirements, then Dr Hollier will NOT even read your essay.
• Dr Hollier will review essays for content (not plagiarism) in-person during class or tutoring hours. This will be done as a conversation. If students want to make notes based on feedback, then they are welcome to do so.
• The work must be type-written (word processed) with page margins set to 1 inches for all sides (top, bottom, left and right), text font as arial, text size as 12, SINGLE LINE SPACED (1.0), and paragraphs are to be separated by a single line. No macros are to be used in the document. The paper must be 2-4 full pages long (this does not include the scientific research paper evaluation section or the reference section). Two pages means two entire pages of the correct formatted text. Anything at or less than 1 page will receive a grade of zero.
• At the top of the document include your name and student ID number, then on the line beneath write the name of the disease you are writing about as the title.
• The assignment MUST be submitted to the assignments tab in iCollege. You will only be able to submit the work once, your first submission is your final submission. The paper submitted WILL be placed in the repository at turnitin, so that it can be checked against other papers for plagiarism (past, present, and future). If you do not agree with this, then do not submit a paper (there is NO alternative extra credit to this assignment). By submitting the paper you are agreeing to have the paper placed in the repository. Only upload your file, do not copy and paste the file. If you copy and paste your assignment then all formatting and tables will be removed and your submitted work will not have the correct formatting. You will lose formatting points this way that will not be credited back. You must submit the file in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx format). Files submitted in other formats (such as .pages or .pdf) will result in a zero score for formatting in the grading rubric.
• The work must be your own, anyone who cheats (either allows their work to be copied, or copies someone else’s work) will receive a grade of zero. This also includes (but is not limited to) copying from text books, the internet, or having someone else do the work for you. See Cheating and Plagiarism section of the syllabus.
• You MUST include at least two references for your assignment, and at least one MUST be from a Scientific Research Paper. See “References” and “Scientific Research Paper References” sections of the syllabus for more information. This must be about the topic you select and you must incorporate information from this source in your assignment. Violation of this rule WILL instantly earn you a grade of zero. Failure to do this part of the assignment will result in a zero grade for the overall assignment.
• Essays do NOT include images or bullet point lists (whether true bullet points, numbered, or lettered lists).
• The paper will be graded on content, grammar, and spelling as described in the grading rubric.
• The titles of each section (General description, Life cycle, Pathophysiology, Symptoms, Treatment, Prognosis, and Conclusion) MUST be included on the top of the slide. Use the grading rubric to ensure you complete all the required information for each titled section.
• General description: This should include a brief summary of what the disease is, what part(s) of the body it affects, the prevalence of the disease, and if it affects any specific population group more than others.
• Life cycle: A description of the life cycle of the infectious agent. This should include details of replication within the host and/or environment, specific locations for replication within the host, and any other intermediate/definite hosts.
• Pathophysiology: Detailed explanation of the disease. This includes cause(s), how they affect the body/cell, how that affects the functioning of the body system and the body as a whole.
• Symptoms: This will include a list of the symptoms and tests performed to clinically diagnose a person with the disease.
• Treatment: This section lists the treatments for the disease, and if they treat the disease or symptoms of the disease.
• Prognosis: This section identifies the predicted outcomes of the disease over time (survival/mortality rate expressed as percentages over time, time for recovery). This section does require actual numbers!
• Conclusion: Summary of the disease (what you think are the most important things you learned about the disease from this paper).
• Scientific Research Paper evaluation: See Scientific research paper section in the syllabus. Failure to answer the five questions and meet this requirement will result in a grade of zero. This section does not count towards the 2-4 page length for the previous sections.
• References: See references section in the syllabus. You must include the lecture text book and your scientific research paper as minimum references. This section does not count towards the 2-4 page length for the previous sections.
• The assignment due date is listed in the class schedule at the end of the syllabus. Late submissions will NOT be graded. You can submit your essay any time before the due date, starting from day 1 of the semester. The essay may be graded at any time after submission (including any day after the paper is submitted before the due date for the paper).
• If you are in more than one of my classes that offers the extra credit paper/presentation then you MUST choose a different disease for each class. You cannot submit the same topic twice in different classes (or future classes). A grade of zero will be given if you violate this rule for BOTH/ALL essays (and this can be retroactively applied to the class grade).
• Signing up for extra credit topics will be done within iCollege on the discussion board “Extra Credit Assignment”. You can pick any disease related to any of chapters covered in the course. You sign up by creating a thread in the “Extra Credit Assignment” discussion board in iCollege. Requirements for signing up:
• Discussion thread title is in the format: Last name, First name – Disease name
• You must check to ensure no one else has already signed up for the disease you want to write about.
• Only one person can signup for each disease, so check the list before picking a disease.
• For A&P: Your topic can only discuss a disease that is NOT caused by a pathogen.
• For Microbiology: Your topic must only discuss a disease that is caused by a pathogen.
• By submitting an essay you are agreeing to the above rules and regulations. Violation of any of these rules WILL earn you a grade of zero.
• Assignment: Write an essay about one of the following diseases/conditions:

Grading rubric for essay: