One of the possible ways to have students work on a course project throughout a semester is to have periodic concept map assignments. Journals were framed as homework assignments to be done individually. The purpose of these assignments was to help students prepare for their final project in ISB202.
Journal Assignment #1 Overview: What do you think regarding de-extinction as a conservation tool? Which evidence do you find most persuasive? Have your views changed or been reinforced by the TEDTalks? To address these questions, you will create a reflection. A reflection incorporates a critical and personal reflection of an issue, supported with evidence. What matters is what you think, which is highly personal and unique, but your opinion is based on your understanding of the evidence and arguments.
Each journal assignment will be a model that includes a position statement and supporting evidence (except for journal assignment #2, which is an annotated bibliography). The models will be concept maps (see example below). There will be three “levels” to the concept map. 1) The first “level” will be a position statement, such as “De-extinction should be used as a conservation tool.” 2) Then the next level will be evidence supporting the position statement. Each piece of evidence will be in its own bubble. For this journal assignment, the evidence will be primarily from the TEDTalks viewed in class. Aim for at least three pieces of evidence. 3) Finally, the third level will include details about each piece of evidence. For this journal assignment, consider which pieces of evidence or examples are most persuasive and additional questions or clarifications that may need to be considered with each piece of evidence. Aim for twice as many details as pieces of evidence overall (e.g., one piece of evidence may contain three details and another may have only one)
For a full description of this assignment, including the grading rubric, check out the attachment. You can also check out full descriptions of the annotated reference list journal assignment and the following journals for the semester.