This assignment is a reflection over what you have learned throughout the quarter. Please look back through any/all class materials - the readings, information from the "mini lectures," class discussion activities, links, poster session information, vocabulary lists, etc... to prepare for this paper.
Assignment Specifics
Your paper should be 5 paragraphs, approximately 2-3 pages long, typed, single-spaced, 12-point font (geneva or arial), 1-inch margins. You will have minimally one reference cited. Your "works cited" page will be separate from the body of the paper (in addition to the 2-3 pages of text).
Paragraph #1: Explain what you knew, or thought you knew, about epidemics, Ebola and Zika at the beginning of the quarter. What were your impressions or preconceived ideas of last year's Ebola outbreak and this year's Zika outbreak? What was your opinion on the danger to the United States before you took this class?
Paragraph #2: Explain what you knew, or thought you knew, about vaccines at the beginning of the quarter. What were your impressions or preconceived ideas of vaccines/vaccination? What was your opinion on vaccines/vaccination before the class began?
Paragraphs #3-5: Select a total of three pieces of information from the quarter to write about (see the list A thru C, below). You should include at least two different topics (you may prefer to write about three different topics, that's ok). You may write about your topics in any order. Pay close attention to the prompts, so that you answer completely the questions asked for each of these paragraphs - they are different!
A. What was the most surprising thing you learned all quarter? Describe what most surprised you and why. Now, go tell someone about it - your best friend, your boss, your brother, your aunt, anyone who is not a member of this class. Describe his/her reaction and any conversation that followed.
B. What was the most interesting thing you learned all quarter? Describe what most interested you and why. Then, go find out something more about this topic and tell me about it. For this part of your assignment, evaluate the information source that you used using the 5 criteria of currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose (review the library research basics link). Be sure to reference your resource using MLA format. Your information source must be different from any that were assigned during the quarter (you'll have to find new articles or websites)! Put the source evaluation information on the "works cited" page along with the citation.
C. What was the most important thing you learned all quarter? Describe what was most important to you and why. Then, tell me what you're going to do about it - how will this information affect you in the future? Will it affect future decisions or actions? Convey the impact of this information.
Paragraph #6: Summarize your knowledge and understanding of vaccines/vaccination, epidemics, and Ebola after one quarter of this topic. Have any misconceptions been cleared up? What are your impressions and opinions now? What are your opinions about the dangers and international issues after completing this course?