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On-line Reading Assignments Project Instructions
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READ CAREFULLY!

STUDENTS: You are responsible for reading ALL the instructions below. These instructions will NOT be discussed in class. If you do NOT follow the instructions below you will not receive credit for the on-line reading assignments project.

NOTE: You are required to read the written instructions on this page and your instructor will not help you with any problems you may have with the On-Line Reading Assignments Project until you have read the on-line instructions. If you need help from your instructor bring a printed copy of the instructions. Be prepared to tell your instructor what you don't understand.
There are no exceptions to this rule since reading instructions, AND following these instructions, is part of the project purpose.

Table of Contents.
[GENERAL DESCRIPTION] [PURPOSE OF PROJECT] [DIRECTIONS] [DEADLINE][GRADES] [IMPORTANT NOTES] [SOURCES]

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

1. You read a number of WWW assignments (web pages/articles/essays) on topics relating to biology / education / science.

The articles you read will be found on Dr. Nilsson's World Wide Web site (called Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice).

Link to the Reading Assignment Hub Page.

2. For each assignment, you write a "commentary", your opinions/reactions about ideas discussed in the articles.

3. The commentaries are due on specific deadline dates.

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PURPOSE OF PROJECT

I. Learn how biology affects your everyday life.

II. Learn, or show that you know, how to use the Internet to find information and to communicate your ideas.

III. Learn, or show that you know, how to follow written instructions (such as the instructions in this document).



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DIRECTIONS

A. ARTICLE LOCATION. You MUST use the WWW web pages/articles/ essays located on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice. No other articles may be used!

B. READ. READ the assignments posted (A1, A2, A3, etc.) Typically an assignment consists of 1, 2 or 3 related on-line articles. During regular semesters students will read these 2 - 3 articles (primary, secondary and tertiary) about every other week, sometimes a little longer. During summer semesters students will read fewer assignments, but more frequently.

C. WRITE. For each of the assignments include:

  1. TITLE INFORMATION. Do NOT write a separate title page, but DO include titel information on the same page as the commentary. The following TYPED information must be included as "title information": (i) Title of the assignment (may be your own or the title of the article), (ii) Citation (the source), (iii) Your full name, (iv) Course name (General Biology I or II) (v) Date due (exact date or semester) (vi) South Texas Community College (do NOT abbreviate the name of the college) (vii) Name of instructor (Dr. Jan A. Nilsson)

    Again, do NOT write a separate title page, but DO include titel information on the same page as the commentary. Include ALL (i - vii) of the titel information asked for. Commentaries with a separate titel page or with some of the titel page information missing will NOT be accepted.



  2. SOURCE. Giving honest citations or sources is very important in science. Therefore, a full citation of each article must be included for each of the article commentaries you hand in. (See below for more iunformation.)



  3. COMMENTARY. WRITE a Commentary (give your opinions and reactions) of the article. The commentary will be minimum 100 typed words (about 20% may be quoted text, about 80% must be your own words). If you do not write a MINIMUM of 100 words you will NOT receive any points. There is no upper (maximum words) limit, but you must keep your work to ONE page.

    Also, you must include the title "COMMENTARY". If you do not type "Commentary" at the top you will not receive any points.



D. SUBMIT THE COMMENTARY. The commentary must be submitted in class, ON TIME, in a plastic pocket sheet protector of acceptable quality. Commentaries without a plastic pocket sheet protector of acceptable quality will NOT be accepted.



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DEADLINE:

Deadlines are real! Your work is due on time! Assignments missing the deadline with one class period will receive a 50% deduction. You will NOT receive any points for work more than one class period late. (The first deadlines are included in the semester calendar.) Assignments missing more than one class period will NOT be accepted.



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GRADES

Each of the assignments have equal value. See the syllabus for the current semesters grading criteria.

Assignments missing the deadline will receive a 50% deduction. You will NOT receive any points for work more than one class period late.

Assignments submitted with incorrect format will NOT be accepted.

Assignments shorter than 100 words will not be accepted.



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IMPORTANT NOTES

Note 1. Late work will be subjected to 50% deduction. Work later than one class period will not be accepted.



Note 2. Plagiarism: Cooperation and/or help from other people is allowed, but the written work you turn in for a grade must be your own work.

Do NOT copy another students work!

I keep all essays of former students to keep plagiarism to a minimum. (Read the note about plagiarism in the syllabus.) When you write the commentary you must paraphrase and keep quotes to a minimum. If you do quote the articles you must use quotation marks. (about 20% may be quoted from the article text, about 80% must be your own words.)

Plagiarized work will not be accepted. (See the syllabus for further discussion.)



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Note 3. How to write citations: Giving honest citations or sources is very important in science. Therefore, a full citation of each article must be included for each of the article commentaries you hand in. However, in this project the correct article citation is usually already included for the articles you read. Except for the DATE OF ACCESS (if the source was online). Most of the time you can simply copy the source information to your Commentary. For the DATE OF ACCESS (highlighted in green color in the example below), you must write the date YOU accessed the article on-line. In other words you may simply copy the source information (the citation) and then change the date to when YOU accessed the article.

Since this is a biology class, the given citations follow the CBE (Council for Biology Editors) format. (However, MLA, APA, or Chicago is also acceptable.)

BASIC FORMS FOR CITING ELECTRONIC SOURCES

Web Page

Author(s). Date of publication or last revision. Name of page. Title of complete work. . (Date of access.)

  1. author's name (if known)
  2. date of publication or last revision (if known, the posting or modification dates on the web page)
  3. name of page (specific work)
  4. title of complete work (if applicable, often the name of the web site)
  5. URL (the complete electronic address -- html:// address -- html or htm page address. Sometimes the URL is placed within angled brackets. When this is done many word processors and all html programs will automatically make the URL into an on-line link.)
  6. date of access (date YOU read the web page, not the posting or modification dates on the web page -- usually within parenthesis)

EXAMPLE:
Butcher, R.D. January 25, 1997. The California Desert Plan. Dr. Butcher's Home Page. http://www.univer.edu/butch.htlm (May 21, 1998)

NOTE: There are NO italics, NO underlinings, and NO quotation marks in the CBE style!

On-line journal or magazine

Author(s). Date of publication or last revision. Name of page. Title of Journal Volume (Issue): pages/paragraphs (if included). . (Date of access.) (As with printed versions -- see below, complete publication date should be provided for magazines instead of volume and/or issue number.)

EXAMPLE:
Butcher, R.D. January 25, 1997. The California Desert Plan. Dr. Butcher's Home Page. http://www.univer.edu/butch.htlm (May 21, 1998)

NOTE: There are NO italics, NO underlinings, and NO quotation marks in the CBE style!

BASIC FORMS FOR CITING PRINTED SOURCES

Book

Author(s). Year. Title of book. Publisher, place of publication.

EXAMPLE:
Butcher, R.D. 1997. The California Desert Plan. Good Book Publisher, Inc., New York, USA.

NOTE: There are NO italics, NO underlinings, and NO quotation marks in the CBE style!

Periodical: Newspaper or Magazine

Author(s). Year. Title of article. Title of periodical Date Month (or just Month): pages (if not continous just first page followed by a plus (+)).

EXAMPLE:
Butcher, R.D. 1997. The California Desert Plan. Good Magazine 30 Jan.: 5+

NOTE: There are NO italics, NO underlinings, and NO quotation marks in the CBE style!

Periodical: Journal

Author(s). Year. Title of article. Title of periodical Volum (Issue): pages. (If the journal uses continous pagination throughout a particular volume, only volume is needed before tha page numbers. If each issue begins with page 1, issue number must also be provided.)

EXAMPLE:
Butcher, R.D. 1997. The California Desert Plan. Good Journal 14 (1): 5 - 9.

NOTE: There are NO italics, NO underlinings, and NO quotation marks in the CBE style!

Part of Book (e.g., essay in a collection with an editor)

Author(s). Year. Title of essay. Title of collection. Ed. Editor's name(s). Publisher, place of publication. Pages.

EXAMPLE:
Butcher, R.D. 1997. The California Desert Plan. Good Essays. Ed. Al Gore. Good Book Publisher, Inc., New York, USA. 56 - 62.

NOTE: There are NO italics, NO underlinings, and NO quotation marks in the CBE style!



Remember the following: NEATNESS COUNTS AND IS AN EASY WAY TO EARN HIGHER GRADES!

Your Instructor

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You are required to read the written instructions on this page and your instructor will not help you with any problems you may have with the On-Line Reading Assignments Project until you have read the on-line instructions. If you need help from your instructor bring a printed copy of the instructions. Be prepared to tell your instructor what you don't understand.

NOTE TO SUMMER SEMESTER STUDENTS:

Most assignments have two posted articles, a PRIMARY article, and a SECONDARY article. Due to time constraints Summer Semester Students are not required to read all articles.. (You are encouraged to read all articles, if you have the time.)

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General Biology Hub Back to Reading Assignment Project Hub Check if you understand the assignment instructions by taking this Instructions Quiz

Web page layout and design © and intellectual property Jan A. Nilsson, 2000, 2001, 2002. Page created 12.I.2000, last updated 21.VIII.2002, most likely during the wee hours of the morning on a G3 PowerBook owned by Jan A. Nilsson. Please send comments and suggestions to: desertbruchid@hotmail.com

-- Disclaimer: "Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice", at the time of writing located as a file under the South Texas Community College's (STCC) web server with the general URL http://stcc.cc.tx.us/, is the intellectual property of Dr. Jan A. Nilsson, member of STCC biology faculty. The content of Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice does not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of the STCC faculty, staff, administration, and Board of Trustees.