In this assignment, we are going to use our research of potentially mythical creatures to help us
Question:
In this assignment, we are going to use our research of potentially mythical creatures to help us practice research, analysis, and critical thinking skills. In particular, we are aiming to: Demonstrate research skills Identify biases present in sources Evaluate the credibility of sources Practice critical thinking to synthesize the information from our sources Write and turn in a brief report summarizing our findings Assignment Instructions At the conclusion of this assignment, you’re going to turn in a brief (500 word) report that summarizes a cool cryptid and explains how likely it is that this thing really exists. To get to that point, just follow the five steps below.
Step 1: Preliminary work (you’ve already done this) To get us started, we’re doing some preliminary research on some really cool cryptids. I asked everyone to take a look at an online list of cryptidsLinks to an external site. and pick one (but not Bigfoot) to report on, bringing some basic information about it to class for discussion. You’ve already done this, but if you’ve decided to change your cryptid, you’ll want to make sure you do some preliminary research that tells you: What the cryptid is What makes it cool When and where it has been sighted What happens at these sightings
Step 2: Find at least three examples of sources that claim to have evidence that your cryptid exists. The definition of a cryptid is an animal that some people claim to have observed, but who’s existence has not yet been officially confirmed. This is tricky, of course, because some of the animals on our list—like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monsters—are the kind of large, conspicuous lifeforms that you would expect to hear about a lot. In the end, our goal is to collect evidence about how likely it is that these things really are out there. For this step, find at least three online sources that claim to share evidence of your creature’s existence. Examples might include tissue samples, audio recordings, video recordings, or eyewitness testimony.
Step 3: Look for examples of bias in these sources. Just because someone makes a claim, it doesn’t mean that this claim is correct. And, the person making the claim doesn’t need to be lying to be wrong. Often, pseudoscientific sources like these are just really motivated to see what they want to—and it’s your job to find the bias in these sources. Read through each of your example sources and identify any examples of biases we have discussed (or listed in table 7.3 of your textbook), including: Confirmation bias Belief persistence Fluency bias Overconfidence bias Occam’s razor Step 4: Give your cryptid a score, on a scale of 1 to 10, of how likely the creature’s existence is. Looking back at your sources, identify how credible you think each of them is. If you see many examples of bias, the source isn’t very credible and likely shouldn’t be believed. If there doesn’t appear to be any bias present, then they are probably more credible. Taking all of the evidence, weighing it based on the source’s credibility, identify just how likely your creature’s existence is out of 10, where 10 represents a creature we absolutely know exists (like bears) and a 1 represents an animal whose existence has been disproven (like unicorns). Step 5: Write a brief report (500 words) that provides an overview of your cryptid and how realistic it is. Your final step is to tell me about everything you found out. Just write a brief report that tells me basic information about your cryptid, what people say about the sightings, how realistic you think the animal is, and how your critical research supports this perspective. Your report will be written as an essay—in complete sentences and paragraphs, not bullets or a numbered list of responses—and an easy way to make sure you get full credit is to make sure you address everything in the rubric below. Report Grading: Rubric The rubric below serves two purposes—it lets you know what I’m looking for, and it’s what I am going to use to grade your assignments. As you conduct your research and draft your report, use the rubric below to guide you. You want to make sure your report addresses all the points in the rubric below so that you can get full credit for this assignment! The rubric below is what I will use for grading, so it's a great guide for what to do in this assignment!
Criteria Meets Requirements Exceeds Requirements Give a cryptid overview Your report tells me what cryptid you’re studying and what it looks or sounds (or smells) like. Your report goes further, giving information on its habitats, behaviors, evolutionary adaptations, and similarities or differences to extant animals. Collect and summarize evidence of its existence Your report describes three sources and the evidence that these sources present, supporting the existence of the cryptid. Your report describes specifics of sightings and/or collected forensic evidence. Your report builds on basic descriptions, identifying trends in sightings or evidence, and explaining similarities in locations, times, and/or the experiences of observers who have had encounters with the cryptid. Identify bias and evaluate the credibility of sources Your essay gives at least one example of bias present in each of your three sources. Each example is defined as a specific kind of bias covered in our course. Your essay analyzes each source more deeply, identifying multiple examples of bias, defining biases beyond what we have discussed in the course, explaining what motivates sources to be biased, and/or identifying how sources are biased in terms of what their analyses are missing Predict the likelihood of this cryptid’s existence and provide reasoning for why Your submission grades your cryptid’s likelihood, on a 1 to 10 scale, and supports this conclusion by explaining the strengths or limitations of the evidence you’ve collected. Your submission goes into greater depth, identifying possible caveats or alternate explanations for the evidence that has been collected, or it presents other confirmed species or phenomena that might better explain the observations or evidence.
Assignment Submission Guidelines To receive full credit for this assignment, follow the steps above to prepare your report and make sure it meets the requirements stated in the rubric. Then, follow these submission guidelines to turn it in. Assignments that receive full credit will: Be typewritten. As a person with horrible handwriting, I know how hard it is to get your ideas across in chicken scratch. If your submission is typed, it makes sure I know exactly what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Be turned in before the deadline. I can only grade your submission if it’s turned in on time, so let’s make that happen! Be submitted through Canvas. To help simplify grading and get feedback to you sooner, I’m going to have us turn this one in online. If you have any trouble with Canvas, just let me know. Be long enough, but not too long. I’m suggesting a length of 500 words (about 2 double-spaced pages) for this assignment. In reality, as long as you effectively address the points in the rubric above, you’re good. Be reviewed for spelling, grammar, and clarity. Make sure you take the time to reread and revise your writing. In particular, if you can read it out loud and fix anything that just doesn’t sound right, your submission will do an even better job of telling me what you want me to know.
Management Accounting Information for Decision-Making and Strategy Execution
ISBN: 978-0137024971
6th Edition
Authors: Anthony A. Atkinson, Robert S. Kaplan, Ella Mae Matsumura, S. Mark Young