infographic assignment

ISB 202 Final Project: Infographic Instructions Bierema

Overview

This document describes the course project infographic. For an overview of the entire course project, including the purpose, list of tasks, and timeline, please see the “Course Project Overview” document.

Infographic Content

For the final project, each student develops an infographic that presents the student’s position on its species as a candidate for de-extinction and evidence supporting the position. The content within the infographic will vary and depend on the species. Most of the content will come from the assessments. For these assessments, students are investigating information about their species. For some species, the most impactful information may come from the type of habitat that the species prefers; for others, the most important information may be how other species within the ecosystem depend on the candidate species. Students will have to make a position statement related to the species’ candidacy for de-extinction and then provide the strongest supporting evidence for the position statement. Please see the rubric at the end of this document for more information on what to include in the infographic.

Infographic References

Include at least five references:

· At least two must be scholarly sources,

· One should be the IUCN Red List website or another website that you were directed to in the species selection online survey or during the library workshop, and

· The remaining two can be other resources that are relevant . Note that these could be additional scholarly articles, an additional approved website (check with your instructor), a book, book chapter, a government document, or other authoritative source.

Infographic Format

Infographics are primarily visual representations and fit on one page. To learn more about infographics, go to the CLIPS website. This website has a great deal of information, including how to plan and create an infographic.

The CLIPS’ information on infographics lists several criteria to consider while planning an infographic. The website has details on each criterion. Here is how our course and the infographic relate to each infographic criterion.

· Familiarize yourself with your topic : We will learn about the topic of de-extinction via a series of TEDTalks, and students will learn more about their particular species through the assessments. Feel free to search for infographics on de-extinction, extinction, or conservation for examples.

· Consider your audience and focus : It is important to keep in mind a particular audience while developing something that is meant to communicate information. Who would you like your audience to be?

· Scope your narrative : There will be three main parts of the infographic: an introduction (the problem statement), body (the evidence), and conclusion (call to action or position statement on the candidate species).

· Research your topic based on your key message : Students will do most of the research via the assessments and discussion board assignments.

· Keep to your scope : Students will need to make sure that all evidence is relevant to the problem statement and call to action, not just general information on the species.

· Use quality resources : Most of the resources used for the infographic will come from scholarly sources; at least two scholarly sources are required.

· Be transparent : Use in-text citations (or footnotes) and a reference list at the bottom of the page (use small text so that it is just large enough to see but does not take the focus away from the content).

· Write a script : A lot of the information will come from the assessments and discussion board assignments. Students need to condense the information from those assignments and choose which aspects to use as evidence in the infographic.

There are also several formatting aspects to consider while creating your infographic, as explained on the CLIPS website. What makes an infographic unique is its visual representations. The visualizations on the infographic must be:

· Accurate : The visualizations must make sense for the information being represented.

· Consistent : Use similar types of visualizations in the infographic.

· Clear : The visualizations should add understanding, not distract the audience from the key concepts.

Infographic Programs

There are several different programs that can be used to create an infographic. There is a list of programs at the bottom of the CLIPS website. Some of these programs, however, will allow the creation of the infographic for free but require payment to download the image.

One program that allows for free downloads is Piktochart . This program offers several templates. Check out this video for an introduction to Piktochart. Another possible program is Canva.

Microsoft PowerPoint also features a few infographic templates. If students prefer not to use a template, then Microsoft Word can be used. The only caution with not using a template is that students tend to create more of an essay rather than an infographic.

Critical Elements	Exemplary (100%)	Proficient (75%)	Needs Improvement (55%)	Not Evident (0%)
Introduction	3 points	2.25 points	1.75 points	0 points
	Includes the following: -brief overview of de-extinction -brief overview of the candidate species -problem statement (i.e., which issue is being addressed in this infographic?).	Describes two of the three components listed in the exemplary level.	Describes one of the three components listed in the exemplary level.	Does not include any of the components listed in the exemplary level.
Body	10 points	7.5 points	5.5 points	0 points
	Evidence related to problem statement and supporting the position presented and consistent throughout; demonstrates understanding of issue.	Limited evidence supporting position; demonstrates understanding of some parts of the issue, but not others.	Evidence presented as a list of findings with little attempt to show how evidence relates to problem statement and supports position.	List of findings that are not at all linked to the problem statement or position statement: a general description of the species.
Body References	7 points	5.25 points	3.75 points	0 points
	At least five references are used and at least two of the references are scholarly sources.	At least five references are used but none of them are scholarly sources.	Two to four references are used.	Only one reference is used.
Conclusion	3 points	2.25 points	1.75 points	0 points
	Conclusion connects back to problem statement and is supported by the evidence in the body of the document. Includes a call to action or position statement.	A call to action or position statement is included but not related back to problem statement.	Conclusion is included but call to action or position statement is vague or is not supported by evidence in the body of the document.	A call to action or position statement is not included.
Visualization & Audience	8 points	6 points	4.5 points	0 points
	Visualizations used support the content, help in understanding, and are not distracting. Similar types of visualizations are used throughout the infographic. Text is not full paragraphs.	Some of the visualizations used make sense with the content and help in understanding but others are distracting. Or, visualizations support the content but the infographic contains lengthy paragraphs.	Visualizations are largely distracting and offer little help in understanding the content. Or, only general graphics are included but not specific to the infographic content.	Visualizations are not included. Or, submitted assignment is an essay with occasional figures.
Citation Format	4 points	3 points	2.25 points	0 points
	Reference list and in-text citation format are consistent and contain all citation information.	Reference list format is consistent and contains all citation information. In-text citations are not included.	Citations in reference list are missing information, such as article title.	Reference list is missing.
Critical Elements	Exemplary 35-28 points	Proficient 27-21 points	Needs Improvement 20-15 points	Not Evident 14-0 points