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Scientific Method Assignment

Myth Busting 101

This assignment assesses student understanding of the General Education #3 Goals:

Students will be able to:

1. develop understanding of scientific theories;

2. formulate and test hypotheses in either laboratory, simulation, or field experiences;

3. communicate experimental findings and interpretations both orally and in writing;

4. apply the natural science perspective to society issues.

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To complete this assignment, you need to do the following:

1. Review your notes from class on the Scientific Method (Unit/Chapter 2 of the textbook and class lectures)

2. Then, watch this video on Using the Scientific Method in Nutrition: a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9pNx03Xcww

3. Now – you get to be a scientist! For this, you’re going debunk (or support!) a myth about food or nutrition. You’re going to do this by reviewing the scientific literature to see what it says about this “myth” you’re exploring. Please make sure you understand what the “scientific literature” is! (See the Peer Review in 3 Minutes video in Chapter 2 of the text) as you MUST have at least 3 Peer Reviewed scientific papers in your bibliography for this project!

a. Note: MSU’s Library search feature allows you to limit your search to Peer Reviewed articles: https://libguides.mnsu.edu/c.php?g=649076 It’s not a perfect system so you should still pay attention (if it’s a book or newspaper article, it won’t count as peer reviewed – really need those scientific journals where every article goes through the peer-review process before being published). See how to limit to peer review here:

i. b. Note: it is also HIGHLY recommended that you limit your search to articles

that are less than 10 years old (on the “advanced” search options) because nutrition is a rapidly evolving field and whenever you set out to “see what the literature says” about a topic, you want to get the most current information!

c. Note: there is essentially no such thing as a Peer Reviewed website or book/textbook!!!! Anyone can publish anything they want to say in a book/textbook without being based in any facts…………..and websites do not generally go through a Peer Review process. They might be reasonably reliable (such as the NIH.gov or MayoClinic.com websites) but that does NOT make them “Peer-Reviewed sources” for this assignment!!

d. These skills are important as there are a LOT of myths and misinformation about food & nutrition floating around on the Web and in Social Media!

e. Note: you are not conducting a “full literature review” here (that would be a Master’s thesis!) but if you can find “Systematic Reviews” or other such review papers that have reviewed the literature, those can be strong resources to use! Having said that, avoid terms like “the science proves” as we really never “prove” anything in science until we have a “preponderance of evidence” (LOTS of evidence saying the same thing) and you’re not setting out to do that here! (That’s one of the problems with misperceptions in nutrition – one paper comes out and the media/public jumps on it as “truth”).

4. First, start with the Myth you want to explore. This can be ANYTHING you’ve heard (so in your final report, you can say “I’ve always heard that….”) or you can search the internet for “Nutrition Myths”. There are so many out there! “Carbs are bad” (are they? Always? For all people?) ………. Your diet should be high in protein (any protein? Everyone? What’s “high”?)………… “Eating healthy is expensive” …………… “Counting calories is the best/only way to lose weight” (“Calories in needs to equal calories out”)………….. “High fat foods are bad”……….etc!

a. Before you go any further, formulate a Hypothesis – what do you think is the “truth”? Write down your Hypothesis in this format: “The scientific literature will support/refute the idea that XXXXXX….”

5. Then, dig in!

a. Test your Hypothesis! b. Note: you’ll likely want to start with an internet search to see what’s out there

in general about this. You should have one source for your “Myth” (where did you see this) unless it’s something you’ve just “always heard” yourself. Then, take a look at the various sources online that talk about this Myth. What is the quality of the sources (is it Mayo Clinic or “Betty’s Nutrition Facts.com”)

c. Once you have “the lay of the land” down and know what’s being said about this thing out in the wider world, next – turn to the Scientific Literature (see above)!

6. You’ll need to find at least 3 scientific papers that EITHER support or refute this myth and then use them as your resources.

a. Note: it’s not uncommon to find scientific papers on “each side” of the myth so if you do, find three that EITHER support or refute it and then be sure to include at least 1 that does the opposite in your report. So you can say something like “while the literature seems to mostly support [refute] this myth, there was one paper that refuted [supported] it” … and then talk about that one paper too. Remember, nutrition is a very young science and the literature is exploding in our field so we definitely do not know everything yet!

b. Make sure to save those papers so you can use them in your project and properly enter them in your bibliography!!!! (Tip: download them as a PDF and save them in your project folder).

7. Now – you’ll Communicate your Findings Orally & in Writing a. First, you’re going to create a SINGLE slide/poster to present your findings

(the written part). Imagine you are at a conference presenting your findings in a “Poster Session” (we’ll talk through what that means in class and give examples) but here’s an example of some Dietetic Interns presenting at a “Poster Session” at a nutrition conference: https://eatrightvirginia.org/poster-presentations-as-a-dietetic-intern- monica-hershey-shares-her-experience/

i. b. Think about what your most important findings were and what you’d want to

put on the “poster” (PPT slide, CANVA slide, etc) to present this. The goal is NOT to be too wordy (the above pictured poster is pretty wordy) – here are some other examples: https://nopren.ucsf.edu/her-nopren-student-poster- presentations-2022 but for the purposes of this project, keep it fairly large print and non-wordy as you’ll be presenting this in a video.

i. Images and graphs are great – but be sure to credit the source!!! ii. Just like a written paper, you need to cite sources for all

facts/information statements – and direct quotes need to be in quotation marks with the page number in the in-text citation. It is generally best to avoid direct quotes or just use small snippets for a quote – put it in your own words to demonstrate YOUR understanding of the information!!

iii. This poster (link below) shows how references are cited in the poster using “numbering” format – that is acceptable for this project as APA or MLA formatting with in-text citations can take up a lot of space: https://healthipe.utexas.edu/poster-number-lr-01

This is saved and included in D2L also c. Finally, you are going to “Present your Findings Orally”. For this, you are going

to use the single slide you created above and create a video that is at least 1 minute, but no more than 5 minutes, long discussing your findings. Did you “bust the myth” or find it may actually be true (what is your CONCLUSION and how does it apply to society?)

d. The easiest way to record/create a video is using the Record feature in either PowerPoint or Canva. Alternatively, you can use Kaltura(see this tutorial: UPDATED - MediaSpace How To Kaltura Capture 8.23).

THE DELIVERABLES:

To complete this project, you need to submit the following to the Assignment Dropbox created in D2L for this purpose:

1. Your “slide” (PPT, Canva, other) – preferably in PDF format. 2. A Word document or PDF with a link to the video or the MP4 formatted video (note:

any other formats will likely not work in D2L) – or you can upload your MP4 file into D2L.

3. A Word document or PDF **PROPERLY FORMATTED** bibliography with all sources used in the project. The bibliography must be in APA or MLA format (APA strongly preferred).

a. A good resource with examples for APA or MLA formatting is the OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting _and_style_guide/general_format.html

b. We will go over this in class too but be sure you understand what “properly formatted” means! Common student errors are failing to double space the bibliography, failing to use hanging indents, and “mixing” APA and MLA formatting (they are similar but definitely different)!

THE GRADING RUBRIC:

The following rubric will be used to assess this assignment:

Objectives Full points: Partial credit: Minimal credit: Completeness & Timeliness of the Deliverables

Included all 3 of the items specified in the instructions and on time. (Note this score is just for getting it done & on time – missing pieces will profoundly impact the ability to earn scores in the other categories of this rubric!)

Missed or was late w/1 of the items

Missed or was late w/2 of the items

3 points

2 points

1 point

Scientifically based conclusions

Included (and used) at least 3 Peer-reviewed journal articles in the resources and demonstrated use of their information in the presentation. Conclusions are scientifically sound. 12 points

Demonstrated use of only 2 Peer-reviewed articles 8 points

Demonstrated use of only 1 Peer-reviewed article (Note: no PR’d articles – 0 points here) 4 points

Depth and breadth of the “investigation” and presentation of the findings in writing

Covered the topic well and written out in an understandable and professional style. Demonstrated knowledge gained from the research into the topic and explained the information in own words to demonstrate understanding. Writing is generally free of errors in grammar, spelling. 20 points

Didn’t cover topic well, writing has a few minor errors. 10-20 points

Writing has numerous errors, doesn’t cover the topic well, not clear. <10 points

Oral presentation of the findings

Spoke professionally, spoke clearly, looks at the camera directly without looking at notes extensively, speaks with fluctuation in volume & inflection to maintain audience interest, demonstrates enthusiasm for the topic and convinces audience on the importance and conclusions of the topic researched. 15 points

Speaks in a somewhat monotone, somewhat lacks enthusiasm for the topic, doesn’t keep eye contact at times. 10-15 points

Significant issues with the presentation. <10 points

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Fa25 FCS 140-03 Introduction to Nutrition - Unit (Ch) 2: Nutrition Science & Information Literacy 1. Research Activity Instructions--READ