BIO 175: Infectious Disease Project Guidelines Purpose: Infectious diseases are

BIO 175: Infectious Disease Project Guidelines
Purpose:
Infectious diseases are important in all our lives. Become familiar with a variety of
infectious diseases by creating a presentation on a selected disease and review
classmates’ presentations.
LATE PROJECTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED!
Directions:
I. Brief Research & Claim Disease
Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria,
viruses, protozoa, helminths, or fungi; the diseases can be spread directly or
indirectly, from one person to another. Conduct a brief search of infectious
diseases caused by a pathogenic microorganism. Being sure that there is
adequate information on your selected disease, you will create a presentation
and act as the class educator of your chosen disease. Diseases will be claimed
on a first come-first serve basis through Blackboard’s Discussion Board. There
will be only one presentation per disease, so please check the discussion board
to see what has already been taken.
To make your infectious disease claim:
1. Conduct a brief research on your desired disease ensuring there is sufficient
information available to conduct a presentation.
2. Select your infectious disease by going to Discussion Board>> Infectious
Disease Selection on the course Blackboard site to create a thread.
• Make sure the subject line includes the disease name
• Your selection must be approved by your instructor; if it is not approved, your
instructor will provide feedback. If you do not get approval, you will receive a
“0” for the project.
Research
To learn more about your selected disease, you will perform a search of the literature
(scientific journals, books, magazines, news media, and internet), then utilize the
information you’ve gathered to construct a presentation. Be sure to include all references
(in APA format, see figure 1) with at least three (3) being peer-reviewed sources. Your
final slide of the PowerPoint presentation should be a Works Cited page with a complete,
APA formatted reference for every source you used. Remember to use in-text citations
as you borrow from each source in your presentation. For help with references and
citations, visit the Purdue Owl website (opens in new window).
Your information must be credible, accurate, and well supported by evidence. The best
courses of information are the research journals and the books as well as webpages
maintained by professional societies and organizations. Searches for articles and
academic material should start with the electronic databases of libraries such as
2 of 4
FTCC’s Paul H. Thompson Library (opens in new window), PubMed (opens in new
window), or other such resources.
To post your citation:
Provide one peer-reviewed academic journal article reference in APA format in
Discussion board>> Infectious Disease Reference. This article must be directly relevant
to your research topic and will provide the scientific evidence you will use to begin your
investigation. Students will be limited to two (2) attempts to provide an accurate APA
formatted peer review article citation.
Figure 1: APA citation
II. Report & Present
Your research findings will be presented via PowerPoint presentation that you will
present to the class using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra software. Presentations should
encompass all required content (listed below) and should be approximately 12-15
minutes in length. Be sure to include pictures and talking points, as a slide full of text will
lose your audience (and will result in loss of points). For the tech savvy, you may opt to
create your presentation utilizing Prezi or other alternative presentation software.
Outside videos (i.e. YouTube) may be included or embedded in your presentation,
however, may not exceed 2 minutes in length (remember videos are meant to
supplement your presentation). Please display required content in order, A-G. Be
advised that presentations without audio and webcam feed will not be accepted.
Required Presentation Content:
3 of 4
A. What is the causative agent of the disease? Is it a bacterium, a virus, a prion,
or a eukaryote? Describe in detail its characteristics.
a. If it is a bacterium, what are the characteristics of the cell (Gram-reaction? cell
shape and arrangement? metabolic capabilities?).
b. If it is a virus, what are its characteristics (DNA, positive-strand RNA,
negative-strand RNA, or retrovirus? enveloped or naked? how large is it?
does it form a provirus? Any unique characteristics of its multiplication
cycle?).
c. If it is a prion, what is a prion? Wherein the body does it occur? What is the
function of the normal-type protein?
d. If it is eukaryote, is it a fungus, an alga, a protozoan, a platyhelminth, or a
nematode? Is it multicellular or unicellular? What is its life cycle?
B. History: How long have we known about this disease?
a. Describe the changes in our knowledge and attitudes toward this disease
throughout history.
C. Epidemiology: Describe the prevalence and transmission of this disease.
a. Where (in the world) is the disease prevalent? How many people are currently
infected? What is the rate of new infections? What are the rates of morbidity
and mortality?
b. What is (are) the reservoir(s) of the pathogen? What is (are) the mode(s) of
transmission?
D. Pathology: Describe the pathogenic effects on cells, tissues, and organ
systems.
a. Where in the body (what tissues/organs/cells) does the pathogen affect?
b. What damage does the pathogen inflict? How is this damage inflicted (is there
direct mechanical damage? is a toxin produced? does the immune response
cause damage?)?
c. What is the time sequence of the disease (length of incubation, prodrome,
illness, decline, and convalescence)? Are there sequalae?
d. What are the major signs and symptoms?
E. Response and Treatment
a. Describe the activity of our immune system against the pathogen.
b. What types of medical treatments exist? Describe how these treatments
affect the progression of the disease.
c. Describe prophylactic measures that can be taken to limit the risk of infection.
F. Socio-politico-economic
a. Describe any historic or present day social, economic, or political issues that
either help or hinder us in limiting the spread of the disease.
G. Other Interesting Information and images
4 of 4
III. Review
Lastly, after class presentations have been uploaded to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra,
all students in the course will be able to view them. You will have five (5) days to select
and view three (3) videos and complete the Infectious Disease Review Sheet.
Grading Criteria: This research project is worth 100 points and weighs 10% of your overall
course grade.
I. Brief Research & Claim (Discussion Boards 1 & 2)
• 3 points – Infectious Disease Project Selection
• 7 points – One properly APA formatted Peer Reviewed Article Citation
II. Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Presentation
• 78 points – Research Project Presentation:
i. 65 Points – Demonstrating thorough knowledge of subject, and effectively
covered all required information (see Presentation Grading Sheet).
ii. 13 points – References of at least 3 peer reviewed scholarly journals.
Use proper APA format, see figure 1 on page 2. PurdueOwl (opens in new
window) is a great source to help with this. You may use other non-peer
reviewed sources in addition to your 3 peer reviewed sources along with
appropriate in-text citations.
iii. Deductions – Formatting. The presentation should be Visually Appealing
and Eye Catching and NOT so busy that it distracts. Be sure to avoid
grammatical and spelling errors that distract the audience; and use a mix
of text, images, and other media. Abide by presentation length
requirements.
III. Review (Infectious Disease Review Sheet)
• 12 points – Review three peer’s presentations and complete the review sheet.
IV. Self-Assessment Form
• 3 bonus points – Detailed analysis of student’s performance