UGFN1000E 2014-2015 T2

FINAL ESSAY TOPICS AND GUIDELINES

For all topics it is necessary that you relate to or mention five of the texts in our In Dialogue
with Nature book. Besides those texts, you can refer to any other sources you deem appropriate.
TOPICS
TOPIC 1
What relationships do you find between three important skills for acquiring knowledge
observation through sense experience, intuition, and logical deduction on the one hand, and
three important human values beauty, usefulness, and truth on the other hand?
TOPIC 2
Reflect and share on what is and what should be the interaction between Nature and the needs and
values of your prospective profession.
TOPIC 3
State and motivate your opinion with regard to the following statement:
The adoption of the hypothetico-deductive method, to increase our knowledge about Nature, is a
natural consequence of human development. Sooner or later humans would come up with this
method, no matter what is their culture, what are their values, whether they are isolated from any
other civilization etc....
(Notice: referring to some issues presented in Text 10 is necessary)
SUBMISSION
The deadline for submitting the Term Paper to Veriguide, as Assignment 2 under your group Ex,
is Sunday, 26 April 2015, 23:59. There is no need to send me the Veriguide receipt.
Late submission carries a penalty of: 10% for the first day, 30% for the second, 60% for the
third, and 100% afterward, BUT CONTACT ME IF YOU THINK YOU WILL SUBMIT
LATE.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE!
It is better to submit very late, than not submitting at all (it makes a difference in case of
critical mark situation). IN DOUBT, CONTACT ME.
Non-submission puts you at high risk of not passing the course.
IT IS BETTER TO SUBMIT A LOUSY PAPER ON TIME THAN A GOOD ONE LATE
OR NEVER.

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ESSAY OUTLINE
You can (it's not compulsory) send me an outline in point-form, of no more than one A4 page, of
what you would like to write and I will give you a feedback. This can help to avoid some
mistakes such as going off-topic or being too generic. If you want a feedback you need to send me
your outline before 22 April 2015 (I cannot guarantee a feedback if I receive it after that day).
ESSAY LENGTH
The word count for your essay should be between 1300 and 1500 words, without counting your
name, the topic statement, the references.
FILE NAME
Please, give your file the name YOURSURNAME_YOURNAME_UGFN_TP, e.g.
Law_YukSing_UGFN_TP.
ASSESSMENT
The Term Paper weighs 35% of the Final Mark
The Full Mark for the Term Paper is 14 points and is divided as follows:

Higher Level Thinking: 7 points

Understanding of the text: 4 points
Language: 1 points
Format: 2 points

FURTHER DETAILS (as for the reflective journal, except for the format points )
Content:
It is not a review of the texts, it is a reflective essay: it is necessary that you show your
reflections on the texts and the issues.
Choose a topic (see list below)
Introduce the issue,
analyze it,
show your own reflections (What do you think about the issues? How do they relate to
you? Motivate or support your statements, etc...).
Wrap-up your main points in the conclusion.
Assessment
Higher level thinking (7 points)
Addressing the issue(s) (3 points)
Understand what is(are) the main point(s) of the topic and focus on that (those).
Motivate and explain all your non-trivial statements.
Usually it is enough to just add one explanatory sentence to your statement.
Further analysis and connections (3 points)
Analyze and compare points of views, including your own.
If relevant, show connections with your personal experience (academic or not).
If relevant, show meaningful connections between different fields or different
problems.
Remarkably original and meaningful reflection, remarkably comprehensive
discussion (1 point)
Understanding of the texts (4 points)
You have to show that you have read and understood the three texts.
What you state about the content of the texts should be correct.
Higher accuracy in presenting the content is valued, within the limitations of the
word count.
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 No need to talk about everything (you cannot).

You can talk mainly about one text and mention something about the other two.
Language (1 point)
Keep it simple; check that you do not forget subject or verb in your sentences; check
grammar and spelling.
Format (2 points).
See below.
Format
Your name, the title and the reference list, do not count towards the word limit of
~1500 words.
See format template on Blackboard Course Content Reflective Journal and
Term Paper.
Basically, do not forget to put your name at the beginning of the page,
the topic, and
at least three references in the reference list.
A large number of references does not matter for the evaluation.
The presence of a clear introduction, main argument(s), and conclusion is necessary.
A not well structured essay will imply a mark deduction from the Format
component.
Use any citation and reference style you like. You may use the example in the
Template (MLA style).

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