The purpose of this writing assignment is for students to think and reflect on their own personal diet and physical activity level while learning how nutrition impacts general well-being. The goal is for students to demonstrate their proficiency in application of nutritional science course concepts as applied to both diet and energy balance. The assignment also assesses student proficiency in analysis of specific reports generated from the MINDTAP Diet and Wellness Plus app (and/or other apps, if preferred). Reports are to be incorporated as an Appendix (singular) or Appendices (if multiple) to the reflective narrative. Most importantly, this writing assignment offers students additional practice in paraphrasing, summarizing, and citing nutrition research information and in utilizing supporting textbook information. (Students need to demonstrate proficiency in these important academic skills for completion of the end-of-the semester class project.) First, if you have not already done so as suggested in Week One, access the Diet and Wellness Plus application within MINDTAP and set up your personal profile. Now you can begin tracking your diet (or track it again, if you would like, especially if you have made some key changes). Students should also track their physical activities for a three day period. Analyze the specific reports that are generated from your three-day diet and physical activity tracking and decide what specific information you want to incorporate in support of your Reflection. Students do not need to include ALL their reports! Pick and choose which ones are most germane to your narrative. Reports from apps other than Diet and Wellness can be included, but at least ONE report from Diet and Wellness Plus should be utilized. Reports should be incorporated as an Appendix or Appendices.The Appendix or Appendices should be located at the end of your reflection narrative, after your WORK CITED section. (There is a point deduction for failing to include an Appendix or Appendices.) Students often contact me regarding the Appendix or Appendices. Here`s a link that might help: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-appendix-composition-1689125 (Links to an external site.) Students should also review their Chapter 1 and 2 Diet and Wellness Plus activities in MINDTAP. Those short answer assignments were designed to capture some of your initial thoughts from your diet tracking. Students MAY also want to complete the Diet and Wellness Plus Activities assignment in Chapter 9 and 10 after tracking physical activities. Those short answer assignments are designed to capture some of your initial thoughts regarding your personal EER, physical activity, and energy balance, concepts covered in Chapter 9 and 10. Next, construct an OUTLINE for your Reflection OR jot down some general impressions to get started. Your first paragraph should be an introduction to the diet & physical activity tracking assignment and should state the overall goal of the assignment. The body of your Reflection Narrative (4-5 additional paragraphs) should elaborate on your initial thoughts with more specific details. Here you can reference specific information from the reports and information from your textbook (and other information sources) in support of your thoughts and ideas. The body of your Reflection should NOT simply state every food item you consumed during the diet tracking; that is not a diet ANALYSIS. Likewise, do not simply list your physical activities. Remember that this writing assignment is to demonstrate what you are learning in this course. Your final paragraph should contain strong, concluding remarks. Avoid informal language, such as slang and trite statements that tend to be vague and confusing. (For example, “[T]his diet tracking really opened my eyes.” What does this even mean???) Also, avoid just trailing off without including a concluding paragraph. Writing is a process. Construct a first-draft of your Reflection. When you have finished your first draft, proof-read what you have written to ensure that it makes sense. Revise and re-write as needed for added clarity. Students often fail to elaborate or include specific details. Sticking to vague, generalized statements is confusing to your reader. If you have a concern that your writing skills need improvement, seek help. Click on the Writing Help link on the tool bar on the left hand side of Canvas. From there, you can opt to work with a TLCC student tutor OR enter the Writing Studio for writing resources including working with a Polk State English professor. Some students like submitting papers to SMART THINKING for outside feedback. Be sure to include proper, full-text citations for ALL your information sources in Works Cited section that follows your narrative. At a minimum, you need to cite your textbook and your use of the MINDTAP Diet Analysis PLUS. As well, be sure that your narrative includes properly formatted, in-text citations (parenthetical citations) for both quoted information as well as paraphrased information in order to properly credit your information sources. The link below has some good suggestions as to how to implement citation and paraphrasing into the writing process.
