Assignment Guideline
Students are required to write four assignments that will cover the nutritional, economic, and agricultural conditions of a single developing country. Each student will be assigned one of three countries: Indonesia, Guatemala, and Chad. The assignment was completely random. I place into three groups students with last names beginning with A-F, G-Q, and R-Z. I then drew a country from a hat to be assigned to the A-F group. I then drew another country from the hat to be assigned to the G-Q group. The R-Z group receives the third country. Here are the sorting hat results:
The country assign to me is Chad.
Each assignment is to be NO LONGER than 3 pages including references, tables, or graphs. It should be Double-spaced with 12 point font. We prefer Times New Roman font or something very similar. Points will be taken off for text longer than 3 pages.
Assignments will undergo electronic plagiarism checks. Please review the plagiarism policy in the syllabus. To be on the safe side, always write each paragraph using original (i.e. your own) text.
A good and easy way to start your search for relevant data and resources is to google the country and the theme. For assignment two on population, if I were assigned the nation of Indonesia, I would search on “Indonesia Population” “Indonesia Population Data” “Indonesia population news” “Indonesia population policies”. Then, as I learn more about the situation in Indonesia, additional more narrow searches will be helpful. Finally, pay attention to any studies that are available online. Check out their references for good resources. Normally, you will end up with more than enough resources using these types of strategies.
Some good resources that have economic and malnutrition data:
Helpful Note: Unicef is a well-organized web site for your assignments. For example, if you arrow over the title: “Statistics by Topic + Country”, a list of the world’s countries will appear. Arrow down to your country and click. There are other ways to use this website. We recommend spending some time exploring.
- World Health Organization http://www.who.int/nutgrowthdb/database/countries/en/ (Links to an external site.)
- Our World in Data: https://ourworldindata.org (Links to an external site.)
Note: this is a useful data site but a little tougher to maneuver. You might need to be looking for something specific.
- Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). http://www.fao.org/home/en/
Assignment Instruction
The country I’m assign to is Chad
Income, trade, food subsidies in <Indonesia, Guatemala, Chad>, by <Your name>
The third major assignment will be on income, income disparity, trade, and food subsidies (hereafter ITF). Our text and Dr. Stiegert’s course material from weeks two/three is very relevant for developing this section. Here is what we are looking for.
- Develop some high-quality introductory content that explains what is ITF and why it is important to understanding malnutrition and hunger for your country. Course content could be very useful here. You are free to cite class powerpoints and/or the course readings.
- Collect data about ITF in your country. You should collect enough data for one table and one figure or two tables. The figure should use data that is NOT in the tables. If you bring in a table or figure from another source, make sure you cite the source under the table or figure and include this source in your bibliography.
- After creating your tables and figures, create high-quality content that explains the data you collected. You might look at the course textbook by Leather and Foster to see how to write about tables and figures.
- Finally, expand out from your data collection and discussion to include other sources that deepen and broaden your discussion. For example, if your country has massive income disparity problems or significant rural/urban income differences, can you find additional sources about why this matters? Use those sources to broaden and deepen your discussion.
One good option: It may be useful to compare your country’s statistics with statistics from neighboring countries, countries with similar geography, similar political systems, or other similarities you think are important. This is not required but it could provide useful perspectives and richness to your findings.
- Finally, develop your bibliography. Follow the same conventions you used in assignment 1. Refer to assignment 1’s description page for any additional details and/or resources.
Rubric
Assignment Rubric
| Assignment Rubric | ||
| Criteria | Ratings | Pts |
| This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeIntroductory Content and Length Grader: take 10 points if assignment is longer than 3 pages. | 43.0 to >30.0 pts Proficient Excellent overview that connects the assignment topic to understanding its importance in confronting malnutrition and world hunger. 30.0 to >15.0 pts Average Good overview that connects the topic to MWH. Some explanations are incomplete. 15.0 to >0 pts Poor Introductory content is poorly constructed with gaping areas that need improvement. Some parts may be okay, but it is not of acceptable quality. | 43.0 pts |
| This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeData Collection and Discussion | 44.0 to >30.0 pts Proficient (17 points) Student has collected sufficient data to produce a one table and one figure or two tables. (6 points) The sources of the data are indicated at the bottom of any tables or figures. (20 pts) Description of the tables and figures are detailed enough that non-experts will understand why it is important and relevant to the topics in our course. 30.0 to >15.0 pts Average Sum up each part. Dock points if missing, poorly done, etc. Allow figures from other sources if properly cited. 15.0 to >0 pts Poor Sum up each part. Dock points if missing, poorly done, etc. Allow figures from other sources if properly cited. | 44.0 pts |
| This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeExtensions on the topic | 43.0 to >30.0 pts Proficient (23 points) Student adds more content from other sources that help justify and explain the findings in the data. Sources are added to the bibliography. (20 points) Student does an excellent job discussing the extended findings. Extensions could from original research, material from magazines, reports from non-profits. 30.0 to >15.0 pts Average Sum up each part. Student falls in this range if sum is suggestive of very average work. 15.0 to >0 pts Poor Sum up each part. Dock points if missing, poorly done, etc. | 43.0 pts |
| Total Points: 130.0 |
