Jessica Kopp
Jessica Kopp is a returning student to North Dakota State University working towards her pharmacy doctorate. She is currently working at Thrifty White Pharmacy in Fargo, ND. She has previously earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology. Additionally, her first journal article was recently accepted by the Journal of Social Development.
Introduction to my portfolio
This portfolio was compiled for a course entitled ‘Writing in the Science.’ In this course, antibiotic resistance was studied and used as a platform to accomplish a number of course objectives. Among these objects, our class strived to take knowledge and integrate it into clear, concise writings. The papers we formulated were used to effectively communicate our knowledge to both the scientific community and the general public. The primary basis for our communication is a website in which we have compiled all of our works. The portfolio that I present represents my contribution to our class and to our website. This portfolio addresses the serious problem of antibiotic resistance from a descriptive perspective. Antibiotic resistance is a phenomenon that has an ability to seriously impact any individual at any time. It does not discriminate and no one is safe. Therefore, there is a need for the general public to understand antibiotic resistance in order to protect themselves and their communities.
With this objective in mind, I wrote a number of papers in multiple genres in order to convey knowledge effectively to my target audience. I will quickly introduce each paper and later will discuss each in more depth. The first two papers I wrote were reading responses. These reading responses helped me formulate an idea of how to effectively communicate my ideas and reactions to scientific writing to others. The first reading response also helped introduce me to antibiotic resistance which informed the direction I wanted to take with my final project. The next paper I wrote for my portfolio was a research article critique. For this paper, I was able to delve into a specific area of antibiotic resistance research that interested me. Additionally, this paper provided me with the opportunity explore a new genre and to write scientifically. Next, I wrote a proposal for the final project. This paper outlined my idea for descriptive paper on antibiotic resistance targeted to the general public. Once my proposal was submitted, I wrote a progress report that was used to inform my fellow classmates about how my contributions were coming. The sixth paper included in my portfolio was an annotated bibliography which provided me with the opportunity to explore articles that could inform my final project. This paper also allowed me to practice correctly citing sources in APA format. The last paper of my portfolio is my final project. My final project is a descriptive paper aimed at the general public that describes antibiotic resistance and how to deal with it.
Documents in my portfolio
Reading response 1: My first reading response is a response to a chapter I read on the antibiotic paradox. The chapter described antibiotic seeking behaviors of many patients and doctor’s responses to them. In my response, I began to solidify my idea that the general public needed to be informed on the danger of antibiotic resistance. My purpose for writing this response is to identify a major contributor to antibiotic resistance and propose a solution for it.
Reading response 2: The second reading response is a response to a chapter about writing in the sciences. This chapter discussed a number of issues including ethical concerns of writing. In my response, I chose to write about ethical concerns that I find to be extremely important including using information that is based on factual data and conveying this information not only to the scientific community, but also to the general public. The purpose of this response is to make a stance for my final project targeting the general public for my audience.
Proposal: My proposal introduces my idea for a final project. It outlines that I will be writing a descriptive paper on antibiotic resistance which will target the general public. It includes a background of antibiotic resistance in order to show that there is a need for this type of paper. Additionally, I provide a method for conducting my final project as well as a schedule of events for when it will be conducted. The purpose of this paper is to ask permission to write the intended report.
Progress report: My progress report is a memo to my fellow classmates to inform them on my contributions. It includes an introduction to my final project, a works completed section, a works planned section, and a conclusion. This paper was used to effectively communicate my progress to my classmates. In addition, it was used as a promise to uphold my part of the website.
Annotated bibliography: The annotated bibliography is a list of ten research articles followed by a brief description of each article. This paper was used as literature review to inform my final project. It allowed me to examine articles that may be useful to my project. Furthermore, it provided me with a good reference page.
Final project: My final project is a descriptive paper that examines antibiotic resistance. It includes a short introduction to the problem that calls for a need of public awareness. It also includes a brief description of antibiotic resistance, a background of this phenomenon, contributing factors, guidelines for properly using antibiotics, and a conclusion. The purpose of this paper is to spread public awareness about antibiotics with the intent to decrease antibiotic resistance.
In conclusion, this portfolio was developed for a class which used the subject of antibiotic resistance to explore writing in science. Throughout my portfolio, you will see a number of different styles and genres of writing in which I strived to meet the course objectives of using knowledge to convey information in a clear and effective manner to numerous audiences.
I hope you enjoy the readings!
If you would like to see previous comments or leave comments about Jessica's portfolio, click on the comment button below