Academic Research Assignment: Scientific Experiments On Animals

Question

Task: This assessment is worth 100 % of the total marks for the module. Produce a portfolio of evidence for each of the following tasks:
Task 1
a) Produce an A4 poster in Word which explains the key resources available to assist your learning and study. Include images in your poster to support your explanations
b) Complete a learning styles questionnaire via the link below and analyse the results you obtain about your learning preference. (http://vark-learn.com/the-varkquestionnaire/)
c) Conduct a literature search using EBSCO, find one journal, one e-book and one website on Google which will help you to complete task two which is to investigate if animals should be used for scientific experiments.
d) Using the 3 sources you have found, and in preparation for your next task, make notes using the note taking techniques below, and evaluate the usefulness of the technique.
a) Linear
b) Mind mapping for flowchart diagrams
c) Graphical organisers
Task 2
Investigate if animals should be used for scientific experiments. Using the EBSCO journal, e-book and website sources you have found, you are now required to write a summary of each source (250 words per source). You must reference each source correctly using the Harvard referencing format.
Task 3
Produce a guidance sheet for new students, which explain how to use the Harvard referencing system and how to avoid plagiarism. You will need to explain how to use citations, direct quotations and a reference list.
Task 4
Write a critical reflection of your key time management strategies for planning your study in this module. How effective were these? Comment on any improvements you would make to your time management for future modules?

Answer

Task 1
Journal to investigate if animals should be used for scientific experiments
Kischkel, S., Brietzke, A., Schmidt, W., Eickner, T., Grabow, N., & Matschegewski, C. (2019). Application of 3R principles in small animal GLP testing of biomaterials. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, 5(1), 335-337.

The paper used to prepare this academic research assignment discusses the 3R principles to save the animals from getting pain in scientific tests. The EU Parliament adopted Directive 2010/63/EU was revised in the year 2013 to protect the animals (Kischkel, et al., 2019). Animals are mainly used for basic research on the lab as well as for applied research. Animals are destroyed when their brain, gills, heart, and legs are removed during the research conducted. Animals like rats, minipigs' are used for research purposes in the lab.

The reduction of 3R indicates reducing the number of animals in scientific experiments. The reduction of animals will help to gather information within the given time and amount (Kischkel, et al., 2019). Central registering and recording samples from previous works will help to reduce the number of animals in scientific experiments.

Refinement of 3R indicates observing the well-being of animals to reduce the pain of animals used in scientific experiments (Kischkel, et al., 2019). It includes looking after animals before, during, and after the examination. Refinement also involves proper transporting and housing of the animals. Experimental techniques and design in terms of actual experimentation is also a point in Refinement.

The 3R principles outlined in the academic research assignment summaries that the number of animals in scientific experiments should be reduced (Kischkel, et al., 2019). It will help to save the animals. Saving the animals helps in maintain the ecological balance of the environment. The food cycle is maintained when there is proper balance between all the flora and fauna. Affecting the animals means affecting the ecological balance. If the animals get affected, then humans will also get effected as the whole cycle is interlinked.

E-book to investigate if animals should be used for scientific experiments
Monamy, V. (2017). Animal experimentation: A guide to the issues. Cambridge University Press.

The author has done a quantitative research method by taking a survey on some samples. The research shows that the participants are also interested in banned the process of animal use in scientific experiments (Monamy, 2017). According to the research paper outlined in this segment of academic research assignment, animal experimentation debate has risen. There are two opinions received from different participants. One side of the participants support the origins of “modern animal experiments practices," and the other hand supports intricacies of the "moral status of animals." The book is discussed in such a way to get knowledge about the rules of animals used in scientific experiments (Monamy, 2017). Many issues on tests are considered to obtain the advantages and disadvantages of animal use.

Many countries like Australia, New Zealand, and Canada have adopted alternatives policies to ban animal use in scientific experiments. The survey of the book is conducted by taking necessary regulations on animal use (Monamy, 2017).

As stated herein academic research assignment that it should be kept in mind that less harm should be given to the animals while doing experiments (Monamy, 2017). Some animals are given to consume toxic materials leading to adverse health conditions and death. The scientist should not misuse the animals or harm the animals in any way. The scientist should follow proper procedures to research successfully.

The experiment of vivisection shows that experiments on animals can be done without killing them. A group of scientists cut a dog and each and every organ has been analyzed. At the end of the experiment, dog was stitched and set free. The dog did not get pain while doing the experiment. Thus, vivisection is a safe method to do animal experiments.

Website to investigate if animals should be used for scientific experiments
peta.org. (2020). Animals Used for Experimentation. Retrieved March 13th, 2020, from https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/

In schools, small animals like cockroaches, frogs, and lizards are used for dissection in biological experiments (peta.org, 2020). Such experiments highlighted in the academic research assignment must get banned in the school to avoid animal killing. Animals die from the scientific dissection and experiments conducted in classrooms. These types of tests prevent students from loving animals. Students must be taught in the school to love animals and take care of them. This message is important for the students.

The money of taxpayers mainly conducts experiments on animals. Banned in tests of animals must be entertained because it will help the taxpayers to pay fewer taxes (peta.org, 2020). Many health charities waste their money in scientific experiments that are conducted on animals. Wastage of funds will be reduced if the use of animals is banned in scientific tests.

For solving this problem mentioned in the academic research assignment, non-animal test methods need to be introduced. Those tests will be cheaper, faster and no animals will e harmed by these tests. PETA also request health charities not to invest in animal experiments. This initiative stated herein academic research assignment will help the animals from getting die.

academic research assignment

Figure- Planning done by 60728.

Task 2
Journal to investigate if animals should be used for scientific experiments

Journal – Kischkel, S., Brietzke, A., Schmidt, W., Eickner, T., Grabow, N., & Matschegewski, C. (2019). Application of 3R principles in small animal GLP testing of biomaterials. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, 5(1), 335-337.

Summary:The paper outlined in this section of academic research assignment focuses on the ways and methods by which animals are used for scientific research. The first factor is the quality of science. If the scientific quality is too high, then the animals should not be stressed for scientific experiments unnecessarily. The technical procedures involved in scientific research should ensure the welfare and health of the animals. The second factor that is required is the concern of the public regarding the laboratory. In the laboratory, animals are used for scientific experiments. Some scientists are not in favor of using animals for scientific researches. It is considered in the context of academic research assignment that animals should not be used for research purposes to reduce the death of animals from these experiments (Kischkel, et al., 2019). The procedures involved in scientific tests result in the death of animals. When the livers of rats are removed for experimenting with the heart tissues of rats, a process of anesthesia takes. This process makes the animals weaker, leading to their death.

The method used for experimenting with animals is the method used for killing animals. When the livers of dogs are removed, the scientists must ensure quick recovery to conduct a study on the organs of dogs. It has been found from the research on academic research assignment that only 25 dogs survived during the scientific experiments without any complications out of 28 dogs. A novel method has to be used while using animals for scientific tests to ensure the survival of animals.

Website to investigate whether animals should be used for scientific experiments

Website: peta.org. (2020). Animals Used for Experimentation. Retrieved March 13th, 2020, from https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/

Summary:Nowadays, it is found that many rats, cats, and dogs are used by scientists to conduct scientific experiments on them. The operations are painful for them when they are being used for experiments in laboratories. It is difficult for animals to survive alone in the laboratories until and unless they become free from the locked cages of the laboratories. They sit in the laboratories with fear and wait for the painful and terrifying procedures that will be experienced by them in the laboratories. As their standard of living becomes stressed for losing contact with the environment, the animals start having a neurotic behavior like biting themselves, taking out fur, and moving around in circles.

The animals get killed after suffering from pain, loneliness, and terror. PETA took some measures to stop the physical abuse of animals. The death rate of animals is over 100 million who suffer from painful scientific experiments every year (peta.org, 2020). The animals suffer and die due to toxic chemicals used in food and drugs while conducting the tests. These experiments mentioned in the academic research assignment are usually held in "medical training exercises," and "medical experiments" in various universities. Birds, cold-blooded animals, and rats fall under 99% of animals that are used for experimental tests. These animals could not even be provided with the minimum protection by the "Animal Welfare Act." The rats and mice are forced to inhale poisonous fumes and chemicals that are harmful to the sensitive eyes of the rabbits.

Animal Experimentation-A guide to the issues

Ebook- Monamy, V. (2017). Animal experimentation: A guide to the issues. Cambridge University Press.

Summary: The use of animals in laboratories has been a controversial issue in this journal of academic research assignment. Millions of human lives got saved by these scientific experiments on animals by reducing the sufferings of humans. Too much stress and pain have to be suffered by the animals leading to the death of their animals. Strong emotions and complicated questions are generated from scientific experiments on animals. An essential component or element of biomedical research is the experimentation of animals. It is an effort to treat, cure, and prevent many diseases and ailments. Animals are used in scientific experiments to learn about the most common diseases like cancer and heart diseases for obtaining sufficient knowledge on subjects such as life sciences, physiology, and genetics. Around 17 to 22 million animals used every year for testing and experiments in laboratories.

Generally, all vertebrates are used for testing purposes in the laboratories that include mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish (Monamy, 2017). Mainly rats and mice are used in laboratories. The animals experience wide range of behavioral and biomedical investigations. New techniques are used in different medical procedures like surgery of animals. Sometimes the animals are even killed just after removing an essential tissue or organ for conducting further research on academic research assignment. Most of the animals that are used as samples for research studies are killed just after performing the scientific experiments on them. Researchers are using animals for operations to learn the causes of addictions to drugs and mental illness.

Task 3
The researchers, writers, and students use the Harvard referencing system to take the ideas and quotes of other writers. It helps a writer to support their opinions and arrive at a justified conclusion (Baranova, 2016). As discussed in the academic research assignment, this format of referencing is generally used in different publications, and assignments for behavioral, natural, and social science disciplines. Harvard referencing system is also known as a “parenthetical referencing system." There are mainly two main components of this style.

In-text citations
It will include the surname of the author—the year in which the journal or the article was published (Elkin, et al., 2016). The year needs to be shown in brackets where that source has contributed to the writing or work.

A reference lists
All the sources used in the academic research assignment need to be outlined and cited directly at work.

The reference list of Harvard citations needs to be arranged alphabetically, which helps the readers to locate and find out each source easily (Windle, et al., 2017). When In-text citations are used, they indicate the places which have been directly paraphrased or quoted from a literary source. Each entry or citation should correspond to the parenthetical citation in the writing or work (Cottrell, 2019). It becomes easy for the reader to know the source from the reference list .

A bibliography has to be provided at the end of the work, which is required by some universities. It is a long list of all the literary sources such as journals and books which have been consulted while conducting research or study (Wares, 2016). It indicates the amount of research done on various topics. The name of the author and the year of publication are used by the Harvard referencing style.

Harvard Formatting style discussed in the academic research assignment is mainly used on humanities-based assignments and articles (Decker, et al., 2018). It is also used in natural sciences, social sciences, and behavioral sciences-based transfer and essays.

The Harvard system referencing system called author-date system primary uses author’s last name and publication date. For example, if a reference needs to be taken for the usage of animal for scientific experiment such as “Monamy, V. 2017. Animal experimentation: A guide to the issues. Cambridge University Press”, the intext citation would be (Monamy, 2017) where (Last name of author, publishing year)

Scholars using Harvard style referencing find the affordable format way of writing because it is accessible to the reader (George & Rowland, 2017). It does not contain any footnotes which could crowd the page and bore the readers. This type of referencing style includes the following information provided within the academic research assignment: -

The name of the author
The published date from which the source is taken
The page number of the source.

Direct quotation: It is the usage of direct quotation of referring authors to the current writing without altering placing the quotation within quotation marks. For example, "The construction of a modern research institution."( Monamy, 2017, p.77) where (last name of author, publishing year, page number)

Rules to avoid Plagiarism
The researcher should follow these eight simple rules so that plagiarism can be avoided in academic research assignment. They are: -

Researchers must use short quotations technique.
Researchers must avoid the copy-pasting job.
Researchers must cite while writing(Robles, et al., 2020). It helps in avoiding fake citations. Researchers can give official quotations if they cite while writing.
Researchers must not copy any images online(Awasthi, 2019). Copying images from other sources is also a sign of plagiarism.
The researcher must take permission from the copyright holder while doing quoting from another source(Adhikari, 2018). Copying small parts from other sources is also a sign of plagiarism (Nimasari, 2018). If the researcher needs add any quotation in the academic research assignment, then the researcher must take permission.
When doing a job in a team, it is the responsibility of the head to inform other co-authors about plagiarism(Beng, et al., 2018). All the members of the team must know about the plagiarism (Raj, 2016). If any member of the team does plagiarism, then it will be reflected in the work of the overall organization.
If the researcher is re-using any images from open journals, then it must be cited in the academic research assignment (Alario-Hoyos, et al., 2017). Proper testing must be done so that it does not count on plagiarism.
Researchers must avoid self-plagiarism in their academic research assignment (Nova & Utami, 2018). Sometimes researchers re-use their previous images or paragraphs in an appointment (Chamon & Dantas, 2016). It results in copyright infringement.

Task 4
Different time management strategies for planning the study and how effective are those strategies.

A schedule plan template has to be used daily.

A scheduled program will help to remain more organized and stay focused on the work. The method that needs to be used for planning the survey is "time blocking." Time blocking is the process of evaluating how to utilize every minute and design the study accordingly. The routines for evening and morning have to be prepared to divide the timing of the most critical tasks. A separate time block has to be kept aside for completing the most significant projects on time (Özsoy, et al., 2017). The study schedule has to be ready in the ways listed below: -

It breaks for food
It breaks for exercise
Social time with family or friends is all covered in the overall schedule.

· Understanding the process of time spent on studying
It is impossible to follow the time management strategies until and unless it is properly understood how the time is being utilized every day. Firstly, a time log has to be created to track how each moment of the day is being utilized while developing academic research assignment (Zhou, et al., 2016). Secondly, Free tools like “rescue time” have to be used so that it becomes easier to log on time automatically.

· Proper goals have to be set to assess the progress
The way we make our goals is wrong. Thus, it is essential to know how to set our goals every day. Firstly, I have to make a target each day so that the end of the month can achieve the entire purpose of studying the module. If the progress is seen every day, then the student will be motivated and inspired more (Sauvé, et al., 2018). For example, if I have to complete studying a module of 30 pages within a month, then I have to set a goal that I have to complete at least one page each day. Better habits can be incorporated if I focus on my progress every day.

· Large projects have to be divided into smaller tasks.
As time management is a significant component of planning my study on academic research assignment, I will divide the large projects into small subtask. Firstly, I need to go to the library and start reading books on relevant topics. Secondly, the table of contents has to be skimmed appropriately. Thirdly, the headings of the paragraphs provided in the academic research assignment need to be highlighted and researched accordingly. Then the first paragraph of the books needs to be understood and summarized. Three hours should be spent every day by writing the topics that have been recognized and studied.

· Planning Fallacy needs to be avoided.
Sometimes we become too much optimistic about scheduling a task and how to complete the job. It is termed as "The Planning Fallacy" by the psychologists. To avoid this "planning fallacy," the work or the study has to be scheduled. It should suggest the familiarity with the task is kept in mind. If it is the same topic that I am studying in the academic research assignment, I will give some time to think about that particular topic.

· The study time needs to be optimized for the academic research assignment
All kinds of distractions, like phones and television, have to be avoided. A timer has to be set as an even distraction of five minutes that can be harmful to me. Sufficient breaks have to be taken at the right time so that the mind and eyes feel relaxed.

· How effective were these time management strategies for preparing academic research assignment?
These time management strategies have been effective in helping me to achieve success academically. By using effective strategy, it was easy for me to manage the time in completing my study. The continuous-time management helped me to stay away from all kinds of digital distractions. It helps me to feel relaxed by taking breaks. By preparing a term calendar, it became easy for me to create the format of my schedule to complete within the time.

· Improvements that I need to make on my time management
I have to use some time management apps that are available on IOS devices and Android. It will increase my productivity and help me to finish off my tasks on academic research assignment faster. Effective planning and discipline are required in time management. I should take the initiative to complete my task of academic research assignment a week earlier. If I find some extra time left before the end of the day after completing my study, I should start the tasks allotted for the next day.

Bibliography
Adhikari, S., 2018. Beyond culture: Helping international students avoid plagiarism. Journal of International Students, 8(1), pp. 375-388.

Alario-Hoyos, C. et al., 2017. Understanding learners’ motivation and learning strategies in MOOCs. Academic research assignment The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(3).

Awasthi, S., 2019. Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct: A Systematic Review.. DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, 39(2).

Baranova, J., 2016. HARWARD REFERENCING SYSTEM AND ITS USE BY THE STUDENTS OF THE TTI. B. Misnevs, p. 63.

Beng, O. K., Saravanamuttu, J. & Guan, L. H., 2018. March 8: Eclipsing May 13. SARJANA, 24(1), pp. 132-139.

Chamon, W. & Dantas, P. E. C., 2016. What is plagiarism after all?. Arquivos brasileiros de oftalmologia, 79(2), pp. V-VI.

Cottrell, S., 2019. The study skills handbook. s.l.:Macmillan International Higher Education.

Decker, S. et al., 2018. Change of referencing style. s.l.:Taylor & Francis.

Elkin, J., Ortega, M. & Williams, H., 2016. Referencing handbook: Harvard. s.l.:University of Lincoln.

George, S. & Rowland, J., 2017. Referencing: student choice or student voice?.

Kischkel, S. et al., 2019. Application of 3R principles in small animal GLP testing of biomaterials. Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, 5(1), pp. 335-337.

Monamy, V., 2017. Animal experimentation: A guide to the issues. s.l.:Cambridge University Press.

Nimasari, E. P., 2018. How do Undergraduate Students avoid Plagiarism?. Senior Editor: Paul Robertson, p. 261.

Nova, M. & Utami, W., 2018. EFL STUDENTS’PERCEPTION OF TURNITIN FOR DETECTING PLAGIARISM ON ACADEMIC WRITING. Academic research assignment International Journal of Education, 10(2), pp. 141-148.

Özsoy, G., Memi?, A. & Temur, T., 2017. Metacognition, study habits and attitudes. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 2(1), pp. 154-166.

peta.org, 2020. Animals Used for Experimentation. [Online]
Available at: https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/
[Accessed 13th March 2020].

Raj, S., 2016. PLAGIARISM: MYTH V/s REALITY.. Global Media Journal: Indian Edition.

Robles, V. C., Rivas, M. R. & Campos, J. A. S., 2020. Study of the reasons for and measures to avoid plagiarism in young students of education. Profesorado, Revista de Currículum y Formación del Profesorado, 24(1), pp. 74-98.

Sauvé, L., Fortin, A., Viger, C. & Landry, F., 2018. Ineffective learning strategies: a significant barrier to post-secondary perseverance. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 42(2), pp. 205-222.

Wares, C., 2016. LibGuides: Referencing: Harvard Referencing Guidelines.

Windle, R. J. et al., 2017. Referencing your work with Harvard.

Zhou, Y., Graham, L. & West, C., 2016. The relationship between study strategies and academic performance. Academic research assignment International journal of medical education, Volume 7, p. 324.

Tags: scientific experiments social research

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