QEP Assessment Project

Faculty should announce to students:

In addition to your General Biology assignments, you will take part in a critical thinking exercise to
evaluate how well you process information provided to you in a case study. Here is what you are asked
to do:
1. Open the QEP BIO-123 Presentation and careful read entire presentation. You are encouraged
to view the web links offered in the presentation.
2. Open the QEP Energy Drink Article and read carefully, paying close attention to the “Ingredients
& Nutrition Facts”. You will need this information to answer the questions asked of you. Also
included in this section is “Biochemical Information”. Use clues in this section to identify the
type of biomolecule represented by this ingredient. Remember when we learned about
biomolecules in chapters 2 and 3? You will be applying that knowledge in this exercise.
3. Now, it is time to discuss with your classmates your initial thoughts on the common components
of energy drinks, focusing on calories (question #2), caffeine (question #3), and the purpose of
caffeine and other additives (question #4). Instructors are asked to open dialog with their
students.
4. Finally, you will summarize your findings into a final report. You should research your findings,
and your suspicions, in published literature. You will need to cite those sources in this
summary. Open the QEP Energy Drink Assignment and read the four criteria for your
report. Make sure you clearly cover all four parts. Review the Critical Thinking VALUE rubric,
and use it as a guide for writing your paper. Ask your instructor to explain the rubric to you if
you do not understand how to achieve full credit in each criterion (Explanation of Issues,
Evidence, Influence of Context, Student’s Position, and Conclusion and Outcomes).