3.1 Write effectively in multiple contexts within the discipline.
In my sophomore year at Longwood, I had an experience that allowed me to translate the same topic that I was studying into several contexts. I initially performed an experiment and wrote a lab report, in which I shared my results with the class. In another course, I wrote a literature review on the same topic. Finally, I took this review and converted it into a general audience paper.
Microbial Effect of Carbon Chain Length on Brominated Esters of Parabens
In Organic Chemistry Lab II, we created a paraben where we modified the length of the carbon chain in order to study the microbial effect and safety. The goal was to decrease estrogenic activity but remain effective as an antimicrobial agent. The methods included five reactions, including aromatic synthesis, benzylic bromination and substitution, Jones oxidation, and esterification. The product was purified and tested for effectiveness on S. salivarius. I then communicated this in the form of a formal lab report.
After completing organic chemistry, I enrolled in a sophomore biology seminar course. In this course, we were given the task of writing a literature review. I chose to continue researching parabens- specifically their safety in cosmetics. I researched previous literature on the topic and compiled this information to share in a literature review. I concluded that since parabens can weakly mimic estrogen, it would be the wiser choice to develop cosmetics with different chemical preservatives to eventually fully move away from the use of parabens. This was the same general topic as my organic chemistry literature review, but shared in a different context.
Death by Deodorant: Hidden Carcinogens in Cosmetics?
Our final project in this seminar course was to convert our literature review into a general audience paper. We had to make it appealing to people without a scientific background, and understandable to anyone choosing to read it. This is a completely different context than what I am used to because we could not use any jargon or technical terms without explaining them. This paper was still within the same discipline, but in a very different context than how the topic would usually be expressed.