Assignment Purpose:
The final project is your opportunity to demonstrate that you can apply the principles of food science taught over the course of the semester to successfully modify a recipe to achieve new plan and execute a formal experiment based on the scientific method. So essentially, you’ll practice two things that will help you later in life: 1) applying the food science principles and knowledge taught in this course, and 2) practice applying the scientific method so you can experience how a good experiment should be run (so you can critically evaluate whether experiments that you encounter are sound, and so you can create future experiments to test your own theories in the future). Your final project, has seven (7) components:
1. Identify an area of inquiry: Choose an existing recipe, with the aim to improve that recipe in a way of your choosing. 2. Conduct a literature review: Research the scientific principles involved with achieving the desired improvement of your chosen recipe. 3. Form a hypothesis: Based on your research, modify the original recipe, to achieve the desired outcome that you have chosen. 4. Conduct your experiment: Make the original recipe once. Then also execute your modified recipe. 5. Report your results: Document the process and output of your attempts to execute on the original and modified recipes. 6. Analyze your experiment results: Evaluate whether, and explain why your modified recipe (did not) achieve your desired outcome. 7. Discuss your learnings and advise future researchers: Discuss the weakness and flaws of your experiment and make suggestions on how others can use your experience to help make their own recipe changes in the future.
Project Component Guidelines and Details:
The following is more detail on each of the components of your final project. This is not a comprehensive, yes/no list of what you are/not allowed to do for your project. These guidelines and details exist so that you can explore what is interesting to you and still meet the learning objectives of this assignment. If after reading this section, you still have questions, please contact Sybil.
1. Identify an area of inquiry – You have a lot of latitude here. Ask yourself what in the world of food do you want to find out more about? What have you always been curious about? Maybe you want to find a way to make a healthier version of your favorite recipe. A fluffier version of your mom’s favorite cake? A way to make a favorite treat gluten- or dairy-free? Choose an area of food science that you are genuinely interested in, and that relates to some of the scientific principles discussed in the course.
2. Conduct a literature review – Now it’s time to do some background research so you know what factors are important to consider about your area of inquiry. For example, if you chose to explore ways to make a fluffier version of your mom’s favorite cake, conduct some research into what creates leavening in the cake’s existing recipe; what other leavening methods exist; which and why certain alternative leavening methods may (not) be applicable to your current situation. Remember, it’s important to discuss a variety of alternatives and explain why you believe certain alternatives to be relevant and why you’ve eliminated other alternatives. The person reading your literature review should come away with: An understanding of how your baseline recipe achieves the results that it achieves. An understanding of your logic/reasoning of how you came to your hypothesis in part three. In other words, why you chose the particular change(s) that you’ve chosen for your hypothesis. Your literature review must pull from legitimate, expert sources. Legitimate sources – these are pieces of writing, authored by someone/organization with verifiable expertise on the subject matter. This means that Wikipedia is not a legitimate source, because Wikipedia does not author anything. Wikipedia compiles and organizes sources of information. Wikipedia is a good place to start exploring a subject, but you must also read and critically examine the content that Wikipedia references, and evaluate whether the referenced content is worthy of citation (eg. if the underlying referenced article is authored by a legitimate source). You can generally consider scientific journals, educational institutions (colleges, universities), governmental institutions, and major newspaper print publications (eg., New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal) as reputable sources. Expert sources – If the source you want to cite is a person, you must verify that the author has formal expertise, education, knowledge or experience on the subject. You need to demonstrate that strong evidence exists that others also consider the author to be an expert. For example, is the author cited by other people? Does the person teach the subject? Has the person written a book, text, or rigorously reviewed article on the subject? As a part of your literature review, you are to research the purpose of each ingredient in your original recipe. Complete the ingredient template provided on iLearn and include it as Exhibit 4 at the end of your report. 3. Form a Hypothesis – Here you will need to clearly state what change(s) you plan to make to a baseline; and what you expect the change you’ve made will result in. Your hypothesis has two parts to it: Part 1 – A formal declaration of your independent variable(s) the change(s) you will make to the existing recipe, and Part 2 – A formal declaration of the dependent variable(s), the result(s) you expect that change to yield. An example hypothesis might look like: This experiment will lower the bread dough fermentation temperature by 10°F from 85°F to 75°F and extend the fermentation time from 3 hours to 5 hours, with the expectation that the resulting bread will be more flavorful and lighter in texture. Notice that “Part 1” is achieved by stating the changes that will be made: that fermentation temperature will be lower, how much it will be lower by, and that fermentation time will be extended, and how much longer the fermentation time will be. These changes are your independent variables – they are ‘independent’ of any other controlling factors. Notice that “Part 2” is achieved by stating that the changes are expected to result in “a lighter texture,” and “more flavor.” “Lighter texture” and “more flavor” are your dependent variables – their results are dependent on the effect from your ‘independent’ variables, the changes in temperature and fermentation times. Your hypothesis should not be long. It should be one to two sentences. The hard work and explanations on how you came to your hypothesis should have been covered in the literature review. 4. Conduct your experiment – This is the start of the fun part. It’s time to test whether your hypothesis is true. To show that your hypothesized change(s) will yield the prediction(s) that you’ve made, you will need to demonstrate a difference between the original recipe (this is also called your experiment control), and your modified/hypothesized recipe. This means, you must: Make the control (original) recipe at least once. Measure and record the dependent variables you get from each making of the original recipe. Make the hypothesized recipe at least once. Measure and record the dependent variables you get from each making of the hypothesized recipe. Following on the example hypothesis from above, you would bake the control recipe, using a fermentation temperature of 85°F and a fermentation time of 3 hours. You would then evaluate the resulting bread based on its taste and texture. Your method of ‘evaluation’ might be to have 20 friends taste the bread and rate the bread’s taste and texture. You would also then bake the hypothesis recipe with a 75°F fermentation temperature and 5 hour fermentation time, and have the same 20 friends taste and rate the taste and texture of the hypothesis bread. You will need to describe how you conducted the experiment. Imagine yourself as a baseball game announcer – your job here is to describe all the little details about how you set up the experiment, execute the experiment, and measure your dependent variable(s). The objective of your description is to be so detailed and precise that the reader would be able to re-create the exact, same experiment, just from your description. Your description may include everything from the brand of thermometer used to measure the water temperature, to the background and skill level of the person baking the bread. In addition, you are required to include photographic evidence of your experiment. Please take pictures of: The experiment as it is in process – for example, this might be a picture of you taking the temperature of the water being used in the two different recipes; the two batches of dough proofing; or the process of mixing both/either doughs. The resulting products that will be evaluated – for example, this would be the resulting breads that your taste-testers would be evaluating. The two key things to note for this section are: Document and clearly describe how you are conducting the experiment – everything from set up, to recipe execution, how you are measuring the dependent variables, to who your taste testers are (if you’re using taste testers). When conducting your experiment, you use the same methods when measuring the dependent variables of your control and hypothesis recipes. 5. Report your results – You will plainly report the results you observed from your experiment. This is not an area for analysis. This section is simply a regurgitation and organized formatting or presentation of the data that you collected from your experiment. This section must include:
The number of observations for each dependent variable – for example, how many taste responses did you get for each bread? How many texture responses did you get for each bread? A summation (average and standard deviation) of the responses for each dependent variable. For example, what was the average and standard deviation of taste quality for the control bread; for the hypothesis bread? What was the average and standard deviation of texture quality for the control bread; for the hypothesis bread? I encourage you to use a table to organize and present your results. For example, your table might look like this: In addition to summarizing your data in a table, you will dryly regurgitate the contents of your table in written form, noting any unusual results. For example, based on the table above, your ‘Report of Results’ might include: Twenty taste testers evaluated the control bread, however one taste taster was unable to continue tasting of the hypothesis bread. Thus only 19 observations were recorded for the hypothesis bread condition. All taste and texture ratings are based on a 1-5 scale with a 5 rating as “Highly appealing,” and a 1 as “Highly Un-appealing.” Overall, the average taste rating for the control bread was 3.60, which is higher than the average taste score of 3.53 on the hypothesis bread. Yes….the reporting is just that dry. This section is not about being colorful or flowery. Your writing should be dry and clinical – just report the numbers. 6. Analyze your experiment results – This is where you think about the results that you’ve reported in the previous section. Based on the results you reported, was your hypothesis correct? Explain why your modified recipe (did not) achieve your predicted outcome. You can have multiple explanations. This is perhaps the most difficult part of your paper – critically evaluate whether 7. Discuss your learnings and advise future researchers: Discuss the weakness and flaws of your experiment and make suggestions on how others can use your experience to help make their own recipe changes in the future. Conclude your paper with a short (less than one page) opinion on whether (or under what conditions) consumers should make their own version of the product, or purchase the processed version in the store. Think about cost factors, and labor/skill, ingredients, and equipment requirements. Guidelines & Specification This assignment has a seven (7) page MAXIMUM, excluding supporting exhibits, any appendices, and reference pages. This is also a research paper and you must include at least four (4) secondary, non-web
based research resources, and cite their contribution in a separate reference section of your paper. Use APA in-text citation methods in addition to including a separate reference section at the end of your paper. You will have at least four (4) exhibits, which will be included at the end of your written text, but before the reference section: 1. Exhibit 1 – The recipe(s) that you started with – the full text, and fully cited. 2. Exhibit 2 – Your hypothesis recipe(s), which should include full instructions and any photos that you feel is necessary for the reader to execute the recipe successfully. 3. Exhibit 3 a. Photos of your experiment in process, b. Photos of your finished recipe outputs 4. Exhibit 4 – Completed ingredient research template (template available on iLearn) In the header or footer of your report write-up, please include: Your SFSU ID# Page number Your report must also have a cover page. The cover page does NOT count towards your page limit. The cover page must list: The report title Your SFSU ID# The current semester and year. The paper is to be written in either Cambria or Times New Roman, in either an 11-or 12-point font size with 1.5x line spacing. All facts and quotes must be accompanied with an appropriate in-text citation corresponding to a full citation in a reference section at the end of your report. You must use the APA (American Psychological Association) citation method. If you are unsure about how to properly cite a source using the APA format, refer to: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/ (in-text) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/06/ (for articles) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/08/ (for books) Allowable Recipe Guidelines & Suggestions You are pretty much allowed to experiment on any starting recipe you want, just as long as you are able to: Actually make the original and modified recipes. Take into consideration whether you have access to the ingredients, equipment and facilities that the recipe calls for. Remember, you will have access to the Vista Room kitchen during a couple of your lab sessions to work on your experiment. Coordinate with Chef Amil on what equipment and materials you may utilize, for your experiment. Produce food outcomes that can be evaluated. Take into consideration that you will have to evaluate the quality of the recipe outputs. This likely means that you will have to get others to taste and provide feedback on what you’ve made. Make sure that whatever your recipes produce are edible and others would be willing to taste and evaluate what you’ve made. Explain and discuss the ingredients you’ve chosen/replaced/kept.
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