Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Final project instructions

For your final project in the course, you will select one of the following research options:

1.) Art/lit option:

Research the life and work of one artist or writer and write a paper discussing how one of that person’s works (a painting, poem, story, play, novel, etc.) was significant in his or her career. I suggest you select an artist or writer and a work with which you are already familiar and in which you are interested.

2.) Local history option:

Research a significant person, landmark or institution in a local community’s history and write a paper discussing the subject’s influence (good, bad or mixed) on that community. If you select this option, I suggest you take advantage of the Kenneth Dorn Regional History Study Center at FMCC’s Evans Library.

3.) Science/tech option:

Research a cutting-edge development in science, technology, engineering or medicine and write a speculative paper discussing what the future significance of this development might be. For example, you might research how scientists are developing a new technique for curing a disease, or how a software company is designing a new Web application.

4.) Education option:

Research a current development in education theory and/or practice and write a paper discussing how the development has affected schools and students (or how it might in the future).

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No matter which option you choose, your speculation, argument or analysis must be based on evidence from your research sources, not merely your own personal opinions or “common sense.” I will be happy to suggest specific sources for your individual project, and of course the staff at the FMCC library is available for research consultation.

The final paper will be 5 to 7 pages long (double-spaced in a standard 12-pt font) and will include a separate cover sheet and a separate “Works Cited” page listing your sources according to MLA style. Your paper must use at least five separate sources. You will use either end notes or footnotes for your citations (not in-text citations).

Timeline for research project:

Nov. 19: Discuss ideas and early findings in research groups.
One-page research proposal due (summary of topic, research question, working thesis and notation for three likely sources).

Nov. 26: Oral presentations, part I

Dec. 3: Oral presentations, part II

Dec. 10: Oral presentations, part III (last class meeting)

Dec. 12: Final papers due in my mailbox in C-209 by noon.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Help with MLA style for source citations

In case you've lost your little blue book from the library, or you don't have Chapter 8 of your textbook handy, you might want to use this convenient summary of MLA style for citing sources in research papers. View it online or print out a copy to keep:

http://library.albany.edu/usered/cite/mla.pdf