HIST 485: Final Paper/Project: Due by 11:00 AM, December 20, 2015
Task: Your final paper/project will provide you with an opportunity to examine in greater depth any subject that fits the scope of this course. You can expand on a theme we have discussed in class or introduce a new theme we haven’t explored. You can examine issues in higher education in the context of public or private universities, small colleges or large state universities, liberal arts or vocational approaches, not-for-profits or for-profits, in the context of educational policy, finances, historical development, demographics, or any other reasonable topic. Given that this course has largely focused on an institutional rather than pedagogical level, topics concerning higher education pedagogy are probably not appropriate, although you should feel free to raise a topic with me that you feel fits the general scope of the course.
Purpose: I’m interested in how you are thinking about higher education after a semester of studying and discussing the topic. In that sense, the purpose of the paper is for you to deepen your reflections of a topic studied or introduce a new topic in light of what you have learned. The purpose is not for you to summarize or synthesize everything we have discussed, but to have the semester inform both your selection of topics and how you approach it. In that sense, I expect that you will be putting new research into your papers/projects as well as drawing upon (some of) the readings we have done in class.
Format: Your final paper/project can take a number of different forms: You can write a traditional research paper, approximately 15-20 pages long and based on a thesis which you will state, the evidence to support the thesis and a conclusion. You can write a policy paper in which you (in the role of a congressional staffer or researcher at a public policy institute) are recommending legislation, in which case you will state your policy clearly and present evidence to support its adoption. You can stage a debate between two different positions, in which you will present the strongest case for each side and provide a conclusion in which you say how you would come down in the debate. Or, you can present your project in a different media form. For example, you can produce a 15-20-minute podcast (which, as in good podcasts, should have some elements of sound design as well as your voice. You can produce a short video (15-20 minutes); or you can write and produce a radio script.
Whatever format you choose, it should be the appropriate one for your presentation. A research paper will go best as a research paper, not a podcast. A radio script will have more drama than a policy paper, etc. My only advice here is not to take up a media form with which you are unfamiliar, as you will spend too much time learning how to record sound, for example, and that will take away from the content.
Citations/References/Bibliography: Regardless of which format you choose, your project will have to be well documented. If you write a traditional paper, the references will be in the form of footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography; the same for a policy paper. Footnote/endnote citations should be in the form that can be found here: http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/svolk/citation.htm.
Bibliography entries should follow the latest Chicago Manual of Style, which is standard for historical documentation.
If you use an audio or video format, you will need to turn in a bibliographic section discussing the sources you used in preparing your project. You will need to provide citations for any direct quotes you use, using the same format as above and noting where in the audio/video they are. For example: At 11:34, quote taken from…
Submitting work: All written work should be in either Word or pdf format, 1”margins; 12-point type, 15-20 pages including the bibliographic materials. You will upload it to Blackboard much as you upload your weekly responses (although in a different part of Blackboard). If you produce an audio or video format, you’ll need to get me an mp3 or other audio/video file. I’m unclear how large a file can be uploaded. In any case, talk to me if you plan to send me a large file and we’ll figure out the best form for that to happen. All written work that accompanies an audio/video project should be uploaded to Blackboard.
Honor Code: Your work must include an honor code.
Due date: All work is due NO LATER than 11:00 AM on Sunday, December 20. I will not read any papers turned in after that time unless you have an official incomplete. No exceptions. I usually don’t write many comments on final papers, so make a note on your paper if you would like them.
Questions? Talk to me.
Task: Your final paper/project will provide you with an opportunity to examine in greater depth any subject that fits the scope of this course. You can expand on a theme we have discussed in class or introduce a new theme we haven’t explored. You can examine issues in higher education in the context of public or private universities, small colleges or large state universities, liberal arts or vocational approaches, not-for-profits or for-profits, in the context of educational policy, finances, historical development, demographics, or any other reasonable topic. Given that this course has largely focused on an institutional rather than pedagogical level, topics concerning higher education pedagogy are probably not appropriate, although you should feel free to raise a topic with me that you feel fits the general scope of the course.
Purpose: I’m interested in how you are thinking about higher education after a semester of studying and discussing the topic. In that sense, the purpose of the paper is for you to deepen your reflections of a topic studied or introduce a new topic in light of what you have learned. The purpose is not for you to summarize or synthesize everything we have discussed, but to have the semester inform both your selection of topics and how you approach it. In that sense, I expect that you will be putting new research into your papers/projects as well as drawing upon (some of) the readings we have done in class.
Format: Your final paper/project can take a number of different forms: You can write a traditional research paper, approximately 15-20 pages long and based on a thesis which you will state, the evidence to support the thesis and a conclusion. You can write a policy paper in which you (in the role of a congressional staffer or researcher at a public policy institute) are recommending legislation, in which case you will state your policy clearly and present evidence to support its adoption. You can stage a debate between two different positions, in which you will present the strongest case for each side and provide a conclusion in which you say how you would come down in the debate. Or, you can present your project in a different media form. For example, you can produce a 15-20-minute podcast (which, as in good podcasts, should have some elements of sound design as well as your voice. You can produce a short video (15-20 minutes); or you can write and produce a radio script.
Whatever format you choose, it should be the appropriate one for your presentation. A research paper will go best as a research paper, not a podcast. A radio script will have more drama than a policy paper, etc. My only advice here is not to take up a media form with which you are unfamiliar, as you will spend too much time learning how to record sound, for example, and that will take away from the content.
Citations/References/Bibliography: Regardless of which format you choose, your project will have to be well documented. If you write a traditional paper, the references will be in the form of footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography; the same for a policy paper. Footnote/endnote citations should be in the form that can be found here: http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/svolk/citation.htm.
Bibliography entries should follow the latest Chicago Manual of Style, which is standard for historical documentation.
If you use an audio or video format, you will need to turn in a bibliographic section discussing the sources you used in preparing your project. You will need to provide citations for any direct quotes you use, using the same format as above and noting where in the audio/video they are. For example: At 11:34, quote taken from…
Submitting work: All written work should be in either Word or pdf format, 1”margins; 12-point type, 15-20 pages including the bibliographic materials. You will upload it to Blackboard much as you upload your weekly responses (although in a different part of Blackboard). If you produce an audio or video format, you’ll need to get me an mp3 or other audio/video file. I’m unclear how large a file can be uploaded. In any case, talk to me if you plan to send me a large file and we’ll figure out the best form for that to happen. All written work that accompanies an audio/video project should be uploaded to Blackboard.
Honor Code: Your work must include an honor code.
Due date: All work is due NO LATER than 11:00 AM on Sunday, December 20. I will not read any papers turned in after that time unless you have an official incomplete. No exceptions. I usually don’t write many comments on final papers, so make a note on your paper if you would like them.
Questions? Talk to me.