Natural Science 4
Fall 2004 Term Paper
Dr. Zellmer
Important Dates for Fall 2004:
October 4, 2004 The Topic title and paragraph
must be posted on the Discussion Board in BlackBoard. Each student
must have a different topic.
October 25, 2004 Two copies of the First Draft are due in class
November 1, 2004 Two copies of Student Evaluation of the Rough Draft are
due in class. The marked-up copy and one Evaluation are to be returned to
the Author.
November 22, 2004 One copy of the Final Draft of the Term Paper is due in
class
The assignment: Select a pseudoscientific
or paranormal topic of your choice. Submit your topic and a brief
descriptive paragraph for approval by your instructor before working
on the paper itself. You may not use a topic scheduled for presentation
in the class, unless you can demonstrate that you will be covering
new material (check with your instructor). Write a 1500 word paper
(approximately four or five pages, not including your bibliography).
The paper must be typed, double-spaced, and with a 12-point font.
Include both pros and cons of the issue, but in your conclusion section
you must use critical thinking to arrive at your conclusions regarding
the issues raised. This paper is worth 200 points. If the word count
of your paper (don't count the bibliography) is less than 1500 words,
it will be given a grade of zero. Use your word processor Word Count
feature to list the word count at the end of the body of your paper.
Specific requirements:
- You will be required to have at least three references
other than the textbooks required for the course and internet web sites. You
can cite your course texts and web pages, but they must be only part of your
source material. Include all references in your bibliography.
- You must include one photocopied page from each
reference that you use, other than web sites and course textbooks. Be sure
that the page copied clearly shows what the source is and includes some material
relevant to your paper.
- Do not plagiarize. If you copy the exact words
from any source, or only make trivial changes in those words, and do not reference
the source, it is plagiarism. Direct quotes, if referenced and clearly indicated,
may be used. BUT they must be brief, and the sum of all quotes may
not add up to more than 150 words of your paper. When you use a specific
source, cite the reference at that point in your text using the name-date
APA citation method, e.g. (Sagan, 1996), to locate the reference in your bibliography.
Cite any idea not your own to a reference in the bibliography.
- Spelling and grammar will be counted toward the
grade on this paper.
- Your peer evaluation of someone else's paper
will also be counted toward your overall grade. Each student will turn
in two copies of the Rough Draft. One copy will remain with the instructor,
the instructor will issue the other copy to a fellow student reviewer.
The reviewer will read and mark up the paper, check the references, check
that the paper is not copied from somewhere, then write a 250 word constructive
evaluation of the paper, turning in two copies of the evaluation within
about one week (see the deadline). One copy will remain with the instructor
who will grade it, the other will be attached to the marked up paper when
it is returned to its author.
- The Final Draft of the term paper should incorporate
any useful instructions made by the student reviewer. The due date is absolute.
Late papers will not be accepted. You may turn them in early if you wish.
(If you have an unusual problem with any deadline, please discuss this with
your instructor before the deadline passes.)
- Format: Introduction (an overview of your
topic); Body (arguments and evidence on both sides of the issue); Conclusion
(your analysis and position); and Bibliography
- For the Bibliography and Citations, follow the
"APA" name-date format. In addition to the traditional formats for books and
journals, see how electronic sources are cited (Hacker, 2002). Be sure to
look at the sample APA paper that Hacker provides.
Hacker, Diane (2002) Retrieved September 11, 2002
from Research and Documentation On-line: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/.
For an example of a skeptical paper that roughly
follows my format, see http://www.csicop.org/si/2003-11/i-files.html for
an article by Joe Nickell on Ghost Town Ghosts. There are some differences,
however. He uses more quoted material than I allow, and his List
of References in the sidebar to the right follows a somewhat different
format from Hacker. The Word Count on his article was 2662 words,
about 1000 words more than your paper will be.
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