This course requires a written term paper on some topic related to computer
science professional responsibilities.
Topic
The topic for the term paper and the formal presentation must be
pre-approved by the instructor.
A formal topic proposal must be submitted via Blackboard
two weeks before your presentation takes place (except for those
students giving their presentation in the first or second week).
You topic proposal must include
proposed title (and date for presentation)
proposed abstract (a two or three paragraph explanation of
the topic and your point about it)
outline of your approach to the topic
(list the big issues and how you want to look at them, maybe a note about why
this is an important or timely topic)
a short bibliography (three sources minimum;
books, papers, Web pages or other sources)
Deadlines and Due Date
Topic Proposal
two weeks before your presentation
Presentation Material (Slides)
one week before your presentation
Term Paper
one week after your presentation
Late submission is subject to a penalty of 10% per business day.
You must give a 5 - 10 sentence abstract of the
contents as part of the cover page. In addition, it must have a
bibliography attached with several citations given as sources for material used
in the paper.
You paper should contain the following information:
Cover Page:Title, author, affiliation of the author, and abstract
(5 - 10 sentences, less then 500 words is typical)
Introduction section: a rough overview of what issue you are writing about,
and your own evaluation or resolution of the issues.
Facts section: This section should have NO opinion or slant,
just give the basic facts that give rise to the issue of interest.
Any evidence must be supported by citing your sources.
Statement of Issue: This contains a few sentences (preferably one!)
specifying the issue of interest.
Arguments about the issue:
This will probably be two (maybe more) sections detailing arguments about the issue.
If your issue is mainly two sided, you may have one section advocating something,
then another section giving the opposite arguments.
This section should not hold your own arguments or judgments;
it's purpose is to list and explain the arguments that other people
have proposed (even those you do not agree with.)
Analysis: Now is the time for you to analyze, synthesize, argue,
support or attach others' arguments about the issue.
This is the main part of the paper where the A's can be earned.
Show what you think, reason out a resolution and show why you believe it works.
I do not have to agree with you, just make a good argument.
Bibliography and Citations:
It is imperative that whenever you make reference to a fact of some sort,
you cite an authoritative source for that fact.
(Ex: "the internet now makes up 4% of the Gross National Product
of the USA" [cited source goes here and in your bibliography.])
This is very important. Whenever you use ideas of others,
you must give the reference.
It is good to use ideas of others in your analysis, but you need to
acknowledge it by citing the reference.
When you use Web pages as a source, try to provide at least the following
information in addition to the "naked" URL: Title, author, affiliation,
date of publication (or date of viewing). And of course you should be
especially careful with the reliability and trustworthiness of Web pages.
Term Paper Writing Tips
do a spell check!
check the grammar!
remember the Writing Lab in 10-138
use a clean, clear format,descriptive headings
number pages
do not use long quotes; cite the ones you use
cite all "facts" you state to sources of those facts (this is important!)
link citations to your bibliography in a reasonable way
(author and name, or numbers are fine); journals also often
specify explicitly how citations must be formatted
do explicit ethical analysis in a rational manner
Grading Guidelines
20 % Facts : Facts should be clear, simple, and relevant to the issue.
10 % Issue Statement: A concise statement (one line is best) that presents the story
you want to tell.
20 %
Alternative Arguments: Cover other thinkers' thoughts.
Make sure to cover major "sides" to the issue in a neutral and balanced way.
50%
Your Analysis: This is your own analysis, preferably built upon
the Software Engineering Code of Ethics.
Original analysis is the major grade contributor.
A long, detailed report just explaining the situation,
without analysis or evaluation, will result in a low score.
Acknowledgement: I believe this was originally put together by
John Dalbey, with modifications Clark Turner and Lori Fisher.
Adopted with further modifications by Franz J. Kurfess in Winter 2003.