LAES 301/411: Feasibility Study

Description

In this independent research study you are going to take one aspect of a proposed solution to one of our course projects and become an expert on it. When you are done, you should have detailed knowledge of your topic, be familiar with all related work, and be able to assess the feasibility and sustainability of it as it pertains to its role in a proposed solution. Your research paper will serve as the vehicle to share your expertise with the rest of your group and class.

Your prose must be clear, precise, swift, and accurate. Above all, you need to have a clear purpose for your document, and a clear audience member or members in mind. You need to add to the ongoing professional conversation about your topic and so this means you need to quickly move past summary and get right into the heart of the solution that you are proposing. This is actually academic journalism, using active and interesting research sources to write something that is currently not available in the marketplace of ideas.

Paper Organization

Your research paper's organization should be similar to this:

• Abstract (250 words)
  • Summary of work
    • Note: This is not a "teaser". It is a micro-version of the entire paper.
  • Conclude with outcome of work.
    • Note: Write a draft of this first and then revise and complete it after finishing the rest of the paper.
• Introduction
  • Describe (at a high level) the issue.
  • Briefly, what's been done to address this issue?
  • Specifically, what are you researching?
  • Summary of the rest of the paper.
• Background
  • Give the reader the context to understand the issue and your work.
    • Note: Assume a non-technical, but interested reader.
• Research (The title should be the topic you are researching)
  • Provide an unbiased assessment.
  • Support your statements.
• Application and Feasibility
  • Can we use what you have discovered in our class project. How?
• Related Work
  • Write a one paragraph summary per alternative method to handle the issue.
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

Paper Requirements

Your paper must:

• be a minimum of 2,000 words, no more than 3,000,
• use a professional publication, 2-column format (look up a suitable professional conference/journal and user their template),
• include images with captions and be sure to cite all images in the bib,
• include a rich, thorough bibliography (use either MLA or APA citation format), and
• be accessible to everyone in the class.

Deliverables

Submit your research paper electronically via PolyLearn on (or before) April 21.

Assessment

TBD