ENGL 393 Walters Research p 1

Independent Research Paper (IRP)

Many of you are on the cutting edge of technology (or other fields), about to make
breakthroughs in your lives, planting seeds for many possible directions.

As this class is not about any of those particular directions, but something which can
help you achieve various goals, there are many possible directions to take for this
research paper.

Whatever project you choose, there will be several stages a proposal, an annotated
bibliography, an outline, and drafts. The final paper is to be at least 2,250 words.
(Though graphics and charts may alter the actual page length of that word count, but it
is roughly 10 manuscript pages.)

What is due Wee When Points

k
Research Topic First 3 Thursday, February 5
Thoughts 16
Proposal 4 Thursday, February 10
23
Annotated Bibliography 5 Thursday, March 1 35

Audience Analysis 6 Thursday, March 9 20

Outline of report 6 Thursday, March 9 5

Draft of report (before class) 8 Tuesday, March 28 10

Feedback on 4 peer drafts 8 Saturday, Apri l 1 10

Final Version 9 Thursday, April 6 100

Work is submitted in the Research Paper/IRP button of BlackBoard,
via named Green Links or the Discussion Boards (blue links).

Be sure to cite your sources your information can come from publically accessible
documents from the company itself (such as its website), internal information (just dont
violate any confidentiality agreements), or journals and news publications. You can use
MLA format, APA, footnotes, or any other consistent style.

Plagiarism is an instant zero! Even accidental plagiarism, even just serious citation
issues.
See the Writing Center and the Working With Sources zone on Bb if you need citation
help.

Structure: Please use a table of contents, section headers, bullet points, and graphics
to add clarity. You may also need appendices and other front/back matter. See
Essentials for more on reports.

Audience (if not otherwise specified): A high-level V.P., who absolutely NEEDS this
information you are presenting to help plan the goals for the next year. Do not get
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overly caught up in the role-play aspect of this assignment. Focus on presenting
researched information clearly.

Purpose (if not otherwise specified): Someone has to be able to make a DECISION of
some sort after reading your report.
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Some IRP options:

- CopyLeft, Creative Commons, other Intellectual Property Issues I havent

researched any of this in a while, though in grad school I did a few presentations on
this topic, so Im always fascinated by new opinions and information on it.

- Superseded Technology Research some technology thats possibly considered

obsolete or outdated and explore how it is still being used and may be worth
learning alongside the cutting-edge technology. Examples include ham radio,
manual typewriters, COBOL.

- Internet Privacy Issues Google reads all of our mail and adjusts its searches
based on what it knows of us, everythings crosslinked via facebook, the EU passed
the right to be forgotten laws recently pick a single aspect of this and investigate
how it affects us.

- Flaky(?) Technology The RadioLab episode 9-Volt Nirvana made me curious

about trans-cranial direct current stimulation (tCDS). You could investigate this or any other fringe
science that may be making a comeback.

- Extending Access Many times were not initially aware of the difficulties of
accessing things we are very familiar with. Examples: transferring money is very
difficult for the poor, who are less likely to have standard bank accounts; technology
access in a specific country (I just read about Googles WiFi Balloons); literacy.

- Sexism in STEM I have especially followed news of problems at conferences, as

detailed here: http://adainitiative.org/2012/12/re-post-why-conference-harassment-
matters/

TimeTravel 1 - 7-Up: Select a present day issue or concern. Search the past
scholarly literature on the topic at 7-year intervals, working backwards from the
present year. Note themes and trends in the literature. Then articulate how
theories or attitudes toward the issue have changed.

TimeTravel 2 - Single Track: Review a major journal in your chosen field over
time. Through tracing shifts in who is published, what topics are considered of
interest, what methodology is used, students develop a sense of a discipline as an
evolving entity.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_academic_journals can help you choose a
journal make sure UMBC has access to it, and that its been around since at least
the 1980s)

- Other topic if your choice make a proposal for it, and I might say yes. Do not
double-dip, and turn in something exactly the same as what you are doing for
another course, but you can definitely do a related project. (Show me the
assignment sheet for the other class as part of your proposal.)

I hate that I have to state this:

ENGL 393 Walters Research p 4
Do not plagiarize. Instant zero! Remember to cite information/ideas, not just exact
words. See the Working with Sources section of Blackboard for more details. For
exact words or images from another source, in-text citation AND quote marks are
essential. For just ideas/information, in-text citation is enough.

First Thoughts
Post in BlackBoard to let me know what topic you are considering doing and why. Post
a message (about 1 paragraph) in the appropriate part of the message board to tell me:
What topic are you interested in?
Why are you interested in this?
What is the audience & purpose of your proposed project?

Proposal
Write a proposal to tell me:
What sort of project/ paper you will be attempting.
Who is your specific audience? Who is a probable secondary audience?
What will the audience be able to decide or do after reading your project?
What sorts of sources do you think may be most helpful?
Qualifications/Interest in this topic.
Anything else that will help me understand your project.

This proposal should be a typed several-paragraph memo. More information on strong

proposals can be found in chapter 9 of Essentials, and at this link:
http://www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/textbook/props.html

Remember that Proposals are PERSUASIVE assume I will say no and make you
start over if you do NOT convince me that you can write an excellent report on this
topic. Really consider the benefits of your report why is it worth spending time on?

Annotated Bibliography
You will have at least 6 appropriate sources at this point. Articles (trade or scholarly
journal), credible websites, or books are best specifics depend on your project. Write
this as a memo (telling your audience about the sources so far.) (Some sources may be
dropped for the final project)

If in doubt, use MLA style for the Bibliographical Listings, but any internally consistent
structure works.

Have the Bibliographical Entries (in alphabetical order) in bold, followed by the Labeled
Sections as described below.

For each citation you will have at least:

Summary: 3 sentences summarizing the main points of the source.
Authority, Relevance, Potential Bias ,Expertise: Then there will be at least 3
sentences assessing the usefulness and reliability of the source. Look up
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information on the Journal/Web Site and on the Author. How current is this
information? What department is the author from?
Plans for this Source: Finally, each entry will have several sentences reflecting
on the source, how you will use it (if at all) and how it is affecting your overall
thoughts on the project.

More information on each of these tasks can be found at

http://web.archive.org/web/20060131063721/http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/ge
neral/gl_annotatedbib.html

After all of these annotations, please write one more paragraph expressing which
source you feel will be most beneficial to you and why, and what was the most
surprising thing you learned so far in your research.
Annotated Bibliography Criteria Relative
Weight
6 strong sources listed 16%
Bibliographic form correct/clear/consistent 10%
Clear Summaries 20%
Clear Assessment, going beyond the obvious 24%
Clear Reflection/Plans 24%
Conclusion paragraph 6%
spelling and grammar considered throughout

Audience Analysis Write a memo to me (Ms. Walters), about your proposed

audience. Do some research if its a class of people, use the census and other
available research to tell me their age range, educational level, job, experience. If its a
specific individual (such as a legislator) or group (your own jobs HR office), you can be
even more precise. Add other information thats relevant for your particular topic.

Also explain your audiences experience with the topic, and most importantly, what
decision they will be able to make after reading your report.

Outline You will post an outline (or preliminary draft, if you draft first, outline
later) in the appropriate thread on BlackBoards Discussion Board. Hint: do NOT use
the 5 paragraph essay format.

If your research is still at a more nebulous stage, then instead of an outline, a status
report, indicating what you have already completed and why, will also work.

Be sure to add a paragraph explaining what your strategy is, what your next steps are,
and what questions you may have.

Draft for Peer Edit You will post a draft in the appropriate thread on
BlackBoards Discussion Board. Words Track Changes and Add Comments tools
will be helpful in commenting on classmates papers.
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You will be required to comment on 4 other drafts they can be those of your
teammates or just ones with topics you found intriguing.
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Rubric for Final IRP Paper
Structure:
Required Elements: Title Page, Table of Contents, Section Headers, Page
Numbers, Meaningful graphics/charts/tables. Appropriate citations. Executive
Summary. Good use of white-space.

You may also need appendices and other front/back matter.

See Essentials for more on reports.

Length = about 2250 words (main body)

Criteria Weight
The paper develops a central theme or idea, directed 10%
toward the appropriate audience.
The content is accurate. Enough context is supplied. A 10%
clear executive summary gives an overview of all aspects.
Major points are stated clearly. 10%
Information is organized logically. 10%
Includes specific details and examples. 15%
Analysis of major points is demonstrated. 15%
The tone is appropriate to the content and assignment. 5%
Sentences are complete, neither run-ons nor fragments. 5%
Sentences are well-constructed and clear, with consistently
strong, varied sentences. This includes concise ones.
Layout/Formatting is appropriate to the projects goals and 10%
meets requirements above. Includes meaningful graphical
element.
Rules of grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed. 5%
Spelling is correct. 5%
Total Percentage & Points 100%