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http://www.willamette.edu/~sbasu/poli480/ |
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POLI
480W (2.0) Senior Thesis |
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Spring 2012 Th 2:30-400 SML 205 Prof. Sammy Basu Office: Sml 317 Hours: MTWTh 10:30-11:30 or by appointment. |
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STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES |
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Students will enhance their academic skills:
reading and thinking critically; researching effectively; speaking
competently; and writing persuasively. |
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Students will demonstrate knowledge of a range
of explanatory and/or normative theories in political science, specifically
in their chosen sub-field. |
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Students will make effective applied use of a
variety of types of evidence to support a clear line of analysis and
conclusion or thesis. |
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COURSE
RESOURCES
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The Writing
Center, Mathews Hall,
370-6959 is available to you and you are heartily encouraged to make full use
of it. |
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APA style: |
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/social_sciences/overview.html http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/social_sciences/intext.html http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/social_sciences/sample.html |
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COURSE
EVALUATION CRITERIA
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This course is organized around the various tasks
involved in successfully completing an extended piece of undergraduate
research and writing. The grade
is composed of five components.
All of them must be passed in order to pass the course. Late penalties
may be assigned. All students
are expected to attend every scheduled class meeting. |
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Research
proposal |
5 pp. (1250-1500 words) careful research design |
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(10%) |
á specification of
thesis/problem/topic, á ten keywords, á relevant existing scholarship, á own hypotheses, á methods of enquiry/testing, and á annotated bibliography (with 10
articles and 5 books). |
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First
draft |
a
15-20 pp. (4500-6000 words) partial draft version of research paper |
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(20%) |
á title: subtitle, á abstract, á ten keywords, á outline, á introduction, á body of paper in sections
according to outline, á conclusion, á bibliography (with 15-20
articles, 10-15 books), |
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Second
draft |
a
35-40 pp (10500-12000 words) full draft version of research paper |
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(40%) |
á title: subtitle, á abstract, á ten keywords, á outline, á introduction, á body of paper in sections
according to outline, á conclusion (which includes a section
on where research on this question should go in light of your research), á bibliography (with 20-25
articles, 15-20 books), |
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Final
draft |
45+ pp. (13500 words) complete piece of original
research |
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(10%) |
á title: subtitle á abstract á outline á body of paper in sections
according to outline, and á bibliography (with 25+
articles, 20+ books) |
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Oral
participation and final presentation (20%) |
on-going
class involvement, peer editing, and presentation of the arguments and
findings of research in class.
Use of Information Technology in presentation is required. |
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SCHEDULE |
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Tue Jan 17 |
Class
meets: Introduction, sample
article |
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Thu Jan 19 |
No
Class: scheduled individual
meetings |
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Tue Jan 24 |
No
Class: scheduled individual
meetings |
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Thu Jan 26 |
Class
meets: exchange and discuss draft of Research proposal |
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Tue Jan 31 |
No
class: Research proposal (10%) due at 4pm Uploaded to WISE |
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Thu Feb 2 |
No
Class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Tue Feb 7 |
No
Class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Thu Feb 9 |
No
Class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Tue Feb 14 |
No
Class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Thu Feb 16 |
Class
meets: exchange and discuss draft of First Draft |
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Tue Feb 21 |
No
class: First draft of paper (20%) due at 4pm Uploaded to WISE |
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Thu Feb 23 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Tue Feb 28 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Thu Mar1 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Tue Mar 6 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Thu Mar 8 |
Class
meets: exchange and discuss draft of Second Draft |
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Tue Mar13 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Thu Mar 15 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Tue Mar 20 |
No
class: Second draft (40%) due at 4pm Uploaded to WISE |
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Thu Mar 22 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Tue Mar 27 |
Spring
Vacation |
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Thu Mar 29 |
Spring
Vacation |
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Tue Apr 3 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Thu Apr 5 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Tue Apr 10 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Thu Apr 12 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Tue Apr 17 |
Class
meets: use of IT in making presentations |
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Wed Apr 18 |
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Thu Apr 19 |
No
class: scheduled individual
appointments |
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Tue Apr 24 |
Class
meets: student presentations |
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Thu Apr 26 |
Class
meets: student presentations |
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Tue May 1 |
Class
meets: student presentations |
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Mon
May 7 |
Final draft (10%) at 5pm Uploaded to WISE Absolutely no extensions |
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Politics
Department Thesis Evaluation |
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The Politics Department uses the following
rubric to assess all senior thesis: 1. Thesis identifies a
well-defined and compelling puzzle or question. 2. Thesis presents and
develops a clear and coherent argument. 3. Thesis makes effective
use of evidence. 4. Thesis demonstrates
understanding of competing explanations or interpretations. 5. Thesis is clearly and
concisely written without distracting grammatical or stylistic errors. 6. Thesis is well organized
and has a logical progression of thought. |
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