7730: Issues in Communication: Secondary Research Methods

Home

Startup

TPC

Library

Discussion

 

Calendar

Projects

Procedures

Policies

Text

News

 Course Goals

  1. To prepare you to undertake secondary research in specific disciplines and professions related to technical and professional communication.
  2. To provide you with skills, strategies, and conceptual knowledge necessary for successful problem definition.
  3. To give you practice in evaluating information resources in a variety of venues.

In completing projects for this course you are encouraged to keep in mind that both academic and pragmatic topics and approaches are acceptable. Also, since this is an online, distance education course, due dates for projects are flexible. However, please read the submission policy for the course and abide by the need for requesting an excused late submission for any project you intend to submit beyond its stated due date in the Course Calendar.

 Course Calendar

I will continue to add and revise course readings and resources throughout the semester. You are welcome to skim ahead in the readings, but I do intend for the course to proceed at the pace laid out in the calendar. Even if you jump ahead, be sure to visit or revisit each week's reading during the indicated week.

Week

Resources

Readings

Project Due

1. 01/12

Introduction & Overview

Research Methods

2. 01/19

Major Electronic Bibliographic Sources

Creating a Structure for Research

3. 01/26

Conducting Literature Reviews

 

4. 02/02

Resources for finding and evaluating web materials

How do I evaluate a website?

 

5. 02/09

 

Project 1 due by Friday, 02/13

6. 02/16

Searching for People

Assessing Research

 

7. 02/23

Reading Research

 

8. 03/01

Searching for Electronic Text

Scholarly vs. Web Searches: Differences of Information Domain and Genre

 

9. 03/08

 

Project 2 due by Wednesday, 03/10

Spring Break: March 14-21, 2004

11. 03/22

Searching for Writing Information

Peer Review

 

12. 03/29

 

 

13. 04/05

Searching for Paper

Project 3 due by Friday, 04/09

14. 04/12

Another View of Research

 

15. 04/19

Cybersearch Resources

 

16. 04/26

Project 4 due by Friday, 04/30

[ Top ]

 Course Projects and the Evaluation Process

Table 1: Projects and Values

Table 2: Letter Grade Values

Project

Points

Letter Grade

Points

1:Search Engine Evaluation

100

A

368-400

2: Critical Analysis of Published Research

100

B

328-367

3: Annotated Bibliography of Professional Issues

100

C

280-327

4: Evaluative Bibliographic Essay

100

F

279-0

TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE

400

A Performance Summary will be provided when each project is returned. If you have any questions about the evaluation of your work, see me at your earliest convenience. Projects may not be resubmitted for further review.

[ Top ]

 Procedures

Project Submission

Quick Summary

Detailed Explanation

All projects are due on the day indicated in the Class Calendar. If a project cannot be completed on time, contact me before the due date to arrange an extension. Late projects, without an extension, will be subject to a three (3) point per calendar day penalty. All late projects must be (a) presented to me (b) by an agreed upon deadline and (c) accompanied by a memo addressed to me that indicates the reasons for the late submission and an acknowledgment of the student's awareness of the penalty process. If this procedure is not followed, the project will not be accepted.

Unless otherwise noted, all projects should be set in a typical formal serif typeface (Times, Times New Roman, Palatino, etc.) in 11 point type size; other sizes and typefaces may be used for headings and other emphasis techniques. Space and a half all text and leave a one-inch margin for comments. Other formats may be used with my approval.

All projects should be submitted in Rich Text Format (RTF), using this naming convention:

[30] + [your-five-letter-code] + [project #] + [.rtf]

For instance, suppose I want my five-letter code to be "abcde." I would name a project 2 submission file like this:

30abcde2.rtf

(I've elected to use the course number "30" since we're in ENGL 7730, but using the full number "7730" makes the file name longer than 8 characters--unwieldy and sometimes a problem when transferring files. Beginning with "30" helps me to keep your files sorted on my computer, and it may also help you to keep your files straight if you are currently taking other TPC courses online.)

You are responsible for the readability and accessibility of electronic files. Do NOT compress any electronic files. Send file as an email attachment to my campus email address <henzeb@mail.ecu.edu>.

If you elect to provide paper copy, please contact me before doing so.

Project Resubmission

Projects may NOT be resubmitted to improve an original evaluation. However, you should feel free to talk with me about your project while you are preparing it. I am available to meet with you during regular office hours and at other times by appointment. You can also reach me by email at other times; provide as much detail as possible about your project so that I can offer you good advice!

[ Top ]

 Policies

Attendance

Since this is an electronic course, we will NOT hold regularly scheduled classes. However, I do expect everyone to take an active role in any online discussions that evolve during the term. I also strongly encourage you to visit me during office hours to discuss projects and course material.

Access to Resources

Some links on this website access resources outside of the East Carolina University community. These resources have been selected for their educational value and their use does not imply endorsement of any products, services, or opinions found in these resources. Further, neither East Carolina University nor any faculty member assumes any responsibility for either the content or the accessibility of these resources.

Academic Honesty

In this course, plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty may result, at the instructor's discretion, in an evaluation of zero (0) points for the project involved with no chance for resubmission. I recognize that many students have only a vague idea of plagiarism and the like; if you are ever in doubt, best ask me.

East Carolina University and the Americans with Disabilities Act

East Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Students requesting accommodations based on a covered disability must go to the Department for Disability Support Services, Brewster A-114, to verify the disability before any accommodations can occur. The telephone number is 252-328-6799.

[ Top ]

 Textbook

Required:

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Fifth ed. MLA, 1999.

or (your choice)

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. Second ed. MLA, 1998.

Also useful (but optional):

Ackermann, Ernest and Karen Hartman. The Information Specialist's Guide to Searching & Researching on the Internet & the World Wide Web. ABF Content, 1999.

Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From Paper to the Internet. Sage, 1998.

[ Top ]


End of Page

Last modified: 03/01/04