For the course project, students will be assigned to work in groups. Each group will research a policy issue regarding the development and/or use of communication technology (e.g., copyright protection and digital publication). The project will consist of the publication of the written report, the creation of a web page based on the written report, a journal detailing problems and issues that you encountered in the course, and an in-class presentation detailing your findings.
Written Report:
Each group will hand in a written report that is at least
15 pages in length. The sources for this paper should include on-line as
well as off-line scholarly sources. The general layout of the paper should
include: an short explanation of the problem that you were dealing with
& why it is important to study (intro), a more detailed explanation
of the problem and the research questions that your were trying to answer,
your methodology (how you went about answering the research question -
be able to justify your decisions - why did you answer the question in
the way that you did), your findings (what was the answer to the question
that you raised), and your conclusions (what is important about what you
found, what would you have done differently, what would you suggest to
other people interested in the topic, how could this project be taken up
in the future). Due Date: 5/6/97
Note: the final paper must be integrated - it should read like a paper that was worked on together rather than individual parts. Also note that all members of a group will receive an F (0 points) on the project if there is plagiarism in any part of the paper (even if you did not work on a particular part).
Web Page:
Create a web document based on your paper. Include links
to on-line sources that you have used and links to other places that interested
people might visit. Due Date: 5/6/97
Journal:
Each student will keep a journal which details problems and
successes related to using technology in this course. Any time you have
question related to the course or the project write down the question down
and the way that you solved it (asked a friend, asked a classmate, asked
a group member, asked the teacher, asked a lab attendant, tried solutions
on your own until you figured it out, etc.) or did not solve the problem
(detail the things you tried or if the problem seemed so overwhelming that
you did not know where to start). Updates will be collected every two weeks.
In-Class Presentation:
Each group will give an in-class presentation the last two
classes. The presentation should be about 15 minutes in length and should
give an overview of your project. You should use Power Point to give your
overall presentation more structure. There will be a demonstration of Power
Point in class.
There will be one grade assigned to the group for the paper,
the web site, and the in-class presentation. Each person will receive and
individual grade for the journal. Grades will be assigned according to
the following breakdown.
| Paper (Group Grade) | 200 points |
| Web Site (Group Grade) | 50 |
| Journal (Individual Grade) | 50 |
| In Class Presentation (Group Grade) | 50 |
| Total | 350 points |