Assignments & GradingOverview •
Assignment 1 •
Assignment 2 •
Assignment 3
There are 4 required assignments for this course.
The Research Methods Report and the Response Paper are individual assignments and must be completed and submitted by each student. The Group Project Report and the Abstract for the Research Study are group assignments - the group will submit one copy of the report and abstract and when these are evaluated, the grade assigned will apply to all members of the team.
Each student will prepare a report describing a selected research design or research method. The report should include two recommended readings (book chapters or journal articles) with annotations. The reports will be submitted during class on ????? The reports will be presented to the class on??? so that class members can use them as a resource for finding out more about various methods, designs and approaches. This resource will help students decide which method(s) may be useful for group research projects. Suggested Topics Data collection methods: Self-administered questionnaires; Structured interviews and interviewing techniques; Content analysis; Participant observation; Repertory grid; Critical incident method; In-depth interviewing Designs/Approaches: Quasi-experiments; Grounded theory; Qualitative case study; Action research; Discourse analysis; Network analysis Other: Children: interviewing and self-administered questionnaires; Measuring attitudes or satisfaction; Sampling in Qualitative Studies; Criteria for evaluating empirical qualitative research; Graphical presentation techniques; Critical theory in Communication and Information Studies The spreadsheet that shows topics already chosen is linked here. Assessment Criteria 1. a clear, concise description of the design/method; 2. clear, concise presentation of the limitations and strengths of the design/method 3. clear description of how you might use the design/method or why it is not useful.
Each student will write a critique of one of the research articles discussed by the class. The paper should be between 500 and 1,000 words in length. Use the evaluation criteria detailed on the Response Paper Page to guide your response. Students are encouraged to submit papers throughout the quarter, however, the absolute deadline is February 26th, 2005.
(Change "Name of assignment" in the bar above to reflect the name of this assignment (e.g. Assignment 1: Case study or Assignment 3: Reflection paper). Explain assignment 3 fully here, following the below suggestions or using your own format. NOTE: If you prefer to create a separate page for the assignment instead of explaining it here, we would suggest that you provide a link to a PDF or Word document here.) Due Date: This assignment is due on xxx at xx:xx. Please turn it in using this E-submit area. (Make the previous sentence a link to the proper Catalyst tool, or provide instructions on turning in the assignment if you are not using Catalyst. For instance, if you want them to e-mail it to you, provide a link to your e-mail address here.) Objectives: (Explain the objective of the assignment here.) Requirements: (What do students do to complete this assignment?) Criteria: (How will this assignment be graded?)
(Explain your expectations for participation here. Please make sure to describe exactly how you will measure and grade participation. Is participation in chat and discussion boards required? Will you look at the number of postings students make? Personalize the below paragraph.) Your class participation grade reflects the quality of postings and the regularity of your involvement in discussion. You are expected to read and participate in class discussion forums or chats on a regular basis and you are expected to ask questions of your peers and answer their questions. Active participation requires one contribution (be it a question, answer, suggestion, or comment) per week to a discussion forum or chat room.
(Put your content here. Link to a PDF or Word document if the info is very long.) Exercises for this course include ...
(Put your content here. Link to a PDF or Word document if the info is very long.) You may wish to think about these questions when reading ...
You will receive a decimal grade for this class. General grading information for the University of Washington is available here. The iSchool has adopted its own criteria for grading graduate courses. The grading criteria used by the iSchool for graduate courses are available here. (Please leave this paragraph, which came from the Assistant Dean for Academics, as is.) The undergraduate grading policy, available here, may be used in this course. (Please DELETE this if you do not use the undergraduate criteria!) (Personalize the below as necessary for your course.) Your written work will be graded based on its clarity, organization, balance, amount of pertinent detail included, depth and clarity of evaluative and analytical comments, and preparation. It will also be graded on the extent to which a good understanding of the material presented in the course is shown and on the extent to which directions are followed. If evaluative or analytical comments are required, they should be supported by factual evidence, either from readings or other documents. Other aspects of individual assignments may also be included in the grading. Written work that shows a lack of understanding of subject matter, is unclear or poorly organized, contains few or irrelevant details, does not follow directions, contains little or unsubstantiated evaluative commentary, or is poorly written, prepared (e.g. typos, grammatical errors), or documented will receive low grades. For more personalized guidance, the Engineering/iSchool Writing Center (EiWC) is available to help with any questions or needs for students and faculty at all levels of writing ability. This project is sponsored by the Information School and the Department of Technical Communications. Home • Course Overview • Calendar & Modules |