As we begin the second half of the semester, it’s time to discuss the term paper for the course. I know that the words “Term Paper” strikes fear into the hearts of some, but it doesn’t have to be. It is simply a scholarly paper done following a prescribed methodology, in this case the APA or MLA format. The experience is to help train one in organizing their thoughts and concentrating on a specific topic, focusing narrowly on some aspect, creating a hypothesis and then supporting or dismantling that hypothesis to a conclusion with research.
After much thought, I have decided to build the term paper requirement around the topics covered in our text book. This gives you the opportunity to explore in greater depth, areas we have touched on. You may want to look at the schools of thought we have explored, or delve into some of the issues such as privacy, conflicts of interest, loyalty; or perhaps you have your own particular topic you would like to write on,taking a current event and putting it under our ethics microscope. Here is an outline of paper expectations. I will also be posting a rubric and additional guidance in the pages section of the course
Term paper:
Topic chosen by the student as above
Format:
APA ( American Psychological Association ) or MLA ( Modern Languages Association ) Failure to use either of these will be an automatic F. If you have never written a scholarly paper before, here are two links to get you started APA GUIDELINESLinks to an external site. MLA Guidelines OWL Purdue UniversityLinks to an external site.
The St johns Library has extensive resources as well as staff to assist you on site in writing your paper. Please take advantage of these resources
Term paper length: 1500 to 2000 words. By specifying a word length this helps you plan out the areas you want to cover. It also acts to limit the paths you may wander down, and ultimately not getting the results you planned on. While I do not discourage anyone from writing more, less brings serious grade reductions. This is term paper, not your masters thesis so we want to keep it simple and to the point. A paper of this type runs about 6 – 8 pages not including the bibliography which generally run about 5 to 10 articles on the topic. The Cover Page ( mandatory ) is not part of the page count. All papers MUST BE DONE IN WORD FORMAT, i.e. DOC or DOCX. DO NOT USE .PDF or ANY OTHER FORMAT like APPLE WORKS. THEY WILL BE RETURNED UNGRADED
Due Date: TUESDAY, APRIL 25, Midnight.
Late Paper policy: 1st day late 5 point deduction
2nd day late additional 5 point deduction.
PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR GRADING AFTER THE 2nd DAY UNLESS ACCOMPANIED BY A WRITTEN EXPLAINATION. A GRADE OF ZERO WILL POST. AS THE VALUE OF THE PAPER IS 25% OF YOUR GRADE, CHANCES ARE GOOD YOU WILL FAIL THE COURSE.
The only exceptions :
documented illness 1 week prior
death in the immediate family,
abduction by aliens to their spaceship ( make sure you get documentation like a photo or your passport stamped)
Paper Proposal
I am posting in the grade book a column for you to upload a brief summary of your topic to review if you are not sure about what to write about. It is separate from this and has no point value associated. Anyone wanting to discuss this in person, lets set up a time.
Finally, a note on plagiarism and the use of apps like CHATGPT. Software has been enabled that will catch most instances,but some do get through. The use of either is an academic violation that you agreed to upon becoming a student at St Johns. I expect everyone to honor that. Those failing to and identified will be turned over to the academic disciplinary committee for follow up. As this is a course on Ethics, the irony is evident. Please don’t.
ADDENDUM:
Since the above policy was established I have softened my policy somewhat on the use of AI programs such as Chatbot. If you plan to use these programs, I encourage you to employ them only for research purposes. Sections that you embed in your work should be cited and noted in the bibliography. In a paper of this length I expect to see AI content of no more that 12% – 15% content. If the detection software indicates more, this could have a negative impact on your grade. The purpose ofwriting a paper is to train you to think and arrive at novel, unique conclusions and observations. The use of AI as a tool can assist, but you as the originator must resist the temptation of letting AI overwhelm you.
Cheers
Prof Perry
The topic I’ve chosen is “The Dangers of Deception in Media Production”
