Reminders for Class #9 (Wednesday 12/8)

What better way to celebrate a research project that we still haven't finished yet - actually we haven't even started it yet! - than to meet at a place called "Hard Times." The address is 4069 Chain Bridge Road, in downtown Fairfax just before the intersection with Main Street. You can see the map here. Lorna says we can park in the SunTrust Bank lot next door, and also advises everyone to bring cash because they will want to make one bill for a group of 18. If anyone comes by public transit and wants a ride from the campus center, I can take you.

Other Reminders: Iris brought something to my attention about the recommendations given in the "creating a proposal" document that might explain some of the confusion I saw last night. It says the methodology explains "how you came to choose this project," or something like that. That's not right. What it should say is, given that you have already explained project choice in the introduction, your methodology explains how you plan to conduct the project and why you chose this method or plan instead of some other method or plan.

As indicated in the last session, the time I will be sitting down to review your draft proposals in detail is the weekend following Thanksgiving (Nov. 27-28). So most of you should think of that as a formal deadline for the complete proposal. Whatever suggestions I give you at that point could then be implemented by the end of the semester. (You should still shoot for Dec. 8 so you can enjoy yourself at the bar! But I am going to a wedding in Alabama soon after and can't actually review anything until Dec. 12). For those of you struggling to meet the Nov. 27-28 deadline for whatever reason, the absolute minimum would be a revised project description and literature review, and then we'll try to race you through the remaining steps.

Remember also that the semester quota was 9 research logs. Many of you have already done 8. For those who've done 7 or fewer, feel free to write an additional one over the Thanksgiving weekend. (But don't write, like, five for catch-up. That would be a useless exercise.) The 9th research log is designated by the syllabus as a reflection on: "what you learned in this course, the progress you feel you’ve made in framing your topic as a concise research problem, the effort you’ve put into the class and the assignments, and/or the areas that need further work once you begin your actual project." Check out this website for a Jeannie-recommended explanation of what is meant by reflection there.

Reminders for Class #8 (Wednesday 11/17)

Reminders for the upcoming week (no class 11/10):

-Obviously if I don't have your annotated bibliography and background literature review, those are absolute priorities at this point.
-Research Log #7... this relates to tonight's unfinished class exercise. Take the sample proposals and evaluate them according to 1 of the 7 criteria given on pages 11-12 of the course syllabus (as assigned), and explain why you rated them as you did. Then discuss how your evolving proposal does or does not currently meet those criteria. 
-Send/share me a draft of your methodology section and your hypotheses/preliminary arguments section.

Reminders for 11/17:

-Class will meet in SciTech II 242, since this was everyone's preference
-Read Booth: Chapters 14-16
-Read Tufte book on using visual information.
-Send/share complete proposal draft, which includes some elements you've already worked on (Project Description, Background Literature Review, Methodology, Hypotheses/Arguments) and some new ones (Summary/Conclusion, Non-Annotated Bibliography, Timetable for completion)
-Think about when you'd like to have your final personal conference for the semester... I am targeting 11/29, 11/30, 12/1, 12/2 as possible dates, but 11/18 and 11/19 could work too.