http://www.physics.uc.edu/~sokoloff/Topics/Assignments

For Wednesday, February 3

The first writing assignment

Please write a double-spaced, 12-point font, one-and-a-half to two page essay comparing material from The Cuckoo's Egg with material from Beak of the Finch. Very specifically, compare discussions of

• collecting and reducing data, or
• comparing data and hypotheses, or
• specific discussions of scientific method

Please bring two copies of your essay with you to class. If possible, please send me an electronic copy in html or ascii (text) format in advance of the class.

Reading from Science News

Please read the article entitled "More Than the Brain's Drain" which starts on page 58 of the January 23, 1999 issue of Science News .

Term Paper

Term papers will be due at the beginning of the final exam on Wednesday, March 17 at 4:00 PM. Grading will follow the same general plan as for the 2-page essay you wrote earlier. Sixty percent of the grade will reflect my judgment of the content of the paper. Twenty percent of the grade will reflect my judgment of the logical flow of the paper. Twenty percent of the grade will reflect my judgment of the quality of English in the paper - spelling, grammar, word-usage, etc. While it is difficult to completely separate these three issues, this is the general approach I will use.

Expectations

The following statements paraphrase comments made in the papers you wrote on course goals and evaluation. As we discussed in class, not every paper needs to address all the issues raised here, but all these points are appropriate for some papers.

• All papers should focus on the goals of the course.
• Papers should obviously reflect the science of the independently read book.
• The paper should relate to discussions of books and/or magazine articles in class.
• Someone who has not read the book should be able to understand what I am saying.
• Evaluation should be based on understanding of the assigned material.
• A good paper will attempt to draw correlations between the independent and class readings, relating them to the broader topics of the course. A well-written essay presents a well-reasoned synthesis combining the course readings with special attention to the outside reading.
• My paper will allow the reader to come to a quick and easy understanding of the field.
• The term paper should be evaluated on the paper's demonstration of the author's knowledge and understanding.
• Most optimistically, I will be able to find connections ...
• A good grade will require an understanding of the book as well as critical thinking and analysis.