David W. Rudge                                                                                          Summer I 2006

email: david.rudge@wmich.edu                                                     SCI 6150

Office: 3134 Wood Hall; tel. 387-2779                                    M 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Office hours: MW 4:30-5:00 pm and by appointment          Location: 2734 Wood Hall

 

TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT

 

DESCRIPTION:

                  Your assignment is provide a detailed characterization of what it means to be scientifically literate. Your paper should provide a clear characterization of scientific literacy in school science and defend or justify that position with reference to appropriate science education literature in a larger historical and philosophical context. A rewrite of the entire paper will be required of all students.

 

The paper (including abstract and references) should be about 10 pages long. It should focus on the development of an argument for your specific characterization of what it means to be scientifically literate. In other words, it should include a conclusion (your characterization of scientific literacy) and evidence for that claim.

 

The first draft is due May 16; a mandatory rewrite is due June 11.

 

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

 

The paper will be returned ungraded unless it meets the following minimal criteria:

 

Minimal criteria:

(1) Your essay should be prefaced on a separate sheet of paper by a short 5-6 sentence abstract or summary of your paper. Clearly indicate to your reader the main conclusion of of your essay.

 

(2) The text of the essay (including the abstract, references and any footnotes or end notes used) must be about 3000 words (10 pages long) using a 12 point font, double spacing and one-inch margins. Essays should be single-sided and paginated.

 

(3) Your prose should be grammatically correct and contain a minimum of spelling and punctuation errors. All essays must be typewritten.

 

(4) Summaries should be written in your own words. Direct quotations should only be used when the exact wording is crucial to your argument.

 

(5) Any reference you use must be so indicated using a full citation on a list of references at the end of your essay.

 

(6) Anything you turn in should reflect your own work. Copying another person's work, even with their permission, is still plagiarism if you do not clearly indicate to your reader whose words, ideas, etc. you are borrowing.

 

Assuming these minimal criteria are met:

 

The essay will be evaluated by the following criteria:

 

(1) Does the essay conform to the previously stated directions?

(2) Does the essay provide a characterization of scientific literacy?

(3) Does the essay provide an argument defending that characterization?

(4) Does the essay make appropriate reference to previous work by other authors?

(5) Does the essay consider obvious objections to the author's characterization?

 

Rewrites will be evaluated on the extent to which they respond to the constructive criticisms students are given on their first drafts.

 

GRADING SCALE:

 

The final grade on the paper will be a formal average of the scores on the first draft and rewrites. Papers will be graded on a letter scale, which for the purposes of your final grade will be converted to numbers as follows: A: 95; BA: 90; B:       85; CB: 80; C:                  75; DC: 70; D: 65; E: 60.

 

Note: Papers turned in late without an official excuse will be penalized for each day they are late including weekends. You are also expected to maintain a "soft" back-up copy of your paper, both for use in developing your mandatory re-write and against the unlikely possibility you run into any unforeseen problems printing out a copy of your paper.