Matthew Magnuson
Long Writing Assignment for Students
2005 Workshop on Improving Student Writing
Center for Writing Excellence
Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching
INTRODUCTION FOR FACULTY TO THIS LONG WRITING ASSIGNMENT
For the long assignment, I decided to revise a research paper assignment that I had used spring semester 2005 for the course IMS 201 – Information Studies in the Digital Age. The original assignment asked for students to choose from one of a variety of topics and produce a 5-6 page paper on the topic. There were no interim steps between the assignment and the final product.
Since the IMS 201 curriculum covers the research process and research resources, I decided that the project should be much more closely mapped to the curriculum. The interim steps that are part of the project should help students in their information seeking, thought development, and writing process. The steps will follow closely with the course content and should provide a scaffold for the students with the end result being a well-developed paper that thoughtfully and thoroughly explores their topic. In addition to the adding of the interim steps, the title of the assignment was also changed from ‘research paper’ to ‘literature review project’ in the hope that the students would have fewer preconceived ideas of what was expected of them.
| LONG WRITING ASSIGNMENT FOR STUDENTS
Literature review project This project will walk you through the steps of the research process with the final goal of producing a five to seven-page paper that analyzes how information technology impacts modern society and the possible future impacts of technological development. Through this project, you will have the opportunity to explore the ways in which the evolution of information technology has influenced society and the ways in which it might continue to change. Learning Objectives
Assignment Steps
Final Paper Guidelines
Topics The potential of the Internet and the digital media it helps to disseminate raises many questions, and often the answers to these questions are unresolved. You will be assigned one of the following areas, and it is your task to examine what current practices are, what current and pending legislation is in place, and what you think is right, and what the arguments for/against your position are. Access to Information
Business & E-Commerce
Copyright
Privacy
The Future of Information
The Future of Internet Development
Assignment Grading Guidelines (total = 1000 points)
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