Course Paper

Requirements

The full paper assignment is worth 100 points and counts for 30% of your overall course grade. Your grade will be made up of the following components:

CRITERIA POINTS
Complete introduction and conclusion 0 - 10
Theoretical analyses to support program design 0 - 40
Program design is thorough and supported 0 - 30
Inclusion of 5 academic sources, properly cited 0 - 10
All formatting requirements met 0 - 10

Each of these criteria are discussed below, including submission instructions. Additional details are provided in each assignments' folder in Blackboard.

NOTE: The first draft of the paper is optional and will give you the opportunity to get feedback prior to the submission of your final draft. If submitted, your first draft will be graded against the criteria below, and the scores from both drafts will be averaged as your final paper score. If you choose not to submit a first draft, your final draft will count for 30% of your course grade on its own. Any draft submitted will be graded using the same breakdown above.

Introduction and Conclusion

Your paper should include a complete introduction and conclusion. Each should be no more than a page (approximately 1-2 paragraphs). The introduction should provide a brief overview of the issue (mass shootings in schools) and the focus of the current paper. A roadmap should be included for the reader so they know what to expect (e.g., "In this paper, analyses of theory..."). The conclusion should summarize key takeaways from the paper for the reader.

Grading Criteria (0 - 10 Points):

• A complete introduction, including roadmap, is provided (5 points)

• A complete conclusion is provided (5 points)

Theoretical Analyses

After choosing your theories (one that will work and one that will not work), you will provide an overview of each. Your overviews should provide a brief background of the theory, as well as a layout and description of each's main theoretical propositions and their use for understanding crime and/or criminal behavior. Drawing on both, you then will explain why the respective theory will or will not be useful in helping you to design your program.

Grading Criteria (0 - 40 Points):

• Review of theory that cannot work (20 points)

• Review of theory that can work (20 points)

Program Design

You will include a section on program design that details at least three (3) different policies and/or practices that can be used to help reduce the occurrence of school mass shootings or mitigate the harm if one does occur. Your policies / practices should be based upon the theoretical propositions of the theory you chose in Part B and a clear connection should be made between the two. In other words, it is important that you show how you are applying the theoretical principles in your program design. You can use you academic sources (discussed further in the next section) to show how such policies and/or practices have been successful in the past or you can use them more broadly to support the integration of them into your program.

Grading Criteria (0 - 30 Points):

• Program design is thorough and supported (30 points)

Academic Sources

To support you program design, you need to include five (5) academic sources. For the purpose of this assignment, academic sources can be peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles, academic books, or government reports only. Media stories, websites, and other non-academic sources may be used as supplements but cannot count towards the number of required sources. All sources must be cited both in-text and on the reference page. There are several resources below that can help you with searching for and citing your sources.

Grading Criteria (0 - 10 Points):

• At least five (5) academic sources are included and they are correctly cited both in-text and in the references section at the end of the paper (10 points)

Formatting

Your paper submission should be formatted based on the following guidelines:

(1) A complete APA title page with a title reflective of your program design is included
(2) A running header with page numbers, in the same font as the rest of the paper, is included
(3) The paper is written in 12-point Times New Roman font and is double-spaced.
(4) Standard 1-inch margins should be used on all sides.
(5) Headings / subheading should be used to organize your paper's main content sections.
(6) No direct quotes may be used. You should paraphrase all information that comes from an outside source, including the theories, and give proper attribution with a citation.
(7) Standard academic writing should be used. This means no first- or second-person language (e.g., I, we, me, us, our, you, etc.) or contractions.

Grading Criteria (0 - 10 Points):

• Paper is formatted according to the above guidelines (10 points)

NOTE: As this is a writing intensive course, spelling, grammar, and punctuation all matter. Additional deductions may be made for poor writing quality. Please refer to the rubric provided in Brightspace and be sure to proofread your paper prior to submission. You also may wish to consult with SUNY Oswego's writing center.