Papers

• Papers will be between 650-700 words. Make sure to adhere to this convention— your essay must be no less than 650 words, no more than 700 words—get used to writing succinctly. I use the word count in Canvas, if it says you are below/over the word count you will receive a 0. Again, if you are outside of this parameter, even by ONE word, you will receive a 0.  Be smart, write between 660 and 690 words, that way there is room for weird electronic counting problems.

• Your language should be professional and polished, and free of grammatical and syntactical errors. Double-space and indent your paragraphs, be sure to use four or more (logically spaced) paragraphs.  Part of your grade is based on grammar, so double-check this, use another person to edit, read your paper out loud, go to the Writing Center, use Grammarly.  Do what you need to do to write a professional, polished, academic paper. 

• APA format looks for direct, concise wording.  "Amy is a 3-year-old that suffers from depression." is good. "On a dark and stormy evening, with the wind blowing through the trees, a lovely girl, Amy, cowered in her closet," is great for your next novel but not for an APA-style paper.

• You need to include at least THREE APA formatted citations to the original article (ONLY!!) for support throughout your paper. You need to paraphrase and cite the original article, don’t use direct quotes from articles/text/Internet/etc. You can use a direct quote from a person in your paper. Don't include any reference information, only in-text citations. Including a reference will result in an automatic 0 for the paper.

• Don’t include your name, date, title, class number, etc on the paper. I grade papers blindly, don't put any identifying information on the paper.  It changes the word count and is not needed, Canvas keeps track of your paper.

Review your feedback after your paper is graded.  Here's a video. 

1. Decide what articles interest you the most… Build in a cushion, that means, don’t wait until the last possible weeks to do your papers, something will go wrong and you will be sad. Also, as the semester moves, the expectations will be that all submissions will be better. Do an assignment to be sure you have the “hang” of the instructions, plan for a learning curve, you may miss instructions or deadlines, so don’t wait to start.

1. Mark your calendar.

2. Keep track of your points.

3. Get things done ahead of time. Turn in early and resubmit as needed, before the deadline.

4. Plan for something to go wrong.

5. Plan for something else to go wrong.

I am doing Service Learning, do I need to do the papers??

Yes, everyone needs to do the papers.

Can I attempt more than three papers, in case I miss some points?

Yep, that’s the smart option.  Your score is based on the three highest scores.

If I miss the deadline for one, can I double up on another? Or submit a paper from the past that I missed the deadline?

Nope, one submission per deadline. Only the current assignment will be graded.

What if I accidentally turn in the wrong or an unreadable file?

You can make changes until the deadline, after that, what you submit will be graded, even if you accidentally submit something wrong. Always check your submissions to be sure that accidents don’t happen. I can’t open pages files, so if you are using an IPad or IAnything, be sure you convert your files to doc for the rest of us.

If I do more assignments than required, will there be extra credit? How many points would be extra credit?

Once you have all the possible points (120) there isn’t a logical reason for you to keep writing papers. It won’t have any impact on your grade.

Can I just do one paper?

Yes, though that will certainly impact your final grade.

Do I need other sources (besides what’s listed)?

No, you will just use (and cite in-text) the assigned article. Be sure you paraphrase and cite, don’t use quotes.

Can I use other sources (besides the assigned article)?

No, you will just use (and cite in-text) the assigned article. Be sure you paraphrase and cite, don’t use quotes.

Hard copy or via cougar courses?

The ONLY way you can submit the papers is via CougarCourses by the deadline. If you are having a hard time submitting, be sure your format is acceptable (no pages documents). No matter what, read the errors in TurnItIn and don’t wait until the last minute. If you have trouble, contact the HelpDesk long before the deadline.  If there is some weird problem and Canvas is broken, you can email it to me before the deadline.  

Can I use quotes from the articles instead of actually thinking on my own?

Nope, paraphrase and cite your source.

Can I email you my paper? I’m only 5 seconds/minutes/hours/ days/weeks late?

I grade whatever you submit to CougarCourses by the deadline. If you don’t get the paper submitted before the deadline I won’t accept it late.  IF you have some major problem BEFORE the deadline, you can email the paper to me time stamped BEFORE the deadline.  If it's user error, your paper won't be graded (HINT: when you get an error message, read it), if there is a system problem I will grade it.   Plan ahead, turn your paper in before the last second, that way you have time to address any problems.

Can I email you my paper and you edit it so, I get a perfect score?

Nope, but you can check all the resources here. If you have specific questions, come talk to me during office hours.

What should I avoid writing? 

"The article", "the study", "the research" are all really vague.  Use actual names and APA citations. 

What do you mean, this is vague?

Writing "abuse is bad, it makes kids sad" is vague and doesn't share any actual information.  Writing, "Bob sustained four broken bones in less than a year at the hands of his mother" is specific and tells the story.

Any other advice?

Before you write, ask yourself what is the ONE theme of the assigned article that I want to apply?  Then, every few sentences, ask yourself how those sentences get to the theme.  Get rid of background information, opinions and broad statements.  Tell a specific story, showing you understand the article and can apply it.  Don't waste time or energy giving me opinions or your personal thoughts, use all 650-700 words to SHOW you know, to SHOW you understand, to SHOW you can apply this research.  Think of the paper as a demonstration of your knowledge and thinking abilities. 

When can I see my grade and feedback?

I try to get everything graded in two weeks, this can vary depending on how many papers are turned in, how many emails I'm getting and other tasks I need to complete.  

Why did I receive a 0? 

Most likely you didn’t adhere to the word requirements. “Papers will be between 650-700 words. Make sure to adhere to this convention— your essay must be no less than 650 words, no more than 700 words—get used to writing succinctly. I use the word count in Canvas, if it says you are below/over the word count you will receive a 0. Again, if you are outside of this parameter, even by ONE word, you will receive a 0.  Be smart, write between 660 and 690 words, that way there is room for weird electronic counting problems.”

Can I submit my paper late? 

Nope, I don’t accept late work.  But I drop the lowest scores, so you and your grade aren’t harmed.

Can I make changes after the deadline?  I submitted the wrong paper? 

Nope, I don’t accept late work.  But I drop the lowest scores, so you and your grade aren’t harmed.

• Why did I get this score? 

• Once grades are released, you can check the feedback on Canvas.  There’s a video link posted to help you if you are unsure on how to do that.  Here’s the link -- https://www.loom.com/share/c685b198ed844426b0174d8bbd063daf

• What should I do to improve my paper scores moving forward?

• Before you hit that submit button on your paper, let's make sure you've got everything squared away for success! Check those instructions like a pro - and then check them again just to be sure. We're talking about being razor-sharp on details, not leaving anything to chance.

• Stay concise, my friend! Focus on those juicy details that make your paper pop, and leave those broad, vague statements in the rearview mirror.

• Oh, and APA style? You've got this! Make sure your formatting is on point and those citations are shining bright, with no direct quotes from articles.

• And hey, don't forget to give your grammar a little love tap. We want those sentences dancing off the page!

• And just when you think you're done, guess what? Check those instructions one more time for good measure. 

• You're on the path to greatness, so let's dot those i's and cross those t's like a champ!

Here's a video to help you view feedback.

Here are a few notes --

• My expectations grow as the semester moves, a paper in October will have higher expectations and penalties than a paper in January. 

• Word Count (see above)

• Including reference -- automatic 0

• Including Name/date/title or any other header, 10 point deduction (also doesn't count towards word count)

• Direct quote from article (cited or not) 10 point deduction each occurrence.

Here's the rubric