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Paper/Project
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| You are required to prepare a
research paper on a topic of
your choosing. Since you will obviously spend a lot of time on this
assignment I encourage you to choose an issue of interest to you.
The only requirement is that it should address some sort of
environmental policy or management issue. If
you are having trouble thinking of a topic I have several conference
proceeding in my office you can look through. You can also leaf
through the fields leading journals such as Coastal
Management, Ocean
and Coastal Management, or Environmental
Management to get some ideas. In certain cases a project may
be accepted in place of a paper if it adds to your professional
development. You will be required to submit a short
paper/project proposal early in the semester when indicated on the
course schedule. Your paper
proposal must include a 1 - 2 page abstract that clearly indicates the
environmental problem and research questions you will examine. It
should also include a proposed outline of the paper. It must also
include a list of 10 references (in addition to websites) to government
reports, books, or journal articles that will constitute the core
bibliography of your research paper. |
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Expectations
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| I have high expectations for your paper. You are all
capable of writing papers that are consistent in scope, substance, and
quality with that found in the papers presented at conferences for
academics and practitioners in this field such as the American
Society of Public Administration (ASPA) or The
Coastal Society. There is no set length requirement but I expect
most of the papers will be at least 20 or more double-spaced pages. They
should be well written, be professional in appearance, and be properly
referenced in any acceptable style. All
papers must be professional in appearance and include a title page,
abstract, use headings/subheadings, have page numbers, and include a
bibliography. The draft paper should also be formatted as a
single document that can be posed on the class website. |
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| In terms of content,
there is some flexibility but all research papers involve researching
a topic and must clearly specify a research question and use data to answer
the question. The term data should be broadly construed. It may
include the results of data collection (interviews, reviews of archival
records like reports and newspapers) to produce a case study or to evaluate
a policy or program. You can produce a position paper that uses
existing data and research to evaluate a problem, produce options for
addressing the problem, and evaluate the possible consequences of the
action. You can also do a paper that reviews the literature in a
particular area. You are advised to look through various environmental
policy journals like the Natural Resources Journal, Society &
Natural Resources, Environmental Management, etc. and the
electronic reserve readings for additional examples of how to write a
research paper. |
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| I encourage all of you to consider trying to present the
papers you develop for this assignment at a professional conference in the
future. These conferences provide excellent networking
opportunities for those seeking a job in this area. Presentations at
these conferences also look good on your resume and will help you to
develop your public speaking skills. The
UNCW Graduate School also provides up to $400 for student travel
expenses when they are presenting a paper at a conference. You may also want to
consider submitting a revised version of your paper to an appropriate
journal in the field. In fact, Coastal
Management regularly solicits student contributions for its final
issue of the year. |
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Presentations
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| We will have our own mini-conference
the last day of class where you will present your paper or someone else's paper
depending on the format of the conference. I expect your
presentations to be professional and to use appropriate audiovisual aids
(e.g., power point). You will have 10 to 12 minutes for
your presentation and it will be timed. |
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| To ensure that we have a lively discussion of your papers,
they will be available electronically to all of the other students in the
class through this web site. Someone will also serve as a discussant
for your paper. This will either be a faculty member, fellow
student, or practitioner familiar with the paper's subject matter.
The discussant will provide feedback and draw out some of the key themes
in the papers he/she reviewed. We will then have a question and
answer period. Each discussant
must provide written comments and suggestions for improving the paper.
These comments should be included as an appendix in the final paper.
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Grading
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| Your final paper grade will be evaluated based on your analysis, the
organization of your ideas, the strength and substance of your arguments,
your ability to properly apply the concepts discussed in class, and the
quality of your writing (e.g., spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.).
Your final
participation grade will for the course will be influenced by the effort you
put into the presentation, comments on the paper you present, and your
participation in the mini-conference. This website also provides useful style
guidelines (Click
here), although any generally accepted format is acceptable.
The following
evaluation forms will give you some idea about what is
expected for the paper. |
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