Effort

Traditionally, the 4th week of the block at Cornell is the busiest time for students. The library has late hours and the 24 hour lab and study space in Law Hall is hopping late into the night. Why is this? Many courses have substantial research papers, 10 or 12 pages. Many courses have heavily waited final exams and students know they have to spend many hours preparing for these exams in order to do well in a course. Other courses have projects and/or presentations. Computer Science courses typically have major projects (like Android apps for your phone or tablet) due and include a presentation. Lots of courses have not one but two of these final week elements.


For our course, you have a short paper and presentation, worked on with a team, if you like. There is a good chance we won't even meet on the final Wednesday. Please don't try to get by on a couple hours work. Reasonably, 10 hours plus or minus two hours would be a good ballpark over the next 6 days, given that you will have no other course obligations. This would include time deciding on your topic, research including reading and viewing, team meeting times, time writing your paper, time giving the presentation, etc.

Your paper

While your presentation can be targeted at our class (namely, the audience has substantial knowledge of chaos and fractals and the many associated areas), your paper should begin with an introduction to the topic you are covering.

Length suggestions. For one person projects roughly 500 words plus graphics and citations. For two person projects roughly 750 words plus graphics and citations. For three person projects, roughly 1000 words plus graphics and citations. My preference is for 1" margins, 12 point font, double-spaced.

Your paper SHOULD INCLUDE A CITATION PAGE. You may use any citation format you wish--APA, MLA, etc.

You can get help on citations and on your short paper at the Writing Studio which is now located on the main floor of the library, a few short steps from our classroom.

Your presentation

Be sure everyone on your team gets a chance to talk.

Presentation Time estimate: 10 minutes for 1 person, 16 for 2, 20 for 3.

If you want to include an activity to engage your audience, that is fine.

It would be great to finish in our 4 hours Tuesday, take steps to be sure you can get your presentation up and running quickly


Your attendance and attention

Attendance at Tuesday presentations is required. You should not only be in the room, you should also be engaged. I ask that you submit a reflection about one of your classmate's presentation/topics.






Last modified: Monday, October 24, 2016, 8:16 AM