COMM 340 – Current Issues

in Mass Media
April 8, 2009
Adjunct Professor Richard C. Lewis
Agenda

 Research Presentation & Paper

 General Points
 Research Presentation
 Research Paper
 Questions
 General Points
• Presentation + Paper = 55% of grade
– Presentation = 20%
– Paper = 35%
• Have had semester to work on it
• High expectations
• It’s in your hands
 Research Presentation
• General
– Begins April 20, ends April 29
– Sign-up sheet to be posted on class blog
on Sun. April 12 at 08:00
– Attendance is mandatory (it’s a courtesy to
your fellow students anyway)
 Research Presentation
• Structure
– 7 minute presentations
– An abridged version of your paper
– Can use tools, such as PPT, brief videos, etc.
– Be organized – Know where you’re going
– Heart of presentation = heart of research
– Keep background to a minimum (<2 mins.)
– You are the teacher – keep it conversational and
engage the class
 Research Presentation
• Grading
– Content
– Organization
– Delivery
• Questions
 Research Paper
• General
– Due May 4 – No exceptions
– Lose a letter grade for each day late
– Minimum 7 pages, maximum 10 pages
double spaced
– Bibliography does not count to page total
 Research Paper
• Sourcing
– News/analysis pieces from reputable media
sources
– Authoritative sources for factual info
– No Wikipedia
– Use databases such as Lexis Nexis, Academic
Search Premier, Jstor, etc.
– Use scholarly material for extra, if applicable
– In trouble? Ask your reference librarians!
 Research Paper
• Structure
– Organized construction of thoughts/facts
accumulated through diligent research
– Must include footnotes that properly attribute
sourced material
– Must include complete, alphabetized bibliography
that should be easy to check
• Example: “Obama visits Iraq, announces withdrawal
timetable,” Miami Herald, April 3, 2009, pg. A-1
 Research Paper
• Writing
– Your job is to fully explain your topic
– Use facts as the backbone
– Use opinion to add the various viewpoints
on your topic
– Do not inject your opinion into the paper
 Research Paper
• Grading
– Content
– Organization
– Quality, depth of research
– Grammar & punctuation
– Lose a letter grade for each day late
 Research Paper
• Questions

Have fun with it!

Congratulations, you’ve learned
something!