CSIS 496 – Senior Seminar

Final Written Tutorial

·         35% of Final Grade

·         Due Tuesday, April 10

·         The final written version of the tutorial is submitted to the instructor on this date (use the Moodle site to submit your final paper.  Everything associated with the paper, Title Page, TOC, body of paper, references and appendices must be in the same word processor file, you can only submit one word processor file to the Moodle site for this deliverable).

·         Failure to turn in your paper by the scheduled date/time will result in a grade of zero for this component of the course grade. Please refer to course policies regarding late work.

Editorial Guidelines (use these guidelines instead of any that you might find in the online writing references):

·         Minimum acceptable length is ten (10) pages with one inch margins (top/bottom/left/right) using Times New Roman 10 point font, single-spaced and two-column format.  Many students are surprised to see that two-column format reduces the number of pages for the paper by approximately one half. 

·         Use the two-column format and reference citation / endnote format from the sample ACM Publication provided via this link as model for your paper.

·         Do not increase indentation for subsections, i.e., indentation remains at the left margin unless you are using something like a bulleted or numbered list or other structure that typically requires increased indentation.

·         Do not use ‘white space’ to try to increase the length of your paper.

·         Title Page, Table of Contents, Images, References and Appendices do not count toward the 10 page minimum length.

·         Use the same numbering scheme required for the detailed outline for section headings / subheadings. Follow this link for an example.

·         Indent the first line of each paragraph as shown in the sample ACM Publication provided via this link.  Do not use a blank line between paragraphs.

·         Use the features of your word processor to automatically generate your Table of Contents so that section names and page numbers are consistent.

·         Page numbering should begin with Page 1 after your Table of Contents, i.e., the Table of Contents page is not Page 1.

·         You should use the features of your word processor to generate the reference numbers for your reference citations.  This will save you a good deal of time and it is well worth your energy to learn how to do this. 

·         If you are using MS Word to create your paper, you should experiment with the new References feature.  This feature can save you considerable time and energy with respect to managing your reference citations.

·         You can refer to this link for help in formatting your reference citations.

·         All pages must be numbered.

Specifications / Guidelines:

·         Any deviations from the sections specified in your detailed outline must be approved by the instructor.

·         The tutorial must contain an appendix consisting of at least five review questions (and answers) based upon your seminar presentation. The questions should address the main points covered in your tutorial and should test a person's knowledge about your topic.

·         I will use the following writing guidelines when grading your detailed outline and final written tutorial. Use both the spelling and grammar checking features of your word processor. Please follow this link for a sample of writing resources available on the web and use these and any other writing resources you may locate when writing your detailed outline and final written tutorial.

·         Pay particular attention to the citation of references, students have historically lost more points because of this than any other facet of the course. Please review course policies regarding plagiarism if you are in doubt about whether to cite a reference.

·         A reprint of an article from an ACM Publication is provided via this link as an example of how you are to construct the endnotes for your detailed outline and final paper.

·         Another main problem I have found with student's writing in this course is failure to use proper paragraph structure. . Please refer to the Internet Writing Resources or a technical writing textbook for guidelines on constructing paragraphs. I will use these guidelines when grading your papers (both detailed outline and final written tutorial).

·         All numbered sections/subsections in the detailed outline MUST appear in the final paper unless deviations have been approved by the instructor.

·         You are encouraged to review your final paper with the instructor before submitting it for grading.

The detailed outline and final paper MUST contain the following sections: