Introduction to Computers: Fall 2013

Term paper: The prospectus

The purpose of the Prospectus is to give you an opportunity to think through what you want to write about. A Prospectus is a statement outlining the main features of the paper that you intend to write.

Here is how you should proceed with this assignment:

1. Decide on a topic that interests you within the boundaries set by this assignment. If you have any questions about your potential topic, discuss your ideas with the instructor or a TA either by email or after class, or during lab or office hours.
2. Sketch out a plan: identify your topic and primary analytical question(s). Identify as specifically as possible what interests you about this topic.
3. Define your audience. It is important to know for whom you will write your paper. By default, the audience will be your classmate in ECS15, i.e. students who are literate in computer science but did not get the opportunity to research the specific subject you are presenting. You are free however to define your own audience, as long as you make it explicit.
4. Define what you already know about the topic.
5. Indicate what sources of information appear to you to be the most promising for the topic. Note that you are not researching the final paper yet; instead, you are getting ready to do that research and write the paper. Try to find out how you can find references in your major department, the library, or other sources that might seem appropriate for your topic.

Your ideas do not need to be final. They should be flexible, so that as you learn more about the topic, you can modify the focus to reflect your newly acquired knowledge. However, you should have a reasonably good idea of what it is you want to write about to focus your research.

The prospectus that you turn in should be about a page long, with answers to the questions posed above. The file must be created with Microsoft Office. Save you prospectus as prospectus.doc or prospectus.docx based on the version of Microsoft Word you are using.

You should use a proportional font.

Grading