Senior Project 2

Catalog description

Supervised student activities on research and/or design projects identified on an individual or small group basis. The combination of PES 446W , PES 447W and PES 448W fulfills the degree requirement for Writing Across the Curriculum. Writing Across the Curriculum courses include writing assignments that relate clearly to the course objectives and serve as effective instruments for learning the subject matter of the course. In writing-intensive courses, assignments are designed to help students investigate the course subject matter, gain experience in interpreting data or the results of research, shape writing for a particular audience, or practice the type of writing associated with a given profession or discipline. Therefore, in this course, and the two subsequent Senior Design Courses, each written assignment will be evaluated, and feedback will be provided to the student, either in written or verbal form. In all instances, students will provide draft copies of reporting assignments and will be given the opportunity to revise their work to incorporate revisions and receive additional points. This iterative process is designed to provide the student with continuous feedback on quality and effectiveness of written communication. In PES 447W , students are required to update a comprehensive literature review initiated in PES 446W pertaining to their senior project. The primary focus of this course will be on establishing and maintaining an effective program of research activity that makes consistent progress toward verification or invalidation of the project hypothesis. Students will be instructed on best practices of research writing, with an emphasis on development of appropriate representation of research data, contextualization of results and evolution and/or adaptation of the program of investigation based on developed experimental data. Preliminary grading will be provided along with critique of written communication. Cumulative findings will be submitted in an end of semester report. Report sections will be due in draft form on an approximately bi-weekly basis. Preliminary grading will be provided along with critique of written communication. Revised versions will be due for final grading approximately one week after faculty feedback.