Senior Project 3

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 448W , students are required to update a comprehensive literature pertaining to their project that was initiated in PES 446W and further expanded in PES 447W . The primary focus of this course will be on synthesizing the accumulated results from all three courses that constitute the senior design project and presenting data and findings in a comprehensive final report. Students will be instructed on best practices of drafting, editing and finalizing a project report, with clear statements of hypotheses, objectives, methods, analysis and conclusions. The ultimate goal is to provide the students an opportunity to produce a publication-worthy scholarly work. Cumulative findings will be submitted in an end of project 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.