GGR 687, Spring 2004
Professor Tom Paradis
Office Hours: Monday 2:00-4:00, Tuesday 9:00-11:00
Office: 207 SFSC, Building 82 
Phone: 523-6638 (or by appointment) 
Email: Thomas.paradis@nau.edu

PROPOSAL WRITING
Mondays 5:30-7:00, Room 110 


Course Description
       This course constitutes a core class for all graduate students in the Rural Geography program at NAU. The course is primarily built around a substantial term project that will lead to the completion of a proposal for either a thesis or practicum, depending on each student's emphasis area. Completing a viable and realistic thesis/practicum proposal this semester is the primary goal for students in this course, and students present their proposals to the entire class at the end of the semester. Most importantly, the completion of this proposal is intended to launch all students into their individual research for their respective thesis or practicum following the course. A secondary purpose of this course is to allow all graduate students to discuss their own research and writing experiences with other students in the class. Thus, this course is repeatable from one year to the next, and grad students at different stages of their Masters degree may enroll in the course to participate in group discussions and to assist first-year graduate students with their own work. Time spent in the classroom is devoted to a variety of seminar-style discussions related to the various stages of the proposal project and thesis research that will encourage students to see multiple perspectives and ideas that may influence their own work.

Class Structure
       Class meets once a week on Monday evenings for 1 hour, 30 minutes. This is a seminar-style course in which the students are expected to conduct the bulk of the effort in class, including lively discussions of readings, issues, and projects, and various personal experiences surrounding the creation of a research proposal. I will only be teaching material to the class on an as-needed basis, and to clarify various theoretical perspectives and other material encountered throughout the course. Students should be aware that this course expects a relatively large amount of personal effort outside the normal classroom setting, due specifically to the rigorous demands of developing a workable research proposal. Thus, the one credit earned for the course does not reflect the amount of work expected of the students. Instead, the one credit is an additional credit earned beyond GGR 681 Thought and Methods to reward students for a proposal project that needs to be accomplished in partial completion of a Masters Degree. The proposal project is no longer built into GGR 681 as it once was.

Required Text
Rudestam and Newton. 2001. Surviving your Dissertation, 2nd edition. 

Evaluation and Grading System
       The focus of your work in this course will involve the completion of a thesis or practicum proposal of good enough quality to be acceptable to your current or future graduate committee, a series of reading assignments for discussion within class periods, and a final presentation to the class during which you will present your thesis proposal in its completed form. Smaller projects related directly to the completion of the thesis proposal will be incorporated into the course's requirements, along with their respective deadlines.
A total of 500 points may be earned. Here's the breakdown of points for the course:

10 reading assignments (notes) 100 points
Proposal Introduction 20 points
Literature Review draft 50 points
Final Research Objectives 30 points
Methodology (3-6 pages?) 30 points
Final Proposal (15-30 pages) 200 points
Final presentation of proposal 50 points
Review of Meeting with Advisor 20 points
 

CLASS SCHEDULE AND TOPICS

Jan 12 M Orientation: Discussion of Proposal project and student introductions.

Jan 19 M NO CLASS (Martin Luther King Day)

Jan 26 M Discuss Chapters 1, 2. Intro to literature review and E-journals.

Feb 2 M Discuss Chapter 3. Research Questions and objectives: Brainstorm.

Feb 9 M Present Introduction.
(Due: Introduction)

Feb 16 M Discuss Chapter 4. Due: Annotated Bibliography of 10 articles/books.

Feb 23 M Present Research Objectives.
(Due: Initial Research Objectives)

Mar 1 M Discuss Chapter 5

Mar 8 M Discuss Chapter 6. Present Literature Review
(Due: Literature Review draft, Final Research Objectives)

Mar 15 M SPRING BREAK!

Mar 22 M Discuss Chapter 7.

Mar 29 M Discuss Chapter 8. Discuss advisor meetings.
(Due: Review of Meeting with Advisor)

Apr 5 M Discuss Chapter 9. Present Methodology
(Due: Methodology, etc.)

Apr 12 M Discuss Chapter 11; Prepare for presentations

Apr 19 M Student Presentations: Final Proposal. (Requires longer class period)

Apr 26 M Student Presentations: Final Proposal. (Requires longer class period)

May 3 M NO CLASS - FINAL PROPOSALS DUE TODAY.


COMPONENTS OF A PROPOSAL:

· Introduction
· Literature Review
· Research Objectives
· Methodology
· Justification
· Timeline
· References Cited
 

 

 

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