EDEC 646: Sociocultural and Epistemic Understandings of Science
EDEC 647: Sociocultural and Epistemic Understandings of Mathematics
COMP 766: Sociocultural and Epistemic Understandings of Computer Science

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Assessment

Assessment
 % of total grade
Worksheets*
 34%
Presenting a reading**
 8%
Term paper***
 58%

since COMP 766 is worth 4 credits, whereas EDEC 646 and 647 are 3 credits:
* COMP 766 students will have a few extra worksheets
** COMP 766 students will do this twice; EDEC students once
*** COMP 766 students will write a paper that is suitably longer


Presenting Papers

Regularly, I will ask a student from each section of the course to summarize the reading or readings that were unique from their section. EDEC students should do this at least once in the term, and COMP students should do this at least twice in the term. If you do it more than once/twice then only your top 1-2 grades will count toward your final grade.

Grading for a presentation will be out of 20, with five points each for:
  1. Clear and articulate presentation to the class
  2. Describes the major point(s) of the paper
  3. Explains why that paper is of interest to the rest of the class
  4. Addresses all points from the relevant worksheet question


Term Paper Milestones

To spread the load, there will be a milestone due every two weeks. "Usual" submission means four identical print-outs are to be handed in at the start of class that week.

Milestone
 Due
 Week of term
 Description
 Submission
 % of final grade
0
 Jan 16
 2
 Brainstorming
 (in class activity)
 0
1
 Jan 30
 4
 Proposal of topic
 Usual
 2
2
 Feb 13
 6
 Annotated bibliography
 Piazza
 8
3
 Feb 27
 8
 Paper outline
 Usual
 6
4
 Mar 13
 9*
 Literature critique
 Usual
 12
5
 Mar 27
 11
 Half-complete draft
 Usual
 5
6
 Apr 10
 13
 Complete draft
 Usual
 10
7
 Apr 24
Finalized paper, published on SocArXiv
 Upload on SocArXiv, post DOI on Piazza
 15
* note the March break occurs between weeks 8 and 9


Milestone 0: Brainstorming

This will be done as an in-class activity in week 2.

Brainstorm topics that you would like to write a paper on for this course. You will not be locked into anything at this point. The purpose is just to get you started.


Milestone 1: Topic proposal

Due by paper submission in class in week 4 (January 30). Print out four copies, three of which will be used for peer feedback.
Worth 2% of final grade.

Point form response to these questions, max 1 page.
  1. What is the topic you would like to write a paper on in this class? If you are stuck between multiple topics, list them all, and answer the other questions for each topic.
  2. How will writing this paper help you achieve all three of the course-level learning goals for this course?
  3. Which week-level learning goals will writing this paper help you solidify? List at least four. They can be learning goals from future weeks.
  4. How will writing this paper help you beyond this course? (e.g. a section/chapter of your thesis, conference/journal you will submit it to)


Marking Rubric (out of 15):

Milestone 2: Annotated bibliography

Due by paper submission in class in week 6 (February 13). Bring four copies. As class was canceled due to snow storm, submit on Piazza. See Piazza for details.
Worth 10% of final grade.

There is a LaTeX template with instructions here and word template with instructions here. Worked examples for annotating papers are in the templates.

You'll be submitting an annotated bibliography of sources you think you'll use in your final paper. Note: you must use a citation management system (e.g. BibTeX, Mendeley, Zotero, etc); you will be expected to use one for all future milestones.

Page limit: 6 pages (EDEC) / 8 pages (COMP). Times New Roman size 10, 3cm margins, single-spaced. Includes cover page.

1 bonus point is available for using LaTeX. Marks will be deducted for issues with citation/formatting issues.

Tip: if you are new to literature searching, talk to a McGill librarian! They are super helpful and this is something they are here to help you with. If you have a research advisor, talk to them too!


Milestone 3: Paper outline

Due by paper submission in class in week 8 (February 27). Bring four copies.
Worth 6% of final grade.

For this Milestone, I want a bullet-point outline of your final paper. I am also asking you to complete a cover-sheet to go with the outline; I intend for you to fill in the cover sheet after writing an outline.

Page limit: 1/2 your page limit for the final paper.

There is a LaTeX template with instructions here and word template with instructions here. You must use one of the two templates.

1 bonus point is available for using LaTeX. Marks may be deducted for issues with citation/formatting issues.

Tip: if you are new to writing abstracts, here's a good place to start.


Milestone 4: Literature critique

Due by paper submission in class in week 9 (March 13). Bring four copies.
Worth 12% of final grade.

For this Milestone, I want you to identify the most important substantive piece of literature that you will use as evidence in your term paper. I then want you to analyse and critique the paper; I have provided twelve questions to structure your analysis.

Page limit: 6 pages for EDEC, 7 pages for COMP.

You must use either the LaTeX template or the word template for your paper.
There is a LaTeX template with instructions and worked examples here, and a word template here.

1 bonus point is available for using LaTeX. Marks WILL be deducted for issues with citation/formatting issues.

Milestone 5: Incomplete draft

Due by paper submission in class in week 11 (March 27). As usual, bring four copies (three for peer review).
Worth 5% of final grade.

In this milestone you'll be handing in an approximately half-written draft (1000 words or more) of your term paper, along with a couple of diagrams to help you think through your paper (a concept map and a "research tradition" drawing). You can, of course, write more if you're on the ball! This milestone is really here to help you write your paper incrementally and get feedback as you're writing it.

I suggest starting with the two drawings before starting writing! I am putting them in as requirements as I think they will help you with your writing/editing process.

Head's up: I am not going to be reading your paper drafts for spelling, but instead focusing on giving higher lever feedback.

Page limit: 6 pages (EDEC) / 8 pages (COMP)

Note: for this milestone you must use APA style for your bibliography.

You must use either the LaTeX template or the word template for your paper.
There is a LaTeX template with instructions and worked examples here, and a word template here.

1 bonus point is available for using LaTeX.

Milestone 6: Complete draft

Due by paper submission in class in week 13 (April 10). As usual, bring four copies (though this time there are two separate documents to have four copies of).

This is going to be a complete draft of your paper to get feedback on.

You'll be using the same template as the previous milestone, but now you must use Chicago style with footnotes for your bibliography.

You'll be submitting two documents for this milestone: the cover page, and the paper.

Milestone 7: Published paper

Due: April 24 if Elizabeth gets M6 returned on April 17, else April 26

Like in the previous milestone, you'll be submitting two documents: your paper, and your cover page.

In the past few milestones we've been modeling the process of writing a journal paper. Writing a cover sheet, including how you've addressed peer review feedback, is typical of the publication process. It is also typical to have multiple rounds of peer review, and possibly editorial review.

Now you get to publish your paper!

Cover Sheet:

Submission: