Dr. Tobolowsky's
Technical Assistance for Term Papers
Courses with Writing Projects
- 2100 Crime and Justice in the United States
- 3201 Criminal Law
- 4250 Law and Social Problems
- 4901 Senior Seminar
- 5150 Criminal Justice Process and Procedure
Dr. Tobolowsky's philosophy on writing projects are that they help students synthesize aspects of their classroom learning experience; allow them to supplement knowledge gained in the classroom with in-depth research on a particular subject of interest to them; and assist students in the expansion and refinement of their research and writing skills. They also provide an additional basis of student evaluation beyond that offered by classroom examinations.
On any writing project, Dr. Tobolowsky expects that students will:
- listen to the in-class descriptions of the assignment
- take advantage of the research paper preparation sessions, as needed
- ask questions in class or her office to clarify any of the aspects of the assignment that are unclear
- choose a topic that they will want to spend a fair amount of time researching
- fulfill basic requirements of correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar
- set aside sufficient time to carefully research and write the paper
As the adjective used reflects, an excellent writing project is one which is unusually good and of exceptional merit. To warrant this description, the paper must be excellent not only as to its content, but also its organization, form, and style. For each writing assignment made, the component parts of the project are specified. The content of the excellent paper provides the maximum information and analysis requested, not the minimum amount. The number and type of sources sought and used in providing the content reflect the pursuit of a depth of research knowledge rather than a more superficial treatment of the subject. The excellent paper reflects the student's understanding, synthesis, and integration of the information provided rather than a mere compilation of relevant information. Excellent content, however, becomes less recognizable if the paper's organization, form, and style are not also excellent. At the minimum, this includes correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and reference material format. It goes, further, however, to include a paper that is well written from its start to its finish.
Dr. Tobolowsky requires the MLA referencing format. She supplies a style sheet with examples of the MLA format for the types of sources generally used in research papers. In addition, you will receive an abbreviated legal format for these materials. This will be reviewed in class. The importance of giving credit and ways to give credit to the original sources of information are stressed. She does not however, require any specific title page, page numbering, heading, or related format for the research papers.
The most common problem encountered regarding the provision of the content of the paper is the overuse of quoted materials. Most of the non original information provided in research papers can be effectively paraphrased or summarized with proper reference credit given to the original source. The most common writing problems encountered are spelling and grammar errors
Grading
Dr. Tobolowsky evaluates separately each
component of the required content of the paper, as well as its other required aspects such
as research sources and reference citations. This provides her with a preliminary
assessment of the paper's strengths and weaknesses. She then will review the overall
quality of the paper's content, organization, form, and style to reach a final assessment
of the paper. Content aspects of the paper account for the most significant share of the
final grade, but matters of organization, form, and style are also reflected in the final
grade. A traditional grading scale is used for research papers. An A paper
typically reflects degrees of excellence across all of the paper's dimensions. Papers
receiving other grades typically include combinations of aspects which are excellent,
good, fair, or acceptable.
Dr. Tobolowsky prefers that students contact her by phone or in
person if they have questions about their writing projects so that their questions can be
answered most effectively.
940-565-4085
