For this week's assignment, you should begin by looking over examples of geotechnical writing -- both good and bad -- available on-line via links on our class page. Pay particular attention to the "Improvement guide" and "My pet writing peeves and how to fix them." and "How to write really bad geotechnical prose." Not reading these or following them, along with not reading and paying close attention to published geotechnical journal papers, are probably the biggest sources of problems for students in this class. Doing the written assignments is not enough. Just as you learn language best from "immersion", geotechnical writing skills are best developed by immersing yourself in examples of good geotechnical writing.

Within two or three days of you submitting a hard copy of your Assignment 2 paper (your 200 word encyclopedic dictionary entry on your research topic) I should have returned an edited version to your folders in KOM 300. I edited these for grammar, spelling, word choice, phrasing, etc. If you did not receive yours, then please email me and let me know.

Now you have three activities to do on your own: (a) edit your encyclopedia entry, based on my input [7 pts.], (b) complete a plagiarism exercise [3 pts.]:  and (c) prepare a research proposal for your final project [5 pts.; ~15% of your final project grade].  Even though there are three parts to this week's assignment, none should require too much time to complete. In particular, you have two more weeks to complete your research proposal. Not having a copy of your edited encyclopedia entry (Assignment 2) on the day that Part A is assigned* likewise shouldn't be a problem; in the meantime, you can instead work on parts B and C.

* = in other words, it will take me a couple days to edit your entry from Assignment 2

There are several steps to this process -

(1) If you have not already done so, e-mail me a copy of your first draft (rich text format only [.rtf], NOT a proprietary word processing file format). At this point (after the due date), don't use the D2L drop box. Send it directly to me, so I can get it back to you ASAP. If you have already done so, then ignore this, and move on to #2 below.

NOTE: If you don't provide me with a first draft (i.e. don't do Assignment 2), you will miss the full 10 points from last week's assignment, 7 points this week, and another 2 points next week. That means a total of 19 points! So just because you have already lost 5 to perhaps 7 (or more) points by not turning in Assignment 2, doesn't mean that you should just not do this assignment. Time's a wastin'!

(2) Edit your first draft based on the editing remarks that I have written on your entry. Your job is to look over my suggestions, and depending on the state of your entry, either make some touch-ups or do a major overhaul. While you are making your improvements, keep in mind the information provided to you on-line concerning geotechnical writing.

(3) Don't forget that you must have a bibliography at the bottom of your entry. Those of you who didn't include a bibliography and those who did not put their bibliographic references into GSA format need to pay close attention to the examples of typical citations on the class webpage. You should include a citation for each reference you used to prepare your entry. Follow the GSA format as closely as possible. However, don't bother citing references in your text since that isn't how dictionary entries are usually prepared.

(4) Remember to include a revised word count [in brackets] at the bottom of your text. Your entry should still be 200 words (+/- 5%).

(5) Upload your newly EDITED entry to the appropriate D2L dropbox by the due date, and put a hardcopy in the file drawer in KOM300. Your assignment number should read "Assignment 3, Part A" (just a reminder of the header format, since some of you may have forgotten).

This exercise is easy and should be informative. Reading the materials may require a little time, but it is a very important topic and one that will benefit all college students. (1) The exercise is documented on another page entitled: GEOL-3160: Exercise on plagiarism. (2) The exercise requires that you fill-out a personal statement concerning your previous knowledge and behavior with regard to plagiarism. (3) Once you have completed your work on this exercise, place the completed "Plagiarism statement" in your work folder in KOM300.

Part C: Writing a research proposal:
Write and submit a proposal based on your selected research topic. This requires that you read several journal articles and become well acquainted with your topic before you begin. In addition, you need a minimum of three references to complete the proposal, but you should probably have located quite a few more (10 - 15) in our library. This is due two weeks from today (Week 5 of the course). The credit for this activity is part of the point total for the final project. Just in case you need guidance, I've provided a sample of a similar proposal from another class of mine.

Note: Keep an eye on your e-mail this week (and every week), as I may be sending you information.