. During week one, a topic is negotiated and

submitted ona 3 x 5 card.

Two weeks later, a preliminary thesis is submit-
ted on a3 x5 card.

Two weeks later, a preliminary outline is submit-
ted—typed. The students must have gone to the
library and completed some reading to get this
far.

. Paper number one (due one week after the

outline is submitted) is a summary of one
magazine article on the agreed-upon topic. The
summary is written on a paper I provide—15
marked lines with space for the title, author,
publication, etc. This paper may be hand-
written. It must include one quote from the
article. At this stage, I want to see content—e.,
whether students know how to summarize
without including their own opinions. (I found
that I have to teach them how to summarize. All
students read the same article, summarize it, and
read their summaries aloud. We discuss any
major points they omitted and how to condense a
summary, if necessary.) | check for accuracy in
grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. This paper
is graded and returned before paper number two
is due. The grade for this paper is 10 percent of
the grade for the final paper.

. Paper number two (due one week later) is a

summary of two more magazine articles on the
same topic—one summary, two articles—again
on 15 lines. This one may also be handwritten
and must include two quotes—one from each
article. There are now three articles on the same
topic and two 15-line summaries of the three
articles. The paper is graded and returned before
paper number three is due. The grade for this
paper is 20 percent of the grade for the final
paper.

Paper number three (due two weeks later) is a
summary of four more magazine articles on the
same topic. (Note: For each assignment, the
number of articles has doubled.) There is one
summary of four articles with two quotes—
student’s choice. This paper is to be typed, and
the limit of 15 lines is still enforced. At this
point, I bring to the students’ attention that they
are now halfway through the paper; i.e., seven
articles have been read and summarized. This
paper is 30 percent of the grade on the final
paper.

. The last assignment becomes the final paper.

This time students must read eight more articles

(for a total of 15). The body of the final paper is
to contain information and quotes from the first
three papers (not necessarily verbatim quotes).
By this time, I have corrected papers and shown
students how to cite publications; how to use
quotes; how to use the spell-checker, the thesau-
rus, and the grammar-checker on the computer;
and generally how to “think” in terms of a
perfect paper. In addition, I inform students that
I will go over the paper and check for mistakes at
any time they choose before the final paper is
due (two weeks before finals week). This check
is not a grade; I just help “fine-tune” the final
project. The grade for the final paper is 40
percent of the grade for the entire project.
(During the final two weeks of the semester, I
grade the papers. I read every word, including
cover page, contents page, body, footnotes, and
bibliography, and look at style as well as format
and content.)

SCCSE

The papers are getting better and better; the students
are the same, but there seems to be more motivation.
The students still complain at the beginning of the
semester when they find out that the rumors they’ ve
heard are true; but by the end of the semester, their
attitude seems to have changed.

The word about my classes is spreading, and I am
sure that some students shy away from them and me.
Yet, I can’t help feeling that “the harder I work, the
luckier I get.”

Thomas O. Harris, Instructor, Business Management
Program

For further information, contact the author at Depart-
ment of Business Technology, St. Philip’s College, 2111
Nevada, San Antonio, TX 78203.

 

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor

April 19, 1991, Vol. XIIl, No. 13

©The University of Texas at Austin, 1991
Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER
institutions for their own personnel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),
Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly
when classes are in session during fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X.

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