Term Paper

On Thurs., Nov. 14, the term paper outlines were returned in class. We also took some time to discuss suitability of different kinds of sources, guidelines for citing sources, and how to avoid plagiarism. This information is provided in the links below.

Guide to Citations for Stellar Astronomy Term Papers - [pdf]

UT Tutorial on Plagiarism

On Plagiarism - [pdf to come]

The next stage of the Term Paper assignment is due Tuesday, Nov. 5, in class. It is required that you turn in this assignment; failure to do so will cause a (small) loss of credit on the overall Term Paper grade. While this does not need to be your final outline, and there is still the opportunity to modify or narrow your topic, it is important that you demonstrate significant effort and substance towards this project, so that we can catch possible problems or misunderstandings about the topic and provide some guidance as you progress farther into your research.

What needs to be included in the Tues., Nov. 5 assignment:

  1. A tentative title or more specific topic than previously submitted.
  2. A paragraph or two (about half a page) stating what you intend to research and write about. Avoid "filler" sentences.
  3. A brief outline of the major sections, formatted like the Instructor's Notes table of contents (Roman numerals for major sections, numbers for subsections, third level of outline not required). It should be relevant to your specific topic; that is, a generic outline is not satisfactory. (Example of a generic outline: I. Introduction, II. Observed Properties, III. Theory, IV. Summary. This has NO specific content!)
  4. A short list of several sources (at least 3) you have found so far on this topic. They cannot all be websites, even authoritative ones. At least one of them should be a paper from the professional astronomical literature. See the "Link to Course Guide for Ast 352K" or "Handout on Library Resources for your Term Paper" below this announcement.

This assignment needs to be legible (some of the initial topic choice pages were not), so a printed (not hand-printed) copy is fine. Clear, dark hand-printing is also acceptable, but not a page scribbled in light pencil.

Description of Term Paper Assignment [pdf]

Link to Course Guide for Ast 352K on the UT Library Site - http://tinyurl.com/ly9vaqm

Handout on Library Resources for Researching your Term Paper [pdf]