Final Project
Objectives
- Reflect on and independently research an area of personal interest in robotics
- This assignment must be done individually.
This assignment must be done individually. It replaces your second exam and your library outreach project.
Create a new Microsoft Word or text document named YourUserName-FL.
Your Task
This final project assignment is designed to give you flexibility in independently researching some area which you find interesting in the field of robotics and then to write an essay on your research. Your topic of research may be on any area which is clearly related to robotics, and your introduction should be used to make clear how your topic is related to robotics if it is not inherently clear.
Note that a specific and narrow area of interest with specific detail is generally preferable to a broad overview which is lacking in specifics.
Many students have chosen to research an area of robotics related to one of their areas of interest. An Asian Studies Computer Science double major choose to research the current state of robotics in Japan. A Business major/Computer Science minor choose to research the expanding market of robotics in the USA. An education major taking this course as an elective researched the use of robotics in K-12. An independent major in journalism interested in the military taking the course as an elective researched the history of robots in the military. These were all really good final projects. The bottom line is that I recommend that you try to focus on something you are really interested in.
I would be very happy to talk to you about your topic as well as to work with you on drafts in advance of the deadline. My hope is that you identify a topic which you will enjoy researching.
Technical details:
- The body of the essay must be 4-6 pages in 12 point Times New Roman font, double-spaced with 1-inch margins
- The essay must have a title which reflects your essay's main thesis statement (not something like "Final Project”)
- This essay must reference at least four sources. All referenced sources must be academically reputable. (Be very careful with Internet sources here--if you are not sure if it is reputable, show it to one of us. Note that WikiPedia is not generally considered reputable, though it usually has links to reputable sources.)
- All citations must be consistent in the use the MLA, APA, or Chicago style of reference, which are the styles taught in GSTR110. Note that each of these citation styles require in-text citations in addition to a works cited section.
- In addition to researched content, this essay will be graded in four additional areas: thesis, organization, support, and elaboration, grammatical conventions, and style. See Effective Writing summary for more detail.