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Table of Contents for Analytical Paper Two
Paper Proposal
Proposed References
Literature Review
Annotated Bibliography/Resources
Paper Two: Coerced to Write
MEMORANDUM
DATE:
October 31, 2005
TO:
Professors Fitzpatrick and Hickernell
FROM:
Christopher Paul
SUBJECT:
A Proposal to Analyze Writing Requirements within the Information Systems Undergraduate Program at UMBC
Potential Topic
The purpose of the proposed paper is to investigate what types of academic writing professors are requiring UMBC undergraduate students to write in the Information Systems curriculum. The secondary purpose of the paper is to inform writing center tutors and instructors what Information Systems professors are requiring students' to write with regards to style guide recommendations, writing style, tone, and voice. Last, to determine what are the students' strengths and weaknesses in these writing assignments so writing centers tutors may better serve the tutees needs.
Forecast of Paper
The methodology for this paper will consist of conducting an interview with Professor Tate Redding, Director of Information Systems Undergraduate Program (provided he agrees to be interviewed) as a primary resource. During the interview I will ask who else is incorporating writing assignments into their classes and interview these professors also. In the Information Systems curriculum practically every class, other than hard core programming, had a group project consisting of developing a working model, user documentation, and an oral presentation. In some cases, an individual theoretical or applied research paper is also required.
Papers in Information systems take on many forms, such as case studies, applied ethics, research and project proposals, progress reports, executive summaries, theoretical and applied research papers, journalistic investigative reports, end user studies, request for quotation, vendor quotation, applied corporate case law, and project management reports.
A theoretical paper outline:
I) Introduction
A) Report Objective
B) Methods of Investigation
II) Methodologies
III) Research Findings
A) Types of Projects, Papers and Research
B) Requirements
C) Types of Documentation
D) Weaknesses in Student Papers and Documentation
IV) Advice for Tutors
Bower, Virginia, et al. "A Comparison of Disciplinary Writing Features." Tutor.edu 2000. Montreat College. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://www.montreat.edu/tutor/11.htm.
Day, R. A. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. 5th ed. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
Lynch, Patrick J., and Horton Sarah. Web Style Guide. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. Last update 12 July 2005. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://www.webstyleguide.com/index.html?/contents.html.
Jones, Robert, et al. "The Harcourt Brace Guide to writing in the Disciplines." NY: Harcourt Brace, 1997. 422-423.
Redding, Tate. Personal Interview. 3 Nov. 2005.
Saunders, Carol. "School Journal Rankings." Assn. for Information Systems. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://isworld.org/csaunders/schools.htm.
Sully, Brenda. "Malaspina University-College's Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Project." Apr. 1995. Malaspina University-College. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://www.mala.bc.ca/www/wac/proj.htm.
Summers, Kathryn. WRIT 313 Writing for Information Systems. Course home page. Spring 2002. Information Arts and Technologies, University of Baltimore. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://iat.ubalt.edu/courses/old/writ313.101_Sp02/.
"Writing in the Sciences." UNC Writing Center Handout. 10 June 2004. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Accessed 25 Oct. 2005. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/sciences.html.
Young, Art Fulwiler, and Toby Fulwiler. Writing Across the Disciplines: Research Into Practice. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook Pub., 1986.
Some of Montreat's information disagrees with my writing experiences and the articles I have chosen. The papers published in Technical Communications Quarterly and Ethics and Information Technology are clearly objective and not subjective, but there is a disagreement with third person pronouns. The article "Teaching Hypertext Composition" in the Technical Communications Quarterly is using the first-person singular "I," the first-person plural "We," and the third person plural "They," are also used.
I disagree with the choices of the style guides Montreat College has chosen. Professors in information systems didn't specify a style guide because style guides varies from journal to journal. There is no one specific style guide used in information systems. The Technical Communications Quarterly is using The Chicago Manual of Style and Ethics and Information Technology is using APA.
The articles in the Technical Communications Quarterly and Ethics and Information Technology are written in active voice and present tense which is also how information systems students are instructed to write. It is interesting to note that the date on the Montreat College web site is 1999-2000. I began attending UMBC Summer 2000 and always received instructions to write in active voice and present tense as it creates a stronger voice, a voice of authority. In the 70's and 80's, all of my science and technology papers were written in third-person, passive voice, past tense except for results which were written in present voice. I think this shift in writing occurred in the 90's.
Bower, Virginia, et al. "A Comparison of Disciplinary Writing Features." Tutor.edu 2000.
Montreat College. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005.
http://www.montreat.edu/tutor/11-2.htm.
The Montreat College web site provides a quick reference describing the features writing in the sciences and technology. Science and technology papers include: headings as a method of organization, objective, third person pronouns, CBE or CHE as their style guides, passive voice, past tense for experiments and present tense for results, written in a formal tone, and a factual style with specialized vocabulary. The CBE and the CHE are not the only style guides used in the sciences. Nevertheless, the information is useful for my paper.
Day, R. A. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. 5th ed. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx
Press.
R. A. Day's book is an ebook and seems to be covering chemistry and biology which may or may not prove useful for my research. One of his appendices has proved very useful and will be inserted as an appendix. Day provides a list called "words and expressions to avoid," one side labeled jargon and the other side labeled preferred usage. This guide in a nutshell takes commonly used phrases in science papers and reduces them to one or two words. Day's appendix is useful for reducing wordiness.
Lynch, Patrick J., and Horton, Sarah. Web Style Guide. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2001.
Last update 12 July 2005. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005.
http://www.webstyleguide.com/index.html?/contents.html.
Lynch and Horton's ebook discusses how to style documents and text for web pages and how to design web sites for the purpose of displaying text documents. This ebook will be useful for an analysis of papers written in UMBC's Human Factors in Computer Systems Design course. This course is taught by two different professors so their requirements may differ. I never took this course myself but a friend did and human factors in computing is a hot topic in the professional field of information systems with several professional journals available.
Gordon, Jay L. "Teaching Hypertext Composition." Technical Communications Quarterly 14.1
(2005): 49-72.
Jay Gordon discusses the merits of teaching students to create hypertext This method combines not only written composition, but also visual communication. This document may prove useful for comparing and contrasting documents written by professionals to student documents created in UMBC's IS 387 Web Development Content course. This allows me to apply my knowledge in developing my own web site, knowledge currently being learned in ENGL 488 Visual Literacy Seminar, and to preview the course. The information may prove to be useful for tutors of the Writing Center because more and more publishing is being done on the web where the text and visuals are used together.
Siegfried, Robert M. "Student Attitudes on Software Piracy and Related Issues of Computer
Ethics." Ethics and Information Technology 6 (2004): 215-222.
The article will prove useful for the purpose of a compare and contrast between a student paper and a professional paper. The journal itself may prove useful for similar purposes. One of the other courses I may decide to analyze is Professor Wilson's IS 304 Ethical Issues in Information Systems. Professor Wilson is actually with the Philosophy department but crosses over into the information systems department to teach ethics.
"Writing in the Sciences." UNC Writing Center Handout. 10 June 2004. University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill Accessed 25 Oct. 2005.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/sciences.html.
This is one of many handouts I found on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill web site that are useful for writing in the sciences and technology. This handout discusses the various types of science writing such as peer-reviewed journals, grant proposals, literature review articles, and popular science articles. The handout discusses making writing more precise, making writing clearer, making writing more objective, and provides references to other books such as R. A. Day's How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper.
Introduction
Other than hard core programming, all courses in the Information Systems (IS) curriculum require students to write either single author documents or as writing teams. When required, IS students' group projects consist of developing a working model, providing user documentation and presenting results orally, in addition to writing individual theoretical or applied research papers.
Papers in Information Systems take on many forms, such as case studies, applied ethics, research and project proposals, progress reports, executive summaries, theoretical and applied research papers, journalistic investigative reports, end user studies, request for quotation, vendor quotation, applied corporate case law, questionnaires, laboratory reports, and project management reports.
This investigation uses Dr. Stephen Holden's IS 300 Management Information Systems course as a case study and compares a student research paper sample with a professional peer-reviewed paper to determine differences and similarities in the writing.
The results of the investigation will inform Writing Center tutors and instructors of the student writing requirements in Information Systems with regard to style guide recommendations, writing style, tone, and voice. Last, the students' strengths and weaknesses in these writing assignments will be addressed so Writing Center tutors may better serve the tutees needs.
Case Study of Writing in IS 300 Management Information Systems
IntroductionIS 300 is an extremely important course for Information Systems students. The UMBC Undergraduate Catalog states that IS 300 is a gateway course in Information Systems. Students must obtain a "C" or better in order to continue their studies to earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. Information Systems majors who wish to earn a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree must obtain a "B" or better in order gain acceptance into the curriculum (University of Maryland, Baltimore County 116-17). The essays in IS 300 constitute 30% of the student's grade, 10% for each of the three writing assignments therefore, students must write and write well in order to obtain a degree in Information Systems (Holden syllabus).
Writing Assignments
Dr. Holden assigns three writing assignments and structures the assignments such that the papers will increase in difficulty in terms of reading comprehension and sophistication of voice as the semester progresses. For the first essay, students use articles from popular computer magazines for a lay audience as their primary research sources. Students use Information Systems trade magazines as their sources of support in the second paper. The final paper requires Dr. Holden's students to use peer-reviewed journals. By using this methodology, Dr. Holden's assignments "gradually expose students to more sophisticated topics and literature sources" (email).
Dr. Holden assigns the three essays to "try to help students develop their communication and critical thinking skills" (email). According to the syllabus, Dr. Holden does not prescribe formats for the essays. The target audience is either the students employer or a client if the student intends to write as a consultant (Holden syllabus). The essays require four to six pages of text and must include a "Works Cited" type of bibliography (Holden essay guidelines). Only resources actually cited within the paper appear in the bibliography. Dr. Holden recommends students choose their paper topics from current events in the news (syllabus). Dr. Holden in an email interview said, "I am interested in seeing what you [the author] think is important and exciting about Information Systems" (Holden syllabus). Information Systems students must be knowledgeable of new trends in the industry in order to increase their marketability. Dr. Holden encourages students to "use graphics and other examples," but [they] do not count [towards] the page limit" (syllabus). All three papers require the use footnotes regardless of whether the student quotes or "paraphrases someone else's work" (Holden essay guidelines). For more specific information and guidelines on the three assigned essays, see Appendix A, "Essay/Case Study Guidelines for IS 300 Spring 2005."
The second paper, a position paper, remains the most successful of the writing assignments and is based on Nicholas Carr's article "Does IT [Information Technology] Matter" from the trade journal Harvard Business Review. The reason students do well with the second assignment stems from the tone of the article. Carr takes a position in a "tongue in cheek" vain arguing that Information Technology is completely unnecessary and that business can thrive without IT departments. There is a wealth of arguments against Carr's position and even the students see through the absurdity of Carr's position making the assignment easy for them to argue in favor of having IT departments. This controversial article makes students think and reflect about the choice they have made in majoring in Information Systems as the article questions the importance of the field (Holden email).
Dr. Holden considers Human-Computer Studies and Communications of the ACM as the "gold standard" peer-review journals in the field of Information Systems, but does not benchmark undergraduate or graduate students' papers against peer-review journals when grading the third paper. Only doctorate students are expected to obtain this level of writing because undergraduate and even graduate students "lack the methodological skills and access to data to produce such papers" (Holden email). Therefore, student writing style and voice should emulate that of Information Systems trade journals.
The two competencies Dr. Holden would like his students to acquire are "the ability to write compelling analysis" and for students to "mature in their own writing process" (email). Dr. Holden intends to accomplish this goal by providing students with thoughtful feedback on the three progressively more difficult essay assignments. For an example of this process and what should be considered in the writing assignments, see Appendix B, "Dr. Holden's Essay Evaluation Sheet."
Dr. Holden does not provide the specific guidelines for each paper in either the course syllabus or on the IS 300 Blackboard web site. According to the syllabus, specifics for each essay are discussed several weeks before the essay is due (Holden). By being vague as to when discussions of assignments will occur and what the assignment requires in particular, Dr. Holden ensures that students will attend classes. Unfortunately, this policy prevents me from obtaining specifics on the writing assignments.
How Students' Papers Compare to Professional Papers
Methods of OrganizationOn the other hand, the seven-page student sample paper uses formal headings according to APA conventions (see Appendix C: Planning for Project Success). The reason for this design decision is unclear. Lab reports and user documentation use formal headings to aid the reader in finding required information quickly. In the case of a 12-week analysis project I wrote consisting of more than 20 pages, headings became essential. As a rule of thumb, if I expect the reader to act upon the document, no matter how short or long, I use headings. Papers published in the Technical Communications Quarterly and Ethics and Information Technology also use headings. Headings aid the reader in locating specific information at a glance. This saves time for the reader by not having to read the entire document. Professionals scan documents to locate information useful for their own research or problems.
Lay magazines in the field of Information Systems do not use headings. On the other hand, the use of headings in professional trade journals and peer-review journals varies from publisher to publisher.
Philosophy for Using Objective Tone
All academic and professional authors in the field of Information Systems write with an objective tone. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center (UNC) web site provides an excellent reason for this convention. "The objective tone... reflects the philosophy of the scientific method: if results are not repeatable, then they are not valid. Results will only be considered valid if any [other] researcher performing the same analyses" can be produced with "the same results" (Writing in the Sciences). This convention places the focus "on the research itself" and not on the researcher (Writing). Every sample paper I reviewed, Dr. Holden's class, the student sample, and papers published in Technical Communications Quarterly and Ethics and Information Technology amongst others, are all written with an objective tone.
Dr. Holden agrees with UNC and prefers that students write in active voice. Dr. Holden said that his students typically write in past tense. As an example from the student writing sample, the author said, "Thus, organizations will define success in different ways, depending upon the areas that are most critical to the industry in which the organization competes" (Planning for Project Success p. 2). This sentence is clearly written in active voice, present tense, but the student sample does flex between past and present as the action dictates. The student author would use past tense when discussing someone else's research because this clearly occurred in the past. When discussing his or her own findings, the author would write in the present tense indicating that these sentences were the author's analyses (see Appendix C: Planning for Project Success). In my writing instruction here at UMBC, all professors instructed us to write in active voice and present and future tense as this style creates a stronger voice: a voice of authority. Most times, I use present tense when motivating the reader to act; otherwise, most of the research reflects back in time, hence the use of past tense.
The articles in the Technical Communications Quarterly and Ethics and Information Technology are written in active voice, flexing between past and present tense when necessary. Dr. Holden's writing instruction handouts also suggest flexing between past and present tense. The flexing between past and present tense is an established convention in Information Systems. This convention allows the reader to differentiate between known information and new information.
The Use of Personal Pronouns and Gender-neutral Language
In writing for Information Systems, most of the academic and professional samples viewed do not use the first person pronoun "I" or the third person pronoun "We." The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center says, "Avoid starting sentences with 'I' or 'we': this pulls focus away from the scientific topic at hand" (Writing in the Sciences). UNC also recommends avoiding the use of "I" and "we" because everything said "should follow from logic, not from personal bias or subjectivity" (Writing). Last, UNC cites, "never use 'we' in a way that includes the reader. As an example, in the phrase "here we see trait evolution in action," "we" used in "this context sets a condescending tone" (Writing).
Dr. Holden specifically discourages the use of first person pronouns and instructs students to use third person pronouns (email). The reasons cited by UNC agree with Dr. Holden's reasoning in discouraging the use of the first person pronoun "I" (email). Interestingly, the student writing sample provided by Dr. Holden avoids the whole issue of first and third person pronouns; the paper never uses personal pronouns. I use the third person pronoun in my science and technology writing only when necessary. The article "Teaching Hypertext Composition" in the Technical Communications Quarterly was the only exception found using the first-person singular "I," the first-person plural "We," and the third person plural "They" (Teaching).
The third-person pronoun "he," commonly used in the sciences and technology years ago does not exist in any of the papers I evaluated, student or professional. In addition, Dr. Holden specifies the use of gender-neutral language within student papers. A definite shift in science and technology writing has occurred from the masculine use of "he" to gender-neutral language. With more women working as professionals in the sciences and with societal changes within our culture over the past 35 years, the nature of language has also changed therefore, most science and technology writing is gender-neutral. Hence, when writing for Information Systems, the first person pronoun "I" is never used, the use of "We" is avoided unless absolutely necessary, and gender-neutral language is preferred.
Style Guide Recommendations
There is no specific style guide used for the discipline of Information Systems, nor does anyone agree as to which style guide should be used. Dr. Holden suggests students use APA, but leaves the decision of using a specific style guide up to the individual (email). To add to the confusion, Dr. Holden's Blackboard web site provides citation examples using the Turabian style guide typically used by Historians. The student sample, "Planning for Project Success" uses APA format (see Appendix C: Planning for Project Success).
From my experiences in writing for Information Systems, I used MLA in the early stages based on comfort and familiarity from studies in English. Now, after taking two classes with Dr. Carpenter, I use APA more often. APA provides clear and useful guidelines on how to publish graphs, images, tables, figures, and in-text citation for peer-reviewed journals. APA style places the year of publication second in the bibliographic citation, which aids scientists' "need to know" the currency of information at a glance. In most cases, Information Systems professors accept MLA because of the student's familiarity with this style guide. The other reason why professors do not specify a style guide is that style guide requirements vary from journal to journal. A sample article from The Journal of Electronic Publishing uses APA style(Ferris). The Ethics and Information Technology and Information & Management journals use The Chicago Manual of Style, the Technical Communication Quarterly uses MLA, and MIS Quarterly uses the IEEE as the accepted style guide. Further research is required to determine the reason why different journals use different style guides. The variation in the use of style guides may depend on the content of the material being published. Hence, the discipline of Information Systems has no specific style guide.
Tone and Style of Language
For the most part, Information Systems writing has a formal tone but there are deviations depending on purpose and audience. One of these deviations is Dr. Holden's writing requirement. Professor Holden allows students to write in formal or informal tone as the subject dictates. Most of the writing in Dr. Holden's class uses factual language, but he does encourage students to use humor and analogies in their writing (Holden email). Dr. Holden provides ample space to have fun with the writing assignments. The student sample emulates professional journals with a formal tone and factual, specialized vocabulary (Planning for Project Success). Professor Redding, who teaches IS 430 Security in Information Systems provided us with a similar open environment. I took the liberty to write across genres creating an argumentation/investigative journalism piece. My article proposed a solution for punishing web hackers who were under the legal age of criminal punishment. All of the journals I examined have a formal tone and a factual style with specialized language as is expected in peer-review journals.
Advice for Tutors
Michel Foucault, the French historian and philosopher said that every discipline has its own discipline-specific conventions and that these conventions establish what he calls a common discourse or a normal discourse within the discipline (Blumner 36). One must learn how to speak and write the established conventions for normal discourse within a specific discipline in order to gain acceptance and entrance. If one does not use the conventions of the discipline they remain excluded and are not permitted entrance. "A simple example [of this] is the use of first-person pronouns in hard science writing. Though a scientist may find exemplary results, presenting the information in a first-year composition narrative essay would inevitably result in rejection" (Blumner 36). Much of the language about conducting a discourse in the field of tutoring we learned through peer-to-peer conversations about what works and what doesn't work. This method of learning is used all disciplines. Not all students have the freedom to practice the discipline-specific language for their field of study. Therefore, the Writing Center becomes a place where students can come to practice the discipline-specific language of their chosen profession "in a different situation that cannot be replicated in the classroom" (Blumner 40).
Tutors have "more experience with writing and talking about writing than the students coming for sessions" (Blumner). On the other hand, tutees have more experience in the disciplinary conventions of their field than tutors do (Blumner 40). Even so, tutors and tutees "share a common institutional status, that of [being a] student" (Blumner 40). Blumner continues, "Even with the different knowledge base and the skewed student relationship, the student/tutor discussion offers students the chance to practice disciplinary conventions in a meaningful way" (40). Tutees can participate in a discourse differently with tutors than with professors because tutors are not the "gatekeepers" of the tutees grades. Therefore, we can speak, write, and conduct a discourse freely. We can make mistakes and learn together knowing that the discussion does not involve a grade. Tutees "know when they enter the Writing Center that they will get the undivided attention of a person interested in ideas, writing, and the success of fellow students" (Blumner 41). Hence, as tutors we need not fear tutees' topics because of a lack of familiarity. As tutors, we hold the tools of writing and critical inquiry thus, we can demonstrate to tutees how to dig deeper into their own writing and critical inquires.
According to Dr. Holden, a common weakness for IS 300 students is wordiness, "a term used to cover a couple of style problems that involve using more words than is necessary to say something" (email; Style). There are several reasons for wordiness. First, the author writes the way he or she talks (Meyer and Smith 98). As an example, "they use a lot of little filler words that don't actually have anything to add to the meaning of the sentence" (Style). As tutors, we can point to the language and ask the tutee, "Is there another way to say this?"
Wordiness also occurs when the writer’s thoughts are incoherent. The tutee may use writing as a way to think-to discover their point. Some tutees are auditory learners thus, dialoging and asking questions can help the tutee to explore their thoughts orally. These tutees normally think out loud and listen to their own thoughts as they speak in order analyze. A tutor can easily get caught up in helping the tutee make connections in their thought processes. Once the tutee begins to find his or her train of thought, the tutor needs to recognize this and be silent so the tutee can write down his or her ideas.
For others, a weakness in vocabulary may create the wordiness problem. This is not unusual for tutees in the sciences. These students read a tremendous amount of specialized material that results in the loss of the ability to communicate in non-techie’s, i.e., English. They speak fluently in discipline-specific language, but never have time to read for pleasure; therefore, tutees forget common vocabulary words. When tutors encounter this problem, sometimes the best way to lead is by example and reaching for a dictionary to find a better word to use.
Wordiness may also stem from reading too many textbooks and attempting to emulate an academic voice. The tutees have become “conscious that their speech does not resemble the vocabulary and cadence of academic writing" (Meyer and Smith 162). A common problem for students in the sciences is writing entire phrases that can be replaced by one word because these tutees do not write often. For example, the phrase “a considerable amount of…” can be replaced with the single word “much.” For more examples of commonly used phrases, see Appendix D: “Words and Expressions to Avoid.”
Conclusion
IS 300 is an extremely important course for Information Systems students. In order to gain acceptance into the program, students must obtain a “C” or better in order to continue their studies to earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a “B” or better for their Bachelor of Science (BS) degree. These students must demonstrate they have learned the established writing conventions of Information Systems through their writing assignments.
Information Systems Papers Must Follow These Conventions
Each student will prepare and submit a number of essays or case studies as part of the requirements of this course. While these are not major analytical research papers, recall that the goal is for you to gain some more in-depth knowledge of the selected topics in IS management beyond what you might get from the text. Additionally, the assignments are intended to help develop or improve students’ skills in writing and analysis.
Consider the following when planning for and preparing these documents. In effect, they are 4-6 page essays on a topic of your choosing. In some circles, folks call these “issue papers” or “white papers,” which an analyst, engineer or programmer might right to advocate a particular position. For instance, you might be asked to write a white paper about why you support using a particular framework or methodology. Alternatively, you might be asked to discuss the pros and cons of a particular management technique or to document lessons learned or best practices from other organizations. As a result, you might want to consider these papers as an opportunity to convince someone (i.e., boss, staff, colleagues) of the correctness of your views on a particular topic.
Each essay is worth 10 percent of the semester grade. Each essay will be graded on a 100-point scale with the following distribution of points:
| Essay Content: | 70 points | |
| Introduction | (15) | |
| Body of Essay | (40) | |
| Conclusion | (15) | |
| Appropriateness of Topic to Class: | 10 points | |
| Essay Form | 20 points |
While the syllabus states that there is no required format, you may choose to look at the following if you would like to see one suggestion on how to organize these written products. Consider addressing the substance covered under each of the headings below regardless of the structure you choose.
1) Introduction
Generally, this is the first paragraph or two of the paper. The introduction serves several purposes. First, you need to introduce your reader to the topic(s) you intend to discuss. To some extent, you should also inform the reader of the importance of the topic so they know why they should read on. Typically, you are either going to let them know about opportunities ahead if they follow your advice or the dire consequences to the organization if they don’t heed your warnings. From here, you might want to consider explaining briefly how you intend to make your case in the form of a one or two sentence statement of research methods (i.e., I’m going to read trade publications). The final part of the introduction should outline the paper or analysis by
proving a preview or sequence of events in the paper.
2) Background
This section can take several forms, depending on whether you are doing an essay or case study. You might want to introduce the case you have read or real-world experience you intend to document as a case as a way to provide context for the analysis. Alternatively, you can also introduce the literature that you have read that will provide the basis for your analysis. The goal of this section to share the knowledge you have acquired during your research with the reader.
3) Findings/Analysis
For a paper this short, this section may not be called out explicitly, but it is nonetheless important. This is the meat of the paper; the place to present in a clear, concise, logical, understandable and plausible fashion all of the relevant information from your research. The purpose here is to present material to address the opportunity or solve the problem you identified in the introduction. This is where you, the student, display your grasp of the materials, you analytical skills and your learning. Thus, it is the most important section of the paper and worth the most points in the grading.
Use the results of your literature review and findings from any other sources (e.g., hard data) or methods (e.g., interviews). Present your findings in clear, concise and understandable terms. It is also important that the presentation be logically ordered and internally consistent. It should have a distinct beginning, middle and end, and should “flow” logically from one point to the next with clear linkages among the paragraphs. In part, this means that a paper should have a central theme and that every part of a paper should relate to that theme.
4) Conclusion
This is a relatively short section (generally not more than one or two paragraphs), which contains a restatement of the issue, problem or opportunity under investigation. The conclusion tells the reader the meaning of all that has preceded. What do the data/findings say? What are their strengths and limitations? How do they relate to the problems or opportunities identified in the introduction? Were any interesting questions or implications raised? Is any additional research needed? The conclusion is also the final place to apply your critical analysis and to address the “Why?” and “So What?” questions.
In your conclusion, and throughout your paper, stick to your data. A common failing in such papers is for students to make “leaps of faith” and draw inferences and conclusions that are not supported by the data. As a rule of thumb, don’t introduce new facts or findings at this point in the paper.
5) Format of Paper
The paper must be written in essay or narrative form with appropriate illustrations, charts and tables, etc., must be sequentially numbered (e.g., Figure 1, 2, 3, etc.). More importantly, illustrations, charts, tables are never self-explanatory. This means that they should be explained in the text so that the reader can understand them. Do not photocopy charts, graphs, tables or other illustrations from original sources and include them as such in your paper.
Each submittal will be written in Standard English. Students will use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation and will correct all typographical errors. The paper should employ appropriate major headings to divide the principal sections of the text. For a paper of this length, three to four headings should suffice. Make sure that headings are descriptive of the narrative that follows them.
Different professors require different types of source citations. I strongly encourage footnotes in these papers. You should use footnotes to cite all source material, whether direct quotes or not. It is important to note that direct quotes do require more rigorous citations and are different than when you paraphrase someone else’s work. See Turabian, referenced below, for all manner of information on the correct methods, style and format for referencing materials in a research paper. For the most part, top line word processing software handles the formatting of both footnotes and lists of references automatically.
Each paper must contain a bibliography or list of references that includes all of the references used in the paper, in alphabetical order by author. Enter only those sources that you actually used in the paper. Again, do not pack the bibliography just to show that you read a lot. Follow Turabian (see below) for proper bibliography or list of references style and format.
Useful Guides
Two useful guides for writing style and paper format are: William Strunk, Jr., E.B. White, and Roger Angell The Elements of Style, 4th ed. (New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2000); and Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, 6th rev. ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). Other materials will also be made available on the course web site.
Campus Resources I would encourage you to take advantage of the services of both the library for reference materials and the writing center in the lower level of the Kuhn Library for help in organizing, writing and formatting the essays.
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Planning for Project Success - An Analysis
The complexity of application software development continues to increase (Tkach & Puttick, 1994), and with that complex environment comes an ever increasing potential for failure. According to the Standish Group, America’s corporations spend more than 275 billion dollars each year on software development projects (The Standish Group International, 1999). Unfortunately, most of these projects will fail.
The Standish Group’s 1994 study “The CHAOS Report” indicated that only 16.2% of software projects were actually completed both on time and on budget (Standish Group International, 1994). This somewhat dismal percentage has improved over time. According to the Standish Group, by 1998 the success rate for software development projects had improved to 26% (Standish Group International, 1999). By the year 2000, 28% of projects were considered to be successful. (Johnson, Boucher, Connors & Robinson, 2001). Though these figures display a pattern of improvement, the statistics also point to a continued critical need for the development of tools and techniques to facilitate the process of project development.
The articles detailed within this paper examine the role of project management in the success or failure of IT projects. Each of the articles attempts to delineate those characteristics of project management that either facilitate the successful conclusion of an IT project or contribute to its failure. This paper examines the definitions of project success (and approaches to achieving project success) espoused by these articles.
In order to determine whether or not a project is successful, it is imperative to be able to quantify the meaning of success as applied to IT development projects. The two essays under discussion define a successful project in different ways. The Standish Group provides a very simple definition of a successful project; indicating that a successful project must be “completed on time and on budget, with all features and functions as originally specified” (Standish Group International, 1999, p. 2).
In contrast, the authors of the second paper take a different stance, indicating that an effective project is defined differently by organizations within different industries. The authors identified three measurements (or drivers) of project effectiveness - schedule-driven, cost-driven, and cost-quality driven (Milosevic, Inman, & Ozbay, 2001). Thus, organizations will define success in different ways, depending upon the areas that are most critical to the industry in which the organization competes. The article cites the examples of Intel Corporation, for whom the speed of project delivery is essential, and Armstrong World Industries, an organization in an industry where rapid change is not a priority, but where the ability to compete on cost is critical (Milosevic, Inman, & Ozbay, 2001).
The Standish Group -- CHAOS
The Standish Group asserts that there are three “pillars” of project success (p. 3): project size, project duration, and team size. In particular, smaller projects are more likely to be successful than larger projects (Standish Group International, 1999). Within these parameters, the Standish Group also identifies ten contributors to the ultimate success of a project (Standish Group International, 1999). Of these contributors, five are seen as of greatest importance (in descending order of importance): executive support, user involvement, an experienced project manager, clear business objectives, and minimized scope (Johnson, Boucher, Connors & Robinson, 2001). While the report doesn’t state that all ten success factors must be present in order to have a successful project, it does indicate that the presence of all ten factors can increase the chances of success.
Project Management Standardization
The second article under consideration focuses on the importance of project management standardization, which the article defines as utilizing standardized practices in the management of projects (Milosevic, Inman, & Ozbay, 2001). It provides a list of seven different factors that comprise standardized project management (SPM). These factors include: process, organization, information technology, methods, metrics, culture and leadership. The authors then grouped these components into three distinct areas: project structure (structural standardization), project management methods and metrics
(systemic standardization), and project management culture and leadership (cultural standardization) (Milosevic, Inman, & Ozbay, 2001). They then surveyed 239 project management professionals in order to learn more about how standardization was used to increase the three previously-defined definitions of project success.
The completed study provided several recommendations regarding the attainment of cost-driven, schedule-driven, and cost-quality driven success. Specifically, the authors found that standardized project management (structure, systems, and culture) significantly contributes to on-time completion of projects (Milosevic, Inman, & Ozbay, 2001). Systemic standardization was found to enhance cost-driven success, while systemic and cultural standardization was shown to contribute to achieving cost-quality driven success (Milosevic, Inman, & Ozbay, 2001).
Achieving Project Success - An Analysis
The course text describes the “triple constraints” (p. 5) of project management as scope, time, and cost (Schwalbe, 2002). These three terms succinctly capture the essence of the Standish Group’s description of a successful project (“completed on time and on budget, with all features and functions as originally specified”) (Standish Group International, 1999, p. 2). These constraints (with the implicit assumption of quality as the crucial “quadruple” (p. 7) factor) (Schwalbe, 2002) also mirror the three emphases of the project standardization article’s delineation of cost-driven, time-driven, and cost-quality driven success. Thus, despite a difference in language, there appears to be some general agreement as to what constitutes a successful project. Where these sources differ from one another is in the area of balance.
The Standish Group report and the Schwalbe text acknowledge the balancing act that must take place between delivering a project on time, delivering a project within its cost constraints, and providing the promised level of quality. The standardized project management (SPM) report not only acknowledges this balancing act, but considers the possibility that organizations may need to consciously prioritize these constraints, and knowingly emphasize one factor (e.g., time) over others in order to achieve project success within the context of the industry in which the organization competes.
The SPM report touches on an important issue that is not directly addressed within the Standish report. It may be that for a given project, project success as defined by The Standish Group is impossible to achieve - that a high-quality outcome cannot be achieved within the desired time frame; that a project brought in on time may not be one of high quality, etc. The SPM report acknowledges that an organization may need to consciously make clear tradeoffs in order to achieve a level of success that is most relevant to that organization.
Given the acknowledgement that it may not be possible to achieve equally in each of the three areas, it seems to be a very reasonable approach to maximize industry-specific success factors. The danger to this approach might be the over-emphasis of the critical factor. For an organization such as Intel, time to delivery may indeed be critical, but it would be foolhardy not to acknowledge the intense cost competition within the industry in which Intel competes. It is perhaps simplistic to assume that Intel achieves its success primarily through time-driven project management. It would seem self-evident that the success of an organization such as Intel (in an incredibly fast-moving, cost-competitive, quality-conscious industry) merely affirms the importance of balancing time, scope/quality, and cost in project completion.
The two essays under consideration both consider the cultural aspects of project success, but again differ regarding the relative weight assigned to these factors. The 1999 Standish Report ranks user involvement and executive support as the first and second most critical factors in project success (Standish Group International, 1999); a later update reverses this ordering, but once again asserts that these two factors are the most important to project success (Johnson, Boucher, Connors & Robinson, 2001). The text also indicates that most projects fail for political reasons (Schwalbe, 2002). The SPM report, however, does not find such a strong correlation between cultural standardization and project success. Anecdotally, many professionals might cite the importance of both executive support and user involvement in the success (or failure) of a project; this represents an area for additional research.
The fact that less than one third of IT projects meet the accepted definitions of project success provides a strong indication that the issues raised within the Standish and SPM articles are unlikely to be resolved in the near future. Nonetheless, both articles bring forth important points that are worthy of further study. One important issue relates to the definition of project success. Is a successful project one that is completed on-time, on-budget, etc. - or should success (within reason) be defined according to industry priorities? What are the critical factors that influence the ultimate success of a project, and how can these factors be manipulated in a way that meets the goals of the organization? The articles discussed within the essay do not provide the answers, but may elicit some of the questions that could lead to answers.
Johnson, J., Boucher, K., Connors, K., & Robinson, R. (2001). Collaborating on Project Success. Retrieved from the Web 9/7/2002. http://www.softwaremag.com/archive/2001feb/CollaborativeMgt.html.
Milosevic, D., Inman, L., & Ozbay, A. (2001). The Impact of Management Standardization on Project Effectiveness. Engineering Management Journal (Vol. 3, p. 9-16). Retrieved from the Web 9/4/2002. http://learnonline.umbc.blackboard.com/courses/1/IFSM669-Fall02.01/content/_12238_1/Impact_of_project_management_standardization.pdf.Schwalbe, K. (2002). Information Technology Project Management. Course Technology.
Standish Group International (1999). CHAOS: A Recipe for Success. Retrieved from the Web 9/4/2002. http://www.standishgroup.com/sample_research/chaos1998.pdf.
Standish Group International (1994). The CHAOS Report. Retrieved from the Web 9/6/2002. http://www.standishgroup.com/sample_research/chaos_1994_1.php.
Tkach, D. & Puttick, R. (1994). Object Technology in Application Development. Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc.
| Jargon | Preferred Usage |
| a considerable amount of | much |
| a considerable number of | many |
| a decreased amount of | less |
| a decreased number of | fewer |
| a majority of | most |
| a number of | many |
| a small number of | a few |
| absolutely essential | essential |
| accounted for by the fact | because |
| adjacent to | near |
| along the lines of | like |
| an adequate amount of | enough |
| an example of this the fact that | for example |
| an order of magnitude faster | 10 times faster |
| apprise | inform |
| as a consequence of | because |
| as a matter of fact | in fact (or leave out) |
| as a result of | because |
| as is the case | as happens |
| as of this date | today |
| as to | about (or leave out) |
| Jargon 1 | Preferred Usage 1 |
| at a rapid rate | rapidly |
| at an earlier date | previously |
| at an early time | soon |
| at no time | never |
| at some future time | later |
| at the conclusion of | after |
| at the present time | now |
| at this point in time | now |
| based on the fact that | because |
| because of the fact that | because |
| by means of | by, with |
| causal factor | cause |
| cognizant of | aware of |
| completely full | full |
| consensus of opinion | consensus |
| considerable amount of | much |
| contingent upon | dependent on |
| definitely proved | proved |
| despite the fact | although |
| due to the fact | because |
| during the course of | during, while |
| Jargon 2 | Preferred Usage 2 |
| during the time that | while |
| effectuate | cause |
| elucidate | explain |
| employ | use |
| enclosed herewith | enclosed |
| end result | result |
| endeavor | try |
| entirely eliminate | eliminate |
| eventuate | happen |
| fabricate | make |
| facilitate | help |
| fatal outcome | death |
| fewer in number | fewer |
| finalize | end |
| first of all | first |
| following | after |
| for the purpose of | for |
| for the reason that | since, because |
| from the point of view of | for |
| future plans | plans |
| give an account of | describe |
| give rise to | cause |
| Jargon 3 | Preferred Usage 3 |
| has been engaged in the study of | has studied |
| has the capability of | can |
| have the appearance of | look like |
| having regard to | about |
| immune serum | antiserum |
| impact (v.) | affect |
| implement | start, put into action |
| important essentials | essentials |
| in a number of cases | some |
| in a position to | can, may |
| in a satisfactory manner | satisfactory |
| in a situation in which | when |
| in a very real sense | in a sense (or leave out) |
| in almost all instances | nearly always |
| in case | if |
| in close proximity to | close, near |
| in connection with | about, concerning |
| in the light of the fact | because |
| in many cases | often |
| in my opinion it is not an unjustifiable assumption that | I think |
| Jargon 4 | Preferred Usage 4 |
| in only a small number of cases | rarely |
| in order to | to |
| in relation to | toward, to |
| in respect to | about |
| in some cases | sometimes |
| in terms of | about |
| in the absence of | without |
| in the event that | if |
| in the not-too-distant future | soon |
| in the possession of | has, have |
| in this day and age | today |
| in view of the fact that | because, since |
| inasmuch | for, as |
| incline to the view | think |
| initiate | begin, start |
| is defined as | is |
| is desirous of | wants |
| it has been reported by Smith | Smith reported |
| it has long been known that | I haven’t bothered to look up the reference |
| it is apparent that | apparently |
| it is believed that | I think |
| Jargon 5 | Preferred Usage 5 |
| it is clear that | clearly |
| it is clear that much additional work will be | I don’t understand it |
| required before a complete understanding | I don’t understand it |
| it is crucial that | must |
| it is doubtful that | possibly |
| it is evident that a produced b | a produced b |
| it is generally believed | many think |
| it is my understanding that | I understand that |
| it is of interest to note that | (leave out) |
| it is often the case that | often |
| it is suggested that | I think |
| it is worth pointing out in this context that | note that |
| it may be that | I think |
| it may, however, be noted that | but |
| it should be noted that | note that (or leave out) |
| it was observed in the course of the experiments that | we observed |
| join together | join |
| lacked the ability | couldn’t |
| large in size | large |
| let me make one thing perfectly clear | a snow job is coming |
| Jargon 6 | Preferred Usage 6 |
| majority of | most |
| make reference to | refer to |
| met with | met |
| militate against | prohibit |
| more often than not | usually |
| needless to say | (leave out, and consider leaving out whatever) |
| new initiatives | initiatives |
| no later than | by |
| of great theoretical and practical importance | useful |
| of long standing | old |
| of the opinion that | think that |
| on a daily basis | daily |
| on account of | because |
| on behalf of | for |
| on no occasion | never |
| on the basis of | by |
| on the grounds that | since, because |
| on the part | by, among, for |
| on those occasion in which | when |
| our attention has been called to the fact that | we belatedly discovered |
| Jargon 7 | Preferred Usage 7 |
| owing to the fact | since, because |
| perform | do |
| place a major emphasis | stress |
| pooled together | pooled |
| presents a picture similar to | resembles |
| previous to | before |
| prior to | before |
| protein determinations were performed | proteins were determined |
| quantify | measure |
| quite a large quantity of | much |
| quite unique | unique |
| rather interesting | interesting |
| red in color | red |
| referred to as | called |
| regardless of the fact that | even though |
| relative to | about |
| resultant effect | result |
| root cause | cause |
| serious crisis | crisis |
| should it prove the case that | if |
| Jargon 8 | Preferred Usage 8 |
| smaller in size | smaller |
| so as to | to |
| subject matter | subject |
| subsequent to | after |
| sufficient | enough |
| take into consideration | consider |
| terminate | end |
| the great majority of | most |
| the opinion is advanced that | I think |
| the predominate number of | most |
| the question as to whether | whether |
| the reason is because | because |
| the vast majority of | most |
| there is reason to believe | I think |
| they are the investigators who | they |
| this result would seem to indicate | this result indicates |
| through the use of | by, with |
| to the fullest possible extent | fully |
| transpire | happen |
| ultimate | last |
| Jargon 9 | Preferred Usage 9 |
| unanimity of opinion | agreement |
| until such time | until |
| utilization | use |
| utilize | use |
| very unique | unique |
| was of the opinion that | believed |
| ways and means | ways, means (not both) |
| we have insufficient knowledge | we don’t know |
| we wish to thank | we thank |
| what is the explanation of | why |
| with a view to | to |
| with reference to | about (or leave out) |
| with regard to | concerning, about (or leave out) |
| with respect to | about |
| with the possible exception of | except |
| with the result that | so that |
Source: Day, R. A. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. 5th ed. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
Blumner, Jacob S. “Authority and Initiation: Preparing Students for Discipline-specific Language Conventions.” Writing Center and Writing Across the Curriculum Programs. Ed. Robert W. Barnett and Jacob S. Blumner. Westport: Greenwood P, 1999. 33-44.
Ferris, Shamila Pixy. “Writing Electronically: The Effects of computers on Traditional Writing.” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 8.1 (2002). Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/08-01/ferris.html.
Holden, Stephen. “Essay/Case Study Guidelines for IS 300 Spring 2005.” Blackboard. Fall 2005. Accessed 24 Nov. 2005. http://bb-app6.umbc.edu/webapps/portal/ frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_11545_1
Holden, Stephen. “Re: Time Sensitive/Request for Information/Research Project on Student Writing Across the Disciplines.” E-mail the author. 16 Nov. 2005.
Holden, Stephen. “IS 300 Fall 2005 Course Syllabus.” Blackboard. Fall 2005. Accessed 24 Nov. 2005. http://bb-app6.umbc.edu/webapps/portal/ frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_11545_1.
Meyer, Emily, and Louise Z. Smith. The Practical Tutor. New York: Oxford UP, 1987. “Planning for Project Success.” 7 Sept. 2002. Student sample paper provided by Stephen Holden to author, 18 Nov. 2005.
“Style.” UNC Writing Center Handout. 1 Dec. 1999. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Accessed 25 Oct. 2005. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/style.html.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County. UMBC Undergraduate Catalog 2004-2006.
“Writing in the Sciences.” UNC Writing Center Handout. 10 June 2004. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Accessed 25 Oct. 2005. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/sciences.html.
Beaudry, Anne, and Alain Pinsonneault. “Understanding User Responses to Information Technology: a Coping Model of User Adaptation.” MIS Quarterly 29.3 (2005): 493-525.
Blumner, Jacob S. “Authority and Initiation: Preparing Students for Discipline-specific Language Conventions.” Writing Center and Writing Across the Curriculum Programs. Ed. Robert W. Barnett and Jacob S. Blumner. Westport: Greenwood P, 1999. 33-44.
Day, R. A. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. 5th ed. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
Eaves, Morris. “Behind the Scenes at the William Blake Archive.” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 3.2 (1997). Accessed Oct. 24 2005. http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/03-02/blake.html.
Ferris, Shamila Pixy. “Writing Electronically: The Effects of computers on Traditional Writing.” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 8.1 (2002). Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/08-01/ferris.html.
Holden, Stephen. “Essay/Case Study Guidelines for IS 300 Spring 2005.” Blackboard. Fall 2005. Accessed 24 Nov. 2005. http://bb-app6.umbc.edu/webapps/portal/ frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_11545_1.
Holden, Stephen. “IS 300 Fall 2005 Course Syllabus.” Blackboard. Fall 2005. Accessed 24 Nov. 2005. http://bb-app6.umbc.edu/webapps/portal/ frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_11545_1.
Holden, Stephen. “Re: Time Sensitive/Request for Information/Research Project on Student Writing Across the Disciplines.” E-mail the author. 16 Nov. 2005.
González, Luz, Ronald E. Giachetti, and Guillermo Ramirez. “Knowledge Management- centric Help Desk: specification and Performance Evaluation.” Decision Support Systems 40 (2005) 389-405.
Gordon, Jay L. “Teaching Hypertext Composition.” Technical Communications Quarterly 14.1 (2005): 49-72.
Leonard, Lori N. K., Timothy Paul Cronan, and Jennifer Kreie. “What Influences IT Ethical Behavior Intentions-Planned Behavior, Reasoned Action, Perceived Importance, or Individual Characteristics.” Information & Management 42 (2004): 143-158.
Lynch, Patrick J., and Sarah Horton. Web Style Guide. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. Last update 12 July 2005. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://www.webstyleguide.com/index.html?/contents.html.
Jones, Robert, et al. The Harcourt Brace Guide to Writing in the Disciplines. NY: Harcourt Brace, 1997. 422-423.
Meyer, Emily, and Louise Z. Smith. The Practical Tutor. New York: Oxford UP, 1987. Norton, Jade, and Jasmine Morrison. “Incorporating the Personal Voice.” Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://www.cariboo.tru.ca/disciplines/eng309/personalvoice.html.
“Planning for Project Success.” 7 Sept. 2002. Student sample paper provided by Dr. Holden to author, 18 Nov. 2005.
“Passive Voice.” UNC Writing Center Handout. 2 Apr. 2002. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Accessed 25 Oct. 2005. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/passivevoice.html.
Potter, Richard E., and Pierre Balthazard. “The Role of Individual Memory and Attention Processing During Electronic Brainstorming.” MIS Quarterly 28.4 (2004):621- 644.
Rohe, Terry Ann. “How Does Electronic Publishing Affect the Scholarly Communication Process?” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 3.3 (1998). Accessed Oct. 24 2005. http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/03-03/rohe.html.
Saunders, Carol. “MIS Journal Rankings.” Assn. for Information Systems. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://isworld.org/csaunders/rankings.htm.
Saunders, Carol. “School Journal Rankings.” Assn. for Information Systems. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://isworld.org/csaunders/schools.htm.
Sayah, John Y., Liang-Jie Zhang. “On-demand Business Collaboration Enablement with Web Services.” Decision Support Systems 40 (2005) 107-127.
Siegfried, Robert M. “Student Attitudes on Software Piracy and Related Issues of Computer Ethics.” Ethics and Information Technology 6 (2004): 215-222.
“Style.” UNC Writing Center Handout. 1 Dec. 1999. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Accessed 25 Oct. 2005. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/style.html.
Sully, Brenda. “Malaspina University-College’s Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Project.” Apr. 1995. Malaspina University-College. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://www.mala.bc.ca/www/wac/proj.htm.
Summers, Kathryn. WRIT 313 Writing for Information Systems. Course home page. Spring 2002. Information Arts and Technologies, University of Baltimore. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://iat.ubalt.edu/courses/old/writ313.101_Sp02/.
Summers, Michael. “Usability Analysis.” 5 Dec. 2001. Accessed 24 Oct. 2005. http://iat.ubalt.edu/courses/old/writ313.101_Sp02/usability_analysis_2.pdf.
Swanson, Burton E., and Neil c. Ramiller. “Innovating Mindfully with Information Technology.” MIS Quarterly 28.4 (2004): 553-584.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County. UMBC Undergraduate Catalog 2004-2006. 2004.
van Iwaarden, Jos, et al. “Perceptions about the Quality of Web Sites: a Survey amongst Students at Northeastern University and Erasmus University.” Information & Management 41 (2004): 947-959.
Williams, Joseph M. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace. 4th ed. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1994.
“Word Choice.” UNC Writing Center Handout. 20 Feb. 2001. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Accessed 25 Oct. 2005. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/word_choice.html.
“Writing in the Sciences.” UNC Writing Center Handout. 10 June 2004. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Accessed 25 Oct. 2005. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/sciences.html.
Young, Art Fulwiler, and Toby Fulwiler. Writing Across the Disciplines: Research into Practice. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook Pub., 1986.
Page one received some minor and one major revision. The first two sentences were combined into one sentence. The last paragraph was developed into a forecast of the paper. Page two lost a paragraph and gained a paragraph. On the second page the sub-heading and paragraph on methodology were deemed unnecessary and removed. Page two also received a brand new paragraph on the importance of doing well in IS 300. I am not sure what the stimulus was that caused me to go back to the UMBC Undergraduate Catalog and dig deeper. I suspect it may have been after examining Dr. Holden's syllabus and grading policy I needed to determine why 30% of the student's grade depended on the writing assignments. More information about the writing assignments was added and received a new sub-heading. All information on the Montreat College web site was removed from the paper. The rationale for having used this web site was that it created controversy throughout the paper. The sub-section, Methods of Organization was broken into two paragraphs because glossing revealed that there were two topics contained in one paragraph and that sentences were alternating between the two topics. The Advice for Tutors was left blank because of time constraints. I thought I was going to something similar to the last paper but came up with some interesting advice on wordiness on the North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center web site. The other portion about the writing center providing a place for students to practice the language of their chosen discipline I found to be essential. In conversations with a few tutors, some have expressed fear in being to help students through topics they have no knowledge of, especially science and technology. The conclusion was not written in the traditional method of writing conclusions. I made a decision in methodology and design to create a summary that a tutor could simply glance at without reading the entire paper in order to obtain information quickly on the established writing conventions within the field of Information Systems. It is not quite an executive summary, but it is a working document that a tutor may use as a checklist when working with Information Systems tutees.
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