*Prerequisite: BIS 300 & ENGL 302.
The primary assignment in BIS 390 is writing a research proposal. This research proposal informs the BIS 390 course instructor, your BIS Faculty Mentor, and your BIS 490 Senior Project Reader about the nature, scope, and scale of the BIS 490 Senior Project you will be undertaking in a semester subsequent to BIS 390.
During the subsequent BIS 490 Senior Project semester, you will be undertaking an original research study that is designed to answer one or more research questions. In addition to your work in BIS 390, one of the BIS 390 textbooks, Booth, Colomb & Williams' The Craft of Research, provides a wealth of information about conceptualizing and organizing your Senior Project.
The BIS 390 course meets the university's writing intensive requirement.
In its mission statement, the University includes critical thinking as one of the primary obejctives for George Mason graduates. In addition, the state of Virginia also requires the university assess student abilities in critical thinking. To evaluate the development of this core competency, a faculty working group has prepared a guide, which is used to rate student writing and presentations. Follow this link to download the "Guide for Critical Thinking."
The information here can be used to help instructors and students consider how critical thinking applies to BIS course work and projects.
Please also consult Bloom's Taxonomy or Classification of Thinking Skills. Under the direction of Benjamin Bloom, a group of universitiesto developed a hierarchy of skills, from least to most complex. Awarness of which types of thinking skills are being used contributes to the development of critical thinking, usually associated with the last three levels. Bloom's taxonomy can be accessed online at http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/bloom.html.
Additional information on George Mason's Critical Thinking across the curriculum is available on http://assessment.gmu.edu/ctac/
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The Research Proposal is generally 10-12 pages, NOT including timetable, references, and executive summary.
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The project description is generally 1-2 pages and accomplishes three objectives:
Keep in mind that you will be drafting and redrafting this description as you work on your project; maintain working drafts of the description throughout the project.
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In order for your audience to understand the issue that you are presenting, you need to situate (or provide a context for) your project. This section, generally 3-4 pages, should provide a brief overview of the larger issues and ideas relevant to your topic and how your specific research relates to them. It is also the place to define the scope of your research. Some examples from recent projects include
This statement requires that you begin to review and critique the available literature; review other materials (such as films, websites, sample study units for students, archived documents); and interview experts in the field or individuals who have experience working on similar or related projects. You will need to document this work (in your annotated bibliography, review sheets, interview notes, etc.). These materials form the basis of a comparison and contrast method, allowing you to examine how your proposed project is similar or different (or builds on, or takes a new approach) to work that has already been done in this area.
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This section of the proposal, generally 3-4 pages, allows you to elaborate on your initial statement of the problem. In order to build an argument based on "claim-warrant-evidence," you must begin to lay out for the audience the claims you are making and the specific basis on which you are making them.
Once the research question(s) is/are developed, the next important step is to identify the most appropriate methodology. This begins with determining which of the 3 options seems most suitable - investigative, participatory, or creative. You are strongly encouraged to discuss this carefully with your Mentor.
There will be a range of technical specifications to your project (e.g., the staging specifications of a play, the software specifications to use be used to create a web site, the materials needed to create an elementary school instructional module). You will need to include the materials and methods to be used, where appropriate (e.g., the choice of stone for the sculpture and why it was chosen, or the teacher assessment criteria used). In addition, information on where and when the project will be demonstrated, on display, on exhibition, archived, broadcast, etc. should be included.
Think about this section as including those details that you need to know in order to undertake this project. Don't be surprised at the complexity and scope of the project. What may seem initially as a straightforward idea often turns into a major undertaking. This section is particularly useful in helping you assess the realistic boundaries of your project.
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This final section, 1-2 pages, should provide a brief summary of your proposed project, the gist of what you aim to accomplish, and its relationship to other similar projects. It is also useful to say a few words about the pitfalls you might expect to encounter along the way.
You will likely find yourself rethinking your project once you have drafted this proposal. The underlying purpose of this proposal is to have you think through what you are undertaking, to insure that you and your mentor are in agreement about the proposed content and scope of the project, and to provide the basis by which you review the project periodically with your Faculty Mentor in this developmental stage. It is likely the focus of your project will shift as you work on your ideas and learn more about the task. This proposal process should give you a firm grounding and direction as you begin the actual work on the project.
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You should include a specific timetable for completion of each phase of your Senior Project. This should identify key sections of the project, as well as key milestones in the completion of the project. Discussing your Senior Project with your Faculty Mentor provides input into how long it will take you to complete the work, how much time you should allocate for analysis of your information, and then how much time you should provide for completing the required written component. (Length: 1 page)
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Although there will be additional references used during the actual implementation of the Senior Project, the research proposal needs to include a list of all literature related to the project used to date in a recognized format (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) as required by your BIS 390 instructor.
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The Executive Summary, 2-3 pages, is another course requirement of BIS 390; it is submitted to the BIS Office with the Permission to Register for BIS 490 along with the Research Proposal. The Executive Summary is based upon the BIS 390 Research Proposal.
NOTE: The Executive Summary and Proposal must be attached to the Permission to Register form for BIS 490 and submitted to the BIS office by the middle of the month prior to the month in which classes begin (e.g., for spring semester paperwork is to be submitted by mid-December).
The Executive Summary is an abbreviated research proposal for the Senior Project, which has been developed with input from the faculty mentor. This proposal is a 2-3 page document, which includes the following: