Reference no: EM131400311
NATS Paper Topics
Are parents relying too much on technology to occupy their kids' attention?
Should laptops and/or mobile devices be allowed in classrooms?
Are government surveillance cameras an invasion of our privacy rights?
Is social media making us more narcissistic?
Will robots eventually put people out of work?
Is technological singularity a real possibility in the future?
Should nations emulate Europe and adopt the right to be "forgotten" online?
Is the rise of social media broadening peoples' world views or narrowing them?
Should the FBI or any other government organization be allowed to break into any cell/smart phone?
Does frequent video game play impede child and/or teen cognitive development?
Should parents be held accountable for their child's inappropriate behavior on social media sites?
Should schools and businesses be allowed to use Wi-Fi jammers?
Should we allow microchip implantation in humans?
Is cloud computing really safe?
Should phone apps be used to treat mental health issues?
Is the internet becoming too censored?
Should governments regulate the practice of patent trolling?
Do the benefits of augmented reality games (e.g. Pokemon Go) outweigh the drawbacks?
Is the "digital divide" gap narrowing or widening?
Guidelines for Computing Controversy Assignment
Your list of paper topics can be found on MOODLE in the computing controversy information section.
The purpose of this computing controversy assignment is to get you to start thinking critically about how debates about computing and society issues are presented in the popular press as well as in academic literature. Not only will this assignment give you the opportunity to thoroughly examine all sides of a modern day computing/information technology debate, it will also allow you to see how your own ideas and understanding about these systems are influenced by the different kinds of sources you examine.
This paper is not your traditional argumentative essay where you have a thesis statement and then spend your time trying to prove your point of view. While there is value in this kind of assignment, the problem is that if you spend all of your time focusing on one side of a debate, you are unlikely to understand or examine the arguments that might go against your own ideas. The type of paper I have assigned you will allow you to explore a current day computing controversy from different points of view. You will have various topics to choose from and the list of topics can be found in the computing controversy information section on Moodle. The reason it is called a controversy assignment is because the topic you will examine is one currently being argued about by different groups of people who can't agree on anything. That means your responsibility is to figure out and describe the various arguments on either side of the debate.
Another important reason I have assigned this kind of paper to you is to allow you to start thinking critically about where information comes from. In other words, think about the sources you use to get evidence. For this paper, I want you to examine your controversy topic by choosing both SCHOLARLY (ACADEMIC) sources as well as POPULAR MEDIA sources. You will pick a minimum of five (5) scholarly sources and a minimum of five (5) popular media sources to gain information about your controversy and the various arguments on either side of the debate. While you must look at 10 sources in total, to get a decent mark on the paper I would suggest using (or referencing) at least 7+ sources altogether. Please note that you CANNOT USE any assigned class readings as part of your ten sources.
Part of this exercise is to figure out what an academic source is, and to make things easier for you I will give you two great examples of this type of resource. One type of scholarly source you can use are books that have been published by an academic or university press. Look at the publisher of your book. If it has been published by a university or academic publisher you are good to go. Do a google search if you are not sure about the publisher. Now, if you come across a book that hasn't been published by a university or academic press, you will need to be very careful about labelling it as scholarly. You may need to do more research on the author or examine the book to see if it is well referenced. Ultimately, you will need to make a judgement call yourself.
The other kind of scholarly source you can use is a peer reviewed journal article. Peer reviewed articles are written by experts in a field which are then sent to other experts for review. After a period of time, this article, which has now been peer-reviewed, is published in a reputable journal. The easiest way to find peer reviewed journal articles is to search various e-resource databases through York's library page. There are a number of databases you can use and I urge you not to just look at science and technology databases since your topics are likely to touch upon other fields like economics, law, sociology or politics. I would suggest starting with a multidisciplinary database such as ProQuest, Scholar's Portal, Web or Science or Expanded Academic ASAP before moving to subject specific ones. Another research tip is to limit any search to peer-review or scholarly sources. This little box can be found on almost all the search engines on these sites. Lastly, I would also recommend viewing the document on scholarly sources that was prepared by a librarian for this course. It can be found in this section of Moodle.
You can choose to use all books, all articles or a combination for your research. I am aware of the fact that there are lots of other kinds of academic sources out there like policy papers, government documents, or independent research studies. Feel free to use these kinds of sources as well, but be very careful when deciding whether they do constitute as an academic source. For example, you might go to a government website and come across a policy paper that has been written by experts in that field. This is a very different however, from a position paper written by a politician who might not know very much about that same subject.
Scholarly (academic) sources are very valuable when obtaining information about any topic, but in reality, very few people have access to these sources. Probably less than 10% of the population. You do since you go to York and pay fees to access these materials, but if the majority of society doesn't use academic sources, where do they get their information from? The answer is popular media, and that is the second type of source I want you to use. You can choose any kind of media source for your paper. Newspapers, magazines, YouTube videos, random website information, blogs, TV shows, movies, radio programs, documentaries - these are what I mean by popular media, and the reality is that most people out there are more likely to learn about an issue from YouTube then they are a peer-reviewed journal.
Once you have selected your academic and popular sources, I want you to gather information about each side of your debate and then start organizing the various arguments. Don't worry about choosing sources that only present one side of the argument or another. That is not the point. Many scholarly sources for example, are likely to provide you with arguments that you will use for both sides of your controversy. While you don't have to worry about choosing the same number of "for" articles and "against" articles, it is important to make sure you have a balanced number of arguments for each side of your debate. Finally, you also don't need to separate your popular and scholarly sources as they are likely to examine similar issues. You don't want to be repetitive when describing various arguments, so think about a way of effectively organizing the arguments you will presenting.
Please keep in mind that the majority of your scholarly and popular sources should be current - no more than six years old. However, you can use two sources (of the 10) that are older than six years.
Your paper is going to be divided into different sections (see below). This will include describing the arguments on either side of the debate and providing me with some analysis. You will be analyzing two things. First, I want you to compare and contrast how your topic is presented in scholarly versus popular media. Think of areas like language (simple versus complex), use of references, and length of article as a starting point for your analysis. Make sure to use examples in your analysis. For instance, if you tell me that scholarly sources are harder to understand than popular ones because of language, provide an example of this from your own sources. The other thing I want you to analyze is how your topic relates to any one or two of our course themes and/or theories. This is unit one material only.
ORGANIZING YOUR ESSAY - GUIDELINES
Since most of you have probably never written this kind of paper before I have given you some guidelines about what to include in each section. For example, if you don't need a thesis statement, what should you include in your introduction? For further information about things like paper length or referencing sources, please refer to the next section of these guidelines.
1. Introduction (1 to 2 paragraphs)
o Establish context by providing some general information about the topic (question) and issues being addressed in your paper
o Provide relevant definitions if required and state research parameters (e.g. if you are doing a topic on computers and privacy, you might state that you will be focusing on social media privacy only)
o Discuss overall trends in what has already been reported - highlight conflicts of opinion but DO NOT provide detailed arguments about either side of the debate - save this for the body of your paper!
o Let us know why you chose this particular topic and give some information about how you intend you organize your paper
2. Source Methodology (2 paragraphs or 3 if you need to justify a source)
o Provide a brief bibliographic description of the popular and academic sources that you have selected for this paper (*please note this should be done in paragraph format - one paragraph for popular and one for scholarly - do not just list your sources!)
o For books, include the author(s), title, year and publisher (if the publisher is not a university or academic press, see below)
o For journal articles, you can include information such as author name(s), title of article, journal title and year of publication
o Similar info can be used for written popular sources (e.g. newspaper or magazine articles, blogs)
o Include the format, title and web link of all internet sources excluding e-books, journal and newspaper articles
o Make sure you know how to list author names (e.g. if there are more than three authors, use et al. after listing the first author's name)
o DO NOT INCLUDE a summary of what your source says in this section - this will be done in the next sections of your paper
o List all ten sources (or more) in this section even if you do not use (cite) them in your paper
o In the event you have looked at over 15 sources, please only include the sources you have cited for this paper
o Important! If you classify something as a scholarly source but it is not a university or academic press book or a peer reviewed journal article, then in a separate paragraph in this section, provide me with some information about why you consider that source to be scholarly (e.g. you might do this if you choose to use a government publication or independent research study)
o You only have to justify a source if you consider it to be academic and it does not fall into the categories of a university press book or peer reviewed journal article (university press books, peer reviewed journal articles and all popular sources DO NOT require any kind of justification)
o You might choose to justify a source as scholarly based on criteria such as author(s) credentials, level of expertise, commission government report, and so on.
Source Methodology Examples:
For my scholarly sources, I examined the following publications: A & B's book, Sample book title (Publisher, Year); X and Y's journal article, "Sample journal article title" (Journal title, year)....
In addition, I used the following popular sources: C & D's newspaper article, "Sample newspaper title" (Newspaper, year); a blog by author F entitled "......." (Year, web link); a You Tube video called "......." (Year it was posted, web link).....
*Please note you do not have to include a web link for e-journals, e-books or newspaper articles - only online sources such as blogs, You Tube videos, websites and the like.
3. Research Results (2 sections - multiple paragraphs)
o This part of your paper will contain two different sections and each section will contain multiple paragraphs
o For example, if you are doing the topic on social media use and narcissism, then one section will be listed as follows: Research Results - Social Media use is making us more narcissistic
o You will then proceed to highlight all the arguments about one side of your debate by combining information you have obtained from scholarly and popular sources and organizing it according to the different arguments you find
o Once you have completed this section you will then proceed to do the exact same thing for the other side of the debate
o For example, going back to social media use and narcissism, this section would be listed as: Research Results - Social media use is not making us more narcissistic
o One important thing to remember is that I do not want you to simply provide me with a "laundry list" of what each of your sources say about your debate - many sources will talk about the same issues and this will lead to too much repetition in your paper
o Instead, think of the "big picture" arguments that are involved (e.g. economic, legal, medical, political, philosophical concerns), and then use these as way of organizing all of the different ideas presented by your sources
o Please keep in mind that you do not have to choose sources that are entirely on one side of the debate as many sources (especially academic ones) are likely to present information on both sides of your issue
o This means you are free to use the same source when highlighting arguments on either side of the debate in each section
4. Discussion - Scholarly versus Popular Sources (2 to 3 paragraphs)
o In this section, analyze the differences between popular and scholarly sources
o This can include many different discussion points such as (but not limited to): length, language used, level of difficulty/understanding, references, level of bias, accuracy of information
o Make sure to provide examples from your sources when making comparisons (e.g. if you state that popular sources use simpler language than scholarly sources, give a specific example to strengthen your argument)
5. Discussion - Course theories and themes (1 to 2 paragraphs)
o For this section, describe how your particular topic relates to ONE or TWO of the course theories and/or themes we have discussed in class (e.g. determinism, management and control, necessity is the mother of invention, gender/racial bias)
o It does not matter whether you choose only theories or themes (or a combination of the two) but just make sure the connection fits
6. Conclusion (1 to 2 paragraphs)
o In your conclusion, tell me your own point of view - give me your own thoughts, ideas and opinions about the topic you have researched
o For example, have your views about this topic changed since looking at both sides of the debate?
o If you do not wish to highlight your own thoughts, you can simply provide me with a short summary of what you discussed in your paper instead
Computing Controversy - Info for Organizing and Writing your Paper
I. General Information
a. Your paper should be 2500 words (about 10 pages long - not including the works cited page). Papers that are longer than 2500 words should not exceed 15 pages in total. Make sure to use standard one inch margins and font size (12) in Times New Roman. Double space your work. If your paper is 2500 words but not quite 10 pages, you can provide a screen shot of the word count (not including references) and attach it to your paper.
b. Please do not include a title page with your paper or any kind of plastic covering. Just put your name, student number and section number on the first page along with the title of your paper. Make sure your paper is stapled or paper-clipped, and that you include page numbers on the top or bottom right hand corner of each sheet.
c. Please note that if you are asked to provide an electronic submission in addition to (or in lieu of) a hard copy, further instructions will be given out in class and posted on Moodle.
II. Structure
c. You can write in either the first or third person.
d. Paragraphs should not be too long (i.e. more than a page or two) or too short (i.e. one or two sentences). On average, there are usually two paragraphs on every page. If you are not sure when to start a new paragraph, follow these rules: start a new paragraph when introducing a new topic or when expanding on a topic you have briefly introduced in the previous section.
e. Don't forget that each new paragraph should have an introductory and concluding statement. Please do NOT leave spaces between paragraphs. Each new paragraph should be indented.
f. Stick to one tense (i.e. past or present tense). Don't mix them up all the time, especially within the same paragraph.
g. Don't capitalize a word unless it is necessary. Also note the way you are using grammatical tools like apostrophes, commas, and semi-colons. Have someone double check your work. The Writing Centre is an excellent resource for students who want to make sure they are on the right track.
h. Sentence structure: keep sentences SIMPLE. Overly long sentences are difficult to read and often make no sense.
i. READ YOUR WORK ALOUD. When you finish your work, read it out loud in the exact way it is written. You will be able to catch grammar and sentence structure errors more easily if you do this.
III. Referencing Information
j. Please use parenthetical referencing for this paper (MLA, APA, etc...). No matter which citation style you choose, you must include a PAGE NUMBER when referencing your materials. If you are referencing a source that has no page numbers, than include a paragraph number. A WORKS CITED page is also required.
k. Remember, referencing is not just for direct quotes. General ideas or facts (i.e. World War I started in 1914) do not have to be referenced but all arguments, opinions and ideas that you take from an author should be cited. When in doubt, REFERENCE!
l. Quotations: Make sure to follow the proper formatting for referencing long quotes based on your citation style.
m. DO NOT OVER QUOTE. Use direct quotes sparingly and only when the point is very valuable/ necessary such that only those precise words will do. Otherwise, paraphrase the ideas and include a citation.
n. If you are not sure how to properly cite or reference a particular source, look it up online or refer to York's library website for further information.
o. *To ensure you carefully understand the rules of academic honesty, please make sure to attach the academic integrity checklist to the back of your essay. It should be signed and dated. The checklist can be found on Moodle in the tech controversy guidelines section. YOUR PAPER WILL NOT BE MARKED IF IT DOES NOT INCLUDE THIS CHECKLIST.
p. If a student is found to have plagiarized their paper, they will automatically receive a zero for this assignment and a failing grade for the course. In addition, their name will be sent to the appropriate administrative authorities who deal with issues of academic integrity.