Independent Study Project (ISP)
Guidelines (Prof.
Hoefler) |
Grading
sheet (.pdf)
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NOTE 1: While all three grades
you earn during The Washington Center program are reported on your
transcript (TWC seminar, TWC internship, and Dickinson College
Independent Study), the grade you earn on the Independent Study is the only grade that will be
calculated in your GPA. See: http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/twc/creditgrade.html
NOTE 2:
"Professionalism" will count significantly in your Independent Study
grade. Key components of professionalism include:
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• The degree to
which you maintain good, regular, quality contact with me via emailed
journals;
• The degree to which you respond to queries and requests for
clarification and elaboration;
• The preparation you exhibit for the meeting we have when I visit you on site;
• The degree to which you maintain (and report to me) steady progress
toward the independent study, and;
• The timeliness you exhibit when turning in requested work products
(especially the final product).
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Weekly journal submitted via email:
You will be submitting journal entries about your internship experience
to your TWC program supervisor on a regular basis. You should
copy me on those entries, and add a personal post script to me each
week that discusses what progress you have made on the independent
study.
Topic selection (weeks
1-3): You collaborate on with me on the topic of
your independent study during the early weeks of your internship.
Talk with the folks at your internship site about the independent study
to get the ball rolling. Pick their brains about the hot topics
the office is dealing with, the special areas of expertise that exist
within the staff, and the readily available printed records and
materials you will have access to. Maybe you will find a special
project that has been waiting for someone like you to come along. Whatever you propose, it has been my experience that projects which
focus on a dimension of the work your office is already involved in
will provide you with the most productive and rewarding independent
study experiences.
Here are just three possibilities that your project could take. You may want to combine the elements of some of these alternatives, or head off in a slightly different direction. The choice is yours -- I will give as much feedback as I can once you begin to narrow in on a direction to take.
Comparative analysis: Compare two or more entities that are roughly equivalent. Be sure to explain why you can compare the entities you do, and what flaws there might be in this approach. Items of comparison might include:
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• Countries (U.S. vs. Canada)
• U.S. states (PA, vs. NY vs. NJ)
• Government departments (Dept. of State vs. Dept. of Defense)
• Businesses (Microsoft vs. Apple)
• Populations (African American vs., Hispanics; young vs. old)
• Policies (pick two or more policies and analyze their comparative strengths and weaknesses) |
Longitudinal analysis: Follow one policy, entity, or population through a specific time-period. This is especially useful when there is an identifiable "intervention" between the beginning and the end of your study. For example, PA used to require motorcyclists to wear helmets, and now they don't. Tracking the accident experiences of motorcyclists over time (seriousness of injury; rate of fatality) would help you begin to figure out what impact helmet use has on accident outcomes.
Case study: A case study is used to explore one particular entity or policy in great depth. It should cover the history of the subject matter in some detail.
Building the project out
(mid-semester): Once you have settled on an approved
project title, you should compose a brief synopsis and a rationale for
why working on this particular topic will constitute a productive use
of your time. You should also outline the project in detail,
annotating the materials you plan to use (e.g., personal interviews,
records, reports, and other data) along the way. Submit the
synopsis and outline to me via email.
On-site visit
(mid-semester): I will pay you a visit sometime
during the middle weeks of the semester, during which time you should
be prepared to:
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• Brief me on the
progress you have made on the
independent study project, to date. Provide me with a one-page
memo at that time to guide the discussion (see memo guidelines at http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/law/policy/style.html#Memo);
• Provide a short tour of your internship site (if this is not too
disruptive to the operations of the office);
• Set
up a short meeting with you, me, and your site supervisor (this is not
required -- we will do this only if your supervisor is interested and
able to meet; the meeting could range from a simple introduction, to an
informal chat of 15 minutes or so, depending on schedules);
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Project completion
(closing weeks of the semester): Your project should begin
to shape up nicely in the closing weeks of the semester. Send a
draft of the project as it begins to take shape, and have the final
work product in to me by the first day of final exams here on
campus.
Debriefing (after TWC):
I normally like to meet with students for a personal debriefing of
their projects (and the semester) before assigning a final grades for
the independent study (if possible). For summer and fall
internships, this can be done as soon as you get back on campus. For spring internships, this can be done before you head home for the
summer (only if possible, of course).
Grading: Your
final grade for the independent study will be dependent on
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• the quality of
the final work product you turn in, and
• the degree to which you demonstrate professionalism and
responsibility in maintaining close, personal, quality contact with me
as the project and the semester unfold. |
http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/twc/ISguide.html
j. hoefler
12.12.04
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Dickinson
Semester in DC
The
Washington Center (TWC)
Getting
Started
Application
Checklist (.pdf)
Credits
&
Grades
Major
Credit
form (.pdf)
Independent
Study
Vital
Statistics
form
(.pdf)
Student perspective
Dickinson
College
Global
Education
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