Course Project - Research Paper

Course Project - Research Paper Guidelines

Purpose:  For this course, you are to research three cryptographic tools that are widely used by experts and security professionals. In your paper, you will need to provide a motivation for selecting the three outlined tools and discuss the pros and cons of each tools and how they are used in the field.

Your research paper will be completed in three different parts and each one will build off of the other and end up as a cohesive whole. You must complete your paper in this order.

Below is a breakdown of the individual parts and how they will affect your grade.

Section	Part (Unit Due)	Percentage
Narrative and Bridge (1.5 pages)	A (Unit 2)	30%
Research Findings I (1 page) & Research Findings II (3 pages)	B (Unit 3)	50%
Final Paper with Conclusions and References (1 page)	C (Unit 4)	20%

Part A - Narrative and Bridge (Unit 2 Submission)

1a). The Narrative

In the first section of Part A, you will be telling us the story of how you came to be interested in the topic and why you want to pursue research on the topic.

Here are some guidelines for The Narrative:

· Your Narrative should be at least one page in length.

· In explaining your motivation, include personal experience to explain why you chose these cryptographic tools.

· This section should capture the reader’s attention and make us want to continue reading. (Vivid language and description help with this.)

· All information included in this section must be relevant; in other words, all parts of the your narrative must relate to the purpose of this section, which is to show your readers why you are interested in the topic.

· Readers must get a sense that the writer’s interest in the topic is genuine.

· Although I am not looking for grammatical perfection here, I do want to see that you have made an effort to eliminate errors in grammar and sentence structure that would be distracting to your readers.

1b). The Bridge

This second section of Part A will function as a bridge (or transition), leading your readers from the narrative into the actual research process. Although thesis statements are traditionally found in the first paragraph (or introduction) of an essay, your thesis statement will appear in this section.

Next, you will tell us what you want to know about your three chosen cryptographic tools and how you plan to learn about them. This is a great place to present a few focused questions that you plan to find the answers to. Again, remember that this section will be narrative in nature (use the first person “I”). (HINT: To conduct some brainstorming for this section, you might want to spend a few minutes jotting down what you already know or think about these tools and then a few minutes jotting down what you want to know about the topic.)

Here are some guidelines for The Bridge:

· This section should be at least half of one page in length.

· You should continue to use the first person “I” perspective to write this section.

· You should include a specific thesis statement in this section that lets the reader know what is to come. (When you submit this second section, please underline the sentence you feel is your thesis statement.)

· Readers should feel as though this second section is providing them with a nice transition between what was discussed in the first section and what will be discussed in the third section. (Remember, the purpose of this second section is to provide a bridge for your reader that seamlessly leads them from the narrative into the research.)

· You should include a discussion of what you already know about the topic and/or what you assume to be true about the topic.

· You should include some focused questions to which you want to find the answers.

· You should provide us with some details about how you plan to find the answers to the questions. What kind of research will you conduct? Where will you go to find the answers to your questions?

· Although I am not looking for grammatical perfection here, I do want to see that you have made an effort to eliminate errors in grammar and sentence structure that would be distracting to your readers.

Part B Research Process and Findings Part I (Unit 3 Submission)

In Part B of your research paper, you will briefly tell us what you discovered. You will tell us where you looked and what you learned. In this section you will still be using a narrative voice (first person “I”), but you also will be paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting the sources you found.  This will provide an introduction to your Research Process and Findings, but will not be all of the research that you will complete for this assignment.

Here are some guidelines for the Research Process and Findings:

· This section should be one page in length.

· You should continue to use the first person “I” perspective to write this section.

· You should use a clear method of organization; do not organize the paper source by source, but rather by topic.

· You must include information from at least two sources in this section.

· You should include a variety of sources (book, magazine article, web site, etc.).

· You must incorporate effective and correct paraphrasing, summarizing, and quotations—all of these must include appropriate parenthetical citations.

· To make the paper read as a cohesive whole, refer to earlier sections of your paper (early experiences you discussed in The Narrative, questions you asked and assumptions you made in The Bridge).

· Your voice and your ideas about what you have learned should be the driving force behind this section. Do not make the mistake of simply throwing together a bunch of information you got from your sources. That is too hard for your readers to process. Instead, you should be telling us what you found and then making sense of it for us.

· Although I am not looking for grammatical perfection here, I do want to see that you have made an effort to eliminate errors in grammar and sentence structure that would be distracting to your readers.

2b). Part B continued — Research Findings II (Unit 3 Submission)

This first section of part B will be a continuation of the 1-page research findings. The Research and Findings II section should follow the guidelines of Research and Findings I with the additional requirements that there is a minimum of 3 pages required and 3 citations. Submit Research Findings I and II together in a single Word document.

Part C— Final Paper with Conclusion & References (Unit 4 Final Submission)

In Unit 4 of the course, you will submit the final draft of your Research Paper. Your final draft should include all sections (Part A – Part C). Part C should include you Conclusion and Reference Page(s). In your Conclusion, you will tell us what you discovered! After concluding your research, compare what you thought you knew, assumed, or imagined with what you actually discovered and offer some personal commentary and draw some conclusions. After you have included your conclusion, you must include a References page. Here are some guidelines for your Conclusion:

Here are some guidelines for the Conclusions and References Page:

· The Conclusion section should be roughly one page in length.

· You should continue to use the first person “I” perspective to write this section.

· You should re-visit your earlier research question that was mentioned in section 2 (your thesis statement), and summarize your findings for us.

· You must be sure to mention any areas where your assumptions about the topic were proven false.

· Feel free to tell us what additional questions your research process raised.

· Provide your readers with a clear sense of closure.

· The References page should be separated from the rest of the paper on its own page, following APA Reference page formatting.

· You should provide a minimum of 4 references.

· Although I am not looking for grammatical perfection here, I do want to see that you have made an effort to eliminate errors in grammar and sentence structure that may be distracting to your readers.