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Information |
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Course Description:
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The Professional Project is the capstone course
for the Master of Professional Studies Degree, serving as the
integrative culmination of the program of study.
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Course Objectives:
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The Master of Professional Studies (MPS) program
requires every student to complete a Professional Project as the
culminating experience in earning the degree. The project should
demonstrate your use of the knowledge gained in the MPS courses you
have taken. Please carefully read each section of
this syllabus and follow its guidelines.
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Prerequisites and Corequisites:
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PRST5100/6100/7100, PRST5200/6200/7200 and
PRST5300/6300/7300; and either PRST7600 or QM7770. The Professional
Project must be completed in your final semester of your MPS
program.
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Specific Course
Requirements:
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Your plans for the
Professional Project are described in detail in the Special
Project Proposal that must be approved by the MPS Program Director
before a student is issued a permit to register for the
Professional Project class. Use your computer to respond to each of
the items of the Project Proposal listed below. Type each item;
then type your response under it. If you are doing your project in
conjunction with a field location, you must have the signed
permission of the field supervisor along with the field
supervisor’s contact information. Submit the Professional Project
Proposal to the MPS office for review according to the following
timeline prior to semester you plan to enroll: Fall Semester
by July 1; Spring Semester by December 1; Summer Term
by May 1.
Answer These Items in Your
Professional Project Proposal
1. Identify
the topic of your Professional Project and explain the purpose of
the project. What are the research quesitons you are trying to
answer or the problems you are trying to address through your
project?
2. Explain
the reasoning process by which you selected the topic. Why did you
select this topic for your project?
3. Explain
how the topic of your Professional Project is related to your MPS
Program of Study, including an explanation of how the project makes
use of the knowledge you gained from your MPS courses. The
Professional Project should be the logical culmination of what you
have studied in the MPS program.
4. Each
Project must follow a plan of structured inquiry or research
strategy. Explain in detail the strategy/process you will follow in
conducting and completing your Professional Project. What method(s)
will you follow?
5. All
Professional Projects must have a formal, written, research
component. State what the written research component of your
project will be (e.g., research paper, policy
analysis/recommendations, etc.).
7. The
citations and bibliography of the Professional Project must follow
a standard style guide, the Publications Manual of the American
Psychological Association.
8. Provide a
sample bibliography that is indicative of the resources you will
use in your research.
9. Provide a
provisional outline of your Professional Project.
10. If your
project is done in conjunction with a field professional setting,
have your field supervisor review and sign the proposal, indicating
the location’s permission for you to conduct this project at that
professional setting.
11. Submit
the proposal to the MPS Program Director for approval.
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Textbooks,
Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software
Requirements |
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Required Textbooks:
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Supplementary Materials:
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None
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Hardware Requirements:
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Software Requirements:
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The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm.
Specific hardware requirements for this course include...(A list of
software the student is required to purchase or download for the
course, Real Player, Media Player, Acrobat Reader, Microsoft
Office, etc).
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Instructor
Information |
Please see the separate page inside the course to
find instructor contact information as well as a statement of
virtual office hours and other communication information.
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Assessment and
Grading |
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Testing Procedures:
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There are no tests. Instead you will complete a
series of milestones in the design, preparation and execution of
your Professional Project. See Assignments below.
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Grading Procedure:
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Below are
assignments that you must complete in the preparation of your
project. Each assignment will earn you up to the following
points.
Proposal: 5 percent
Outline: 5 percent
First Draft: 10 percent
Final Draft: 20 percent
Presentation/Defense: 10 percent
Final Corrected, Bound Copy: 50 percent
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Grading Scale:
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90-100---A
80-89---B
70-79---C
60-69---D
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Assignments and
Participation |
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Assignments and Projects:
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The project involves the following steps:
1) Complete the Professional Project
Proposal.
2) Submit Proposal for Human Subjects Research
Review (if necessary).
3) Gather Resources and Conduct Research.
4) Submit introduction, detailed outline and
reference list for the professional project.
5) Sumit First Draft of Project Paper.
6) Submit Final Draft of Project Paper.
7) Present/defend Professional Project.
8) Submit final, corrected, bound copy of
Professional Project.
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Class Participation:
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Once the semester begins you will have only two full months to
complete the research and write the project paper reporting your
literature review, findings and conclusions. Three weeks into the
semester you will submit a detailed outline of your project paper
with a list of bibliographical resources you are using. Two
months into the semester you will submit a first draft of your
professional project paper. Your Project Class Instructor will give
you feedback. You must incorporate the Instructor's recommendations
and complete the final draft of your project ten days before your
presentation/defense of the professional project.
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Punctuality:
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Although I have set due dates to submit your proposal, project
outline, first draft and final draft of your project, the burden
falls squarely on you to work steadily on this final project. There
are penalties for missing deadlines. Therefore, get started right
away. I will provide you timely feedback to your questions. But
it's up to you to stay on schedule. Your instructor will
deduct 10% from your grade for each day your assignment is late.
Please stay on schedule.
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Course Ground
Rules |
You have completed all or almost all the courses required for
the Master of Professional Studies. This class is the last step to
completing your degree. You have taken the 10 classes in the
program and you are now ready to explore a topic/conduct a
professional project of your own choosing. It is really not a class
with assigned readings and tests, but an independent study/research
class that relies entirely on your initiative. It is up
to you to stay on task.
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Guidelines for
Communications |
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Email:
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- Always include a subject line.
- Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken
the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons
might be helpful in some cases.
- Use standard fonts.
- Do not send large attachments without permission.
- Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables,
html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an
assignment or other communication.
- Respect the privacy of other class members
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Discussion Groups:
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- Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the
discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
- Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather
starting a new topic.
- Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other
members of the discussion group. Be respectful of others'
ideas.
- Be patient and read the comments of other group members
thoroughly before entering your remarks.
- Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned
tasks.
- Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
- Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.
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Chat:
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- Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat
session.
- Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory
statements.
- Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.
- Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled
time.
- Be constructive in your comments and suggestion
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Web Resources:
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Library |
The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students
enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials
(such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans,
digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian
support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete
online assignments and as background reading must be included in
all courses.
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Students With Disabilities
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Qualified students with disabilities will be
provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if
determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at
their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations
in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of
a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the
disability services staff at the home institution. It is the
student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home
institution's disability services staff and to follow the
established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to
the instructor.
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Syllabus Changes
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The instructor reserves the right to make changes
as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during
the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify
students of such changes both by individual email communication and
posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course
bulletin board.
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Technical Support
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Telephone Support:
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If you are having problems logging into your
course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or
other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by
calling
1-866-550-7637 (toll free)
or go to the AskRODP website at:
http://help.rodp.org
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