Guidelines

First Version Guidelines:
==You are expected to gather information about ‘your’ disaster from books, newspapers, journals and the Internet. On Tuesday, February 16th, you will submit a one-page paper (at least 500 words). This first version of your paper should contain the basic background information about the disaster: when did it occur; what type of event was it (be specific and use what you have learned in class about the specific types of earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides, for example); where did it occur; what were its consequences (on people as well as monetary) and should be **__written in your own words__ ** . Do not literally copy and paste text from other sources, this is **__plagiarism__ **  and will be graded as such. To receive full credit, the figures and tables should all be numbered, be referred to in the text, have captions and be appropriately cited. You should list at least 3 different sources of information (none of which should be wikipedia, see below) in your list of course at the end of the paper. If you choose the wiki as your form of presentation, you should hand in a print out of your wiki-page (following the same style guidelines specified above). == 

Final Version Guidelines:
On Tuesday, March 9th, you will hand in a final paper (at least 1000 words), with a list of sources. This paper will contain: · an __introduction__  (may be very short) · a section describing the __background information of the event__  (this section will essentially consist of the first paper, but should include modifications based on the comments and feedback you received on that paper) · a section __answering the specific question posed__  on the disaster · a __conclusion__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> (may be very short) · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__figures and tables__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> (all should be <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__numbered__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">, should be <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__referred__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> to in the main text of your paper, have <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__captions__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__cite__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> their sources) · a list of <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__sources__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> (minimum of 5 different sources) Again, if you choose a wiki as your presentation type, you should hand in a printout of your wiki-page, following the same style requirements specified above.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Contribution Guidelines:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> You will be required to make at least two significant contributions/edits to other student’s wiki-pages. After the final version of the wiki-pages has been finalized (after class, Tuesday, March 9th), you will have one week to review the pages created by other students in this class and make two significant contributions to two different pages (so: one per page). Your contribution may be the addition of new (and correct) information to the wiki page, or the correction of incorrect information. Corrections of grammar or other legibility issues will not be considered significant, you need to make a contribution to the scientific content. You will be asked to hand in documentation of the changes you made on or before the scheduled date of the (non-existing) final exam. This documentation can be in the form of before & after edits versions of the wiki-page or a written description of your changes.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">THE PROJECT WILL BE GRADED AS FOLLOWS: IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO A WIKI PAGE: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__First Version of Paper/Wiki Page (30%):__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Legibility, accuracy, and completeness of the information. Organization, number and quality of sources (depth of research), the quality and relevance of figures. Quality of presentation of the information in the form of a web page: is the information presented in a clear way, understandable by a layperson? Organization and flow of the material. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Final Paper/Wiki Page (40%):__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> As the first paper, but additionally: incorporated suggested improvements and corrections for the first paper. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Contribution to Other Student’s Wiki Pages (20%):__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> You will be required to make at least two significant contributions/edits to other student’s wiki-pages. After the final version of the wiki-pages has been finalized (after class, Tuesday, March 9th), you will have one week to review the pages created by other students in this class and make two significant contributions to two different pages (so: one per page). Your contribution may be the addition of new (and correct) information to the wiki page, or the correction of incorrect information. Corrections of grammar or other legibility issues will not be considered significant, you need to make a contribution to the __scientific content__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">. You will be asked to hand in documentation of the changes you made on or before March 18th, 9:10 am, which is the scheduled date of the (non-existing) final exam. This documentation can be in the form of before & after edits versions of the wiki-page or a written description of your changes. The remaining 10% will be based on your attendance of other students’ oral presentations. Points will be deducted if the choice of topic form is not handed in by the assigned date.