Below the line of stars are the full instructions for your final project. It will be due at the end of Week 8. You must submit a proposal here in order to have your project topic approved before working on your final project. Please provide the following information here in the submission window:
· which US river basin authority you’d like to use for your project and why (international sites can be used – but only if a fully developed plan exists)
· a link to the full management plan
· a list of at least 3 topics from your textbook (include the page numbers or chapter numbers) that you think you’ll be able to integrate into your project analysis & critique
· full APA citations for at least 3 peer-reviewed, primary, scientific research papers from scientific journals that can potentially be used to analyze and critique the existing plan (if you aren’t sure what makes something peer-reviewed primary scientific research please Message me, come to an office hour, or live chat with one of our wonderful APUS librarians).
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**************************FINAL PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS**************************
Using the US River Basin Authority that you got approved in your Project Proposal create a PowerPoint presentation (other formats by Instructor permission only) of approximately 25-35 slides with the primary goals of:
· Describing the river basin using the grading criteria below
· Critiquing and analyzing the current management of the basin using information gathered from peer-reviewed primary scientific literature and course materials
The vast majority of your points on this project come from the critique and analysis. Critique and analysis means that you look at each type of management being done at your site and using peer-reviewed primary scientific research and course materials to evaluate the management strategies being used there. If you do not know what makes a source peer-reviewed primary scientific literature, please review the APUS library guidance on this
here
.
You should have 5-10+ sources and you must also cite them on each slide (APA style) and on one of your final slides, which should be a References slide. Your references should include our textbook and your river basin’s management plan as well appropriate peer-reviewed primary scientific literature, government and NGO reports, and other appropriately scholarly material. Don’t forget that you must cite the sources of your images as well as your data/information. Images can be cited in the same way as text using standard APA citation style. Use appropriate citations throughout the presentation for each fact or figure shown. Information sources should be cited on each slide next to the information, just like you’d do in a paper. Then have a “References” slide at the end using the full APA style reference for each, these should be alphabetized. Image sources can be cited on the slide itself or at the end on a separate “Image Sources” slide – where they would be organized by slide number. Follow APA format for the reference citations both within your writing and in your references section at the end of your presentation. If you do not have a copy of the APA style manual, be sure to review guidance in the APUS library writing center or other reputable sources.
You will be graded here on the professional nature and effectiveness of your presentation as well as the content. You will want to use a consistent and appropriately professional theme for your graphics and color scheme, fonts, etc. When doing presentations you want to use bulleted or numbered lists instead of large unbroken blocks of text. A good general rule of thumb is 5 bullets/numbers per slide and 5 words on each of those bullets/numbers. If in doubt, break it into a second slide. Be sure each slide has an appropriate title that links back to the important requirements of the Assignments. Never have a slide without a title to guide your reader/listener. You can use the notes part of your presentation to include information that you would be saying aloud if you were presenting this to a live audience. Do not simply write a paper and then cut-and-paste big blocks of text from that paper onto your slides. Also do not just cut-and-paste big blocks of information directly from the plan you are using. Be sure it is 100% clear to your Instructor what items in your presentation are simply a report of what is in the plan vs. your analysis/critique of it. One approach is to have the presentation of the management item and then the analysis & critique of that item on the same slide or one followed by the other. Another way is to do all of the reporting in the first part of your presentation and then end with all the slides of your analysis & critique. Either way be sure your bullet points and slide titles are very clear which is which.
Final Project Grading Summary
1) Introduction to the basin (10 points – see breakdown below)
1a: location information, including a map (2.5 points)
1b: formation history such as when the site was established and under what conditions (2.5 points)
1c: important land use and other historical or traditional use information (2.5 points)
1d: important political situation information (2.5 points)
2) Management Plan overview (10 points – see breakdown below)
2a: history of the plan including type, date accepted, date(s) revised, etc. (2.5 points)
2b: managing political entities and other stakeholders description (2.5 points)
2c: how decisions impacting the basin are made (e.g., consensus, voting, vetos, etc.) (2.5 points)
2c: management philosophy (e.g., sustainable development, IWRM) (2.5 points)
3) A critical evaluation of management plan, incorporating course topics and scientific evidence (30 points)
4) Appropriate type and number of sources, properly cited within the writing and at the end of the essay (20 points)
6) Mechanics: organization, length, writing style, grammar, spelling, etc. (10 points)
7) Presentation style & effectiveness (10 points)
8) Acceptable Turnitin Score (10 points)
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In our undergraduate program in Environmental Science, we have adopted citation style from the American Psychological Association (APA), 7th edition. You will want to take some time to review the available resources on APA and consider having a copy of the manual on hand during your writing. There are many web based resources available as well, including the links below. Sometimes these links move on the web, so if you find a broken link, please email your instructor so we can correct these.
APUS Trefry Library:
APA Style (apus.edu)
https://www.apus.edu/apus-library/resources-services/Writing/writing-center/apa-style-guide-info.html
APA Style Blog:
APA Style Blog
https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL):
APA Overview and Workshop // Purdue Writing Lab
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_overview_and_workshop.html
There are also lots of YouTube videos covering APA 7th edition, if you prefer video format. The bottom line is it is your responsibility to learn proper citation style. This is critical in your professional writing, and manuscripts can be rejected in your professional endeavors simply because citations are incorrect or incomplete.