CSC399: Paper

General Guidelines

• Internship is a valuable experience esp. for your job search. When you write an application essay or get an interview, you will definitely discuss your internship experience. How do you think your prospective employers would evaluate your experience? They will certainly check whether you gained technical skills relevant to the job. In addition, they will also check whether you can solve real-world problems and express the process in an organized way. Not many people can do this without preparation. By writing a paper, you are expected to develop such a skill in preparation for your job search. Naturally, this exercise will not be complete without the presentation part of the internship experience.
• In principle, students must submit a paper by the end of the semester (the last day of class) in which they are registered (see the end of this page for important notes regarding summer registration).
• The most important point of writing your paper will be to identify a "problem" and you respond to that problem. In the context of internship, your problem may be practical, i.e., your action such as implementing a certain program may solve the problem. In some cases, your problem may be theoretical, i.e., you do some research and find information that can be used to solve some practical problem.
• In addition, it is also important to identify the "cost" of not solving the problem (or viewed in the opposite direction as the "significance" of solving the problem). Note that the "cost" here is about any negative aspects of our lives; i.e., do not stick to the "$" amount; think more broadly. For example, for a parent, raising a child (imagine yourself) is a (practical) problem. The cost of not solving the problem is about "values" involving various dimensions. You are probably uncomfortable if your childhood experience is measured only in terms of the dollar amount.
• Ideally, your "response" to the problem is a solution that is acceptable within the context of your internship experience. However, in certain cases, you may not be able to solve the problem completely within the internship period. In this case, your response would be detailed explanation of your attempt including the analysis of the missing elements.
• Some students focus what they learned in their papers. You should NOT do it. You must consider your paper as a report to your client, who is suffering from the problem you identified. Your client does not care what you learn; the main point must always be how the problem is being addressed and hopefully solved. Internship experience is a gateway to the real world. You must know what kind of document would work in such a context. The employers do not need students; they need colleagues.
• Note that your paper is not a description of the company you worked for. Keep this information to the minimum.
• Students' papers from previous semesters are availalbe here.

Confidentiality [IMPORTANT]

• When you write your paper, you must honor the confidentiality agreement between your employer and yourself. As soon as you start writing your paper, consult your on-site professional about what you can write. To protect yourself, you should obtain permision of the on-site professional (preferably in writing) before submiting any draft of your paper to the faculty internship supervisor.

Standard Timeline

Paper Formatting Requirements

Note: The formatting requirement is most likely be changed in the near future. The following section will be updated by that time.

Title page

Rest of the paper

• Abstract (1 paragraph to 1 page; write this after your complete your paper)
• Introduction: Consider a three-paragraph format including the following components. Target 1 to 2 pages.
  • Background: Describe the background of your internship. But limit the length so that this paragraph contains minimally sufficient information for desribing the problem in the following paragraph. It is often effective to start this paragraph with your personal experience, well-known events, etc.
  • Problem (condition and cost): Clearly state both of these.
  • Gist of your response: Give a concise preview of how you responded to the problem.
• <Body>
  • If necessary (e.g., if your problem is complex or unusual), give a more detailed description of the problem.
  • Give a detailed description of how you analyzed, solved, and evaluated your response to the problem
  • The body consists of one or more sections.
  • Note: Do not include superfluous information not related to the problem-solving aspects. For example, include the internship site information only to the extent which is necessary to explain problem solving.
• Conclusion: Consider a three-paragraph format including the following components. Target 1 to 2 pages.
  • Results: Give a summary of the problem and your response.
  • Significance of the problem: Re-iterate this point so that the reader can appreciate what you did.
  • Future directions: The real world is complex. Solving a problem would most likely lead to more problem. Or, as you know more about the internship environment, you may realize things that can be improved.
• Acknowledgements [on-site professional and other people/organizations involved]
• Bibliography [follow a style of your choice; include the author/editor name(s), year, title, publication info (e.g., journal name or publisher)]
• Appendices (if any, e.g., program, design diagram, data)
  • You may include the information about the internship site which is not directly related to the problem-solving aspects.
• Note: Use section titles/numbers and page numbers. For example, if there are two body sections, your paper would be organized as follws:
  1. Introduction
     • <background (1 paragraph recommended)>
     • <problem (1 paragraph recommended)>
     • <response (1 paragraph recommended)>
  2. <body section title>
  • <content>
  3. <body section title>
     • <content>
  4. Conclusion
     • <results (1 paragraph recommended)>
     • <significance (1 paragraph recommended)>
     • <future (1 paragraph recommended)>

Paper Submission Requirements

Other Instructions/Notes

• Unless you have a very good idea to deviate from the above formatting requirements (i.e., you must be able to explain the idea to the faculty supervisor), you must follow them.
• Internship is a very important experience for you and also for the department in that you will be able to see whether what you learn in classroom is applicable to the real world. Thus, in your paper, try to include the following points:
  • What kind of classroom experience was useful in your internship
  • What kind of classroom experience you should have had but did not
  • Suggestions for other students, especially those who are interested in doing internship in the future
  • What kind of knowledge/techniques/information you would like to convey to the faculty/students in the department (i.e., try to make the paper educational)
• There is no total page number requirement.
• The faculty supervisor will comment on your first and subsequent drafts. You must revise your paper in a timely manner so that you can turn it in as required. You must have your draft approved for the final submission to get the credits for your internship experience in a timely manner.
• Students can write their papers using, e.g., MS Word and submit it in the ".doc" format.  For the departmental on-line collection, the paper will be reformatted as a PDF file.  Note that if you include URL's as "http://...", they can be converted to clickable links automatically.
• The organizational requirements above are mainly based on: Booth, Wayne C, Colomb, Gregory G., and Williams, Joseph M. 2003. The Craft of Research, 2nd ed. Univ. of Chicago Press. [available in the TCNJ library (reserve)]

Summer Registration

• If you are registered for a summer session and you are graduating that summer, you must submit the approved version of your paper by the last day of the class for the session you are registered.
• If you are registered for a summer session and you are not graduating that summer, the following possibilities exist:
  • If you submit the approved version of your paper by the last day of the class for the session you are registered (and other requirements are also completed by that time), you may be able to receive a grade for that session.
  • Otherwise, you must submit the approved version of your paper by the end of the following fall semester. However, in this case, you will receive an "in progress" (IP) for the summer session. This can eventually be changed to a passing grade at the end of the fall semester once all the requirements are satisfied.