Peter,
I have a very heavy research component in my UG IEP
course. Basically, every student in the course has to write a 20-25
page research paper on whether a particular environmental
treaty/regime was effective or not (an issue near and dear to my own
heart!). I give them a range of preparatory assignments that build
up to it. Its *way* hard for students who, from what I can tell,
would otherwise leave my university without ever having written more
than a 5 page paper. But, those who don't drop the course after
seeing the assignment find it very rewarding. Two of the students
have won Library Research awards that my university hands out as
well. The goal of the whole assignment is to get them to really
understand causal thinking (and, of course, how it differs from
*casual* thinking).
The course as a whole, with syllabus and suggested readings
(including some on research) is online at:
http://www.uoregon.edu/~rmitchel/iep/
and the assignment "packet" that has extensive instructions for each
assignment is at:
http://www.uoregon.edu/~rmitchel/iep/PS477AssignmentPackWinter2007.pdf
Note that the first assignment is on plagiarism -- I seem to catch at
least one student doing this every other year.
Hope that helps,
Ron
At 04:53 AM 11/21/2007, phaas wrote:
I will be offering an honor's undergrad 1 credit sectionin spring on
research methods in international environmental politics. I would
welcome any experiences or ideas from people on the list about such
a class: what do you think I should cover, recommended readings!,
and any experiences you have had in this area.
Thanks a lot.
Peter M. Haas
Professor
Department of Political Science
216 Thompson Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
USA
ph 1 413 545 6174
fax 1 413 545 3349
Ronald Mitchell, Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Oregon
Eugene OR 97403-1284
Phone: 541-346-4880/Fax: 541-346-4860
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.uoregon.edu/~rmitchel/
International Environmental Agreements Database: http://iea.uoregon.edu/
Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change
Research (DISCCRS): http://www.disccrs.org/
New Book: Global Environmental Assessments: Information and
Influence, Edited by Ronald B. Mitchell, William C. Clark, David W.
Cash and Nancy M. Dickson
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11038
