THE DAUNTING PAPER
Often students' fears stem from the length of the paper. Some departments require papers of at least twenty pages, a daunting task for a student who has written only the typical four to six-page liberal arts paper on a regular basis. Some seniors feel unprepared for such a large project because they have not written many papers requiring outside research. English papers, for example, often reference only the literary works. Mike Nelson views the fear as an advantage since it "motivates the students to really focus. Given the fear, they seem to come to the table with a certain intensity, desire, and seriousness to overcome these supposed barriers." While his colleague Rick Heiser acknowledges that "students seem to fear the paper largely because of its length," he offers reassurance: "They need to know that the professor will aid them in every step of the process and not leave them to do everything independently."

TOPIC CHOICE
Students may need help at the beginning of the process. Jessica Ziegler admits that her biggest fear with the English capstone was a worry that "my topic will not be interesting or that I will be unable to find research pertaining to it." She felt hesitant to start the research. Tom Weaver, currently teaching the political science capstone, agrees that "the hardest part is to come up with the topics." Anita Gustafson asked her students to think about a research topic soon after they registered for her seminar "Slavery and Freedom" last spring. Then during the early weeks, the class focused on the topic with heavy reading of significant essays in the field so that students knew what questions to ask. The History and English Departments require students in the seminar classes to research some facet of the course content, while other departments, such as Political Science and Biology, offer students a wider choice.

ASSIGNED STAGES
Capstone or seminar professors assign work in stages that escalate in difficulty as the students move toward the final paper and oral presentation. Jerry Alexander grades each step of the research paper in the English capstone: the topic proposal, annotated bibliography, rough draft, and final paper. Ziegler finds this method "very effective. Mr. Alexander's decision to split up the writing made the overall process less daunting and forced me to do continual work on the project instead of procrastinating."

Seniors in Weaver's capstone also have staggered due dates to decrease stress. The requirements include a literature review, a bibliography, an outline, a rough draft, and the final draft. The rough draft was due before spring break, and Weaver plans to confer with the students about the bibliography, the outline, and the first draft, which he expects to be "terrible." The second draft needs to be close to the final, he says, and to take into consideration his comments on the first draft. Gustafson breaks up the paper in increments as well, some graded and some not: preliminary bibliography, annotated bibliography, preliminary outline, topic sentence outline, rough draft, and final draft. She does not expect a first draft to be perfect but relatively free of errors. While she knows that a student's arguments will need to be fleshed out before the final draft, she grades this stage by how seriously students treat the early draft.

Heiser schedules four individual conferences he called progress reports. Using a stock set of questions, he finds out where students are in the research process: "How many sources have you used? How many are primary sources? How many sources have you read?" Heiser makes sure the thesis statement is coming together and asks for the student's plan for next week's work. He welcomes, but dies not require, submission of the paper for his comments before the final due date. After reading the final paper, he gives students a chance to revise minor problems. Senior Kathryn May expresses appreciation for the one-on-one meetings: "Talking to him helped me narrow down where I was going with the paper. The conferences also allow a student to bring up any problems with the research." She points out another helpful technique of his. Heiser assigns two books on the same topic, asking students to examine the bias of the authors. This assignment makes them look with a critical eye on their sources.

THE LOOMING PRESENTATION
The presentation looms ahead, "unlike any other I have ever done before," according to one senior. Introverted students especially fear the lengthy oral report. Many professors address this apprehension by having students present on their progress early in the semester to force them to speak publicly. Most require at least one practice presentation before the professor and classmates, who respond with suggestions for improvement. Nelson mentions another fear associated with the presentation: answering questions from the audience. "I constantly see the concern over what the department members are going to ask them, he observed. Biology major Juliana Head agrees that the questions are her biggest fear: "For biology majors, these are not just general interest questions, but rather a time to see how much you really know about your topic beyond the fifteen-minute presentation." Facing this session, she says, "makes me want to be certain to explore every aspect of my chosen topic, so that I can be prepared for whatever they throw at me." Again, fear can be a motivator.

Gustafson's deep reading in the field gives students practice with this aspect of the presentation. Reading, synthesizing, and discussing books all add to the background students need for the question session. Weaver's students will field questions from the audience during their practice presentations.

Most notably, students fear the workload that accompanies the senior project and wonder whether it will be too much to undertake in a busy senior year. Finishing the major courses, taking the LSAT or GRE, applying for graduate school or a job---all add to the stress of senior year. Students find, however, that what they once considered an almost impossible task slowly becomes manageable. Nicholas Blake in biology says, "There is a lot of hype that Senior Seminar is a stressful, difficult experience, and it can be if adequate preparation isn't undertaken during the construction of the project." Biology majors like Blake feel confident about their ability to complete the Senior Seminar since the Junior Seminar "basically teaches research methods for the Internet and library use, as well as how to construct a biological review paper and presentation."

READY RESOURCES
The research librarians have developed guides for particular classes with references to books, journal articles, and primary sources on the Web. Students in Gustafson's seminar had access to laws about slavery, advertisements for runaway slaves, and firsthand accounts of slave revolts. These guides pushed students to find a variety of sources. The librarians put together the research guide, and then Gustafson identified the most useful sources for her class. "There are no limitations of a small college library anymore," she says. "Thomcat is just a part of what is available now."Students are grateful that PC provides many resources for their research and writing, praising the library staff and the online databases. The new PASCAL interlibrary loan system guarantees that they can receive books within three days. A day in the library is a standard feature of many seminar or capstone classes to introduce students to the library staff and the basics of undergraduate research.

Students from many disciplines also report that sitting down with a Writing Center tutor helped them consider the overall structure of such a lengthy paper. Others came with concerns about the thesis or grammar. Jim Wetzel of the Biology Department strongly recommends that his students visit the Writing Center and left examples of seminar papers there for them to reference. Political Science major Amy Bolin says that "the Writing Center has been a big help. It is hard to catch problems and errors after you have read such a long paper so many times on your own."

GRADING
Many professors count the paper and presentation as a large part of the grade. Other assignments and class participation make up the remainder. Nelson's final paper, for example, counts 40%, the presentation 30%, and book reviews and participation in class 30%.Biology students receive two grades in the senior seminar course: one for the presentation and one for the paper. Three faculty members grade each presentation and a rotating fourth with expertise in a particular paper's topic joins them. The professor currently teaching the Senior Seminar and another professor whose focus is in the area of the paper's subject grade the papers, and they average the grades.

Ironically, the students interviewed seem to worry the least about the grade they will receive. Some comment that the relief of being finished with the presentation is so great that the grade seems to matter very little. Most seniors look back at the research project as a positive experience. "Across the board," says Gustafson, "students have an incredible sense of accomplishment."

by Lindsey Sink and Jill Frey