Examples of how you get assignments - Cranking it UP!
SCENARIO 1:
You're given a broad topic, for example:
You're taking Political Science 1171, Environmental Politics, and your professor asks you to write a research paper in that area.
How do you figure out what to write about?
You can figure out a topic about anything. Honestly! Try it! For example:
What kind of topics can you think of by looking at the floor beneath you?
1. What is the floor made of?
Concrete
a) what is concrete made of?
b) why is it a good substance for a floor or a building?
c) what are the advantages and disadvantages of concrete?
d) when was concrete invented? what is its history? (buildings weren't always made of concrete)
e) etc.
Carpet tiles
a) what are carpet tiles made of?
b) what are the advantages and disadvantages of carpet tiles?
i) from an aesthetic perspective?
ii) from a chemical perspective?
iii) from an engineering perspective?
iv) from an environmental perspective?
c) if an advantage is that they can be replaced easily, what do you do when the color fades or changes over time?
d) etc.
Color
a) what are the advantages and disadvantages of various colors for carpet tiles?
b) why do colors fade or change over time?
c) what makes color, anyway?
d) what are the aesthetics of colors? What moods do they create?
e) etc.
You can move into physics or psychology or art or other disciplines
And I've only just begun! Can you think of other questions you might explore?
These are all possible topics for research papers.
SCENARIO 2:
You're given a more specific topic, but one that you still need to narrow. You also need to find an "angle" for it that makes the paper your own.
For example, if you were given an assignment to write a research paper on Artificial Intelligence, you could be assigned that topic in English 1002, in Multimedia 3800, or in Computer Science 4810. Here, for example, are the course descriptions from the CSUEB Catalog for those three courses:
1002
College Writing II
Further work in expository writing with emphasis on argumentation and persuasion. Introduction to the preparation and writing of the research paper.
3800
Multimedia I:Animation
Creating imaginative, computer-based animation with traditional and digital techniques.
4810
Artificial Intelligence
"Intelligent" computer programs and models of human intelligence. Game playing, robotics, computer vision, understanding natural language, knowledge engineering, computer learning.
Assignment - Now we're going to follow an actual assignment example
Research topic: You are asked to write a paper on artificial intelligence and gaming.
Getting Started
First you have to know something about your topic. Then, you can decide on the "angle" of your paper, e.g., sociological, historical, mathematical, artistic, etc.
But before you start looking for background information on your topic in the library or on the web, consider using one or more of these strategies:
Be sure you understand the assignment (remember the first step on the assignment calculator?). If necessary, seek clarification from your professor, classmates, or tutors.
Think about what you already know about the topic.
Use a pre-writing strategy, e.g., brainstorming, free writing, clustering, etc.) to help you to discover what you know and want to know about your topic.
Talk to your professor, classmates, friends, and family about the topic.
Look for ways to make the topic interesting to you.
Figure out a system for keeping track of the information you will find as you research your topic AND of your searches that don't work out (so you don't repeat them by mistake!)
Ask questions about the topic that will guide your initial research.
Some sample questions might be:
How is artificial intelligence defined?
How has artificial intelligence developed over time?
How close to human thinking is AI now?
How has AI been used in video games?
In what ways is AI changing video game development?
In what ways is AI changing the way people interact with and experience video games?
Etc.
Find and Evaluate
To get a general grasp of the topic, you might consult reference sources for an overview, often an encyclopedia.
You have a couple of options:
Wikipedia
Britannica Online
CQ Researcher (also online)
Wikipedia
Note: Wikipedia can get you started, but as you can change the content any time you want, Wikipedia is "unstable" and you need to validate any information you find there. So . . .
There are some useful sources out there, but you need to be sure that the source is reputable and that you can provide validation of the site in your article.
Britannica Online
This is a "stable" encyclopedia. Let's start by searching "artificial intelligence." Look at the results, which are usually provided in date order. When you open the first one, you get a description/definition. You learn something about artificial intelligence. As you scan the articles, you find that they are useful for your search in two ways - they give you information and they also give you "clues" to help you in your search. Here are some clues:
Artificial Intelligence is connected to computer-controlled robots
no programs yet match the capabilities of the human mind
Artificial Intelligence is often known by its initials - AI
Alan M. Turing is the pioneer of artificial intelligence
In 1950, Turing proposed the "Turing Test" as a criterion for whether a machine thinks
Turing Test: a remote human interrogator, within a fixed time frame, must distinguish between a computer and a human subject based on their replies to various questions posed by the interrogator.
You can also look up "gaming" and find similar clues in that area:
Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft drew 7 million subscribers in 2006
there's a "massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) community"
MMOGs differed from traditional PC Games (which is hyperlinked to another article) - also another term
If you follow the hyperlink to PC Games, you find a path to another article, this one on "virtual reality." Clues from that include:
experimentation by NASA
"virtual world, augmented reality, and telepresence technologies were successfully launched throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century as platforms for creative work, research spaces, games, training environments, and social spaces." from the following citation: "virtual reality." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 26 Apr. 2008 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-253106>."
"Competitive networked games also provided virtual spaces for interaction between players. In 1993 id Software introduced DOOM, which defined the game genre known as the first-person shooter and established competitive multiplayer gaming as the leading-edge category of games on personal computers. " from the same citation.
3-D graphics hardware
"The U.S. military also adapted the first-person shooter for training purposes, beginning with a modified version of DOOM, known as Marine Doom, used by the Marine Corps and leading to the adoption of the Unreal game engine for the U.S. Army's official game, America's Army (2002)" from the same citation
You can also try the two concepts together in the "advanced search." When you do that, you find that you do not get results, but you have the combination of the two subjects in the Virtual Reality article, so you can now move towards Refining Your Topic.
Refining Your Topic
Now that you know a little more about AI and about gaming, you can begin to narrow or focus your topic. To do that, consider the assignment, the audience you will write for, and your own interests. You can also develop a series of questions to guide your next search for resources. Some sample questions for this topic might be:
How has virtual reality been used in entertainment, education, and training?
How is interaction in virtual reality different from and similar to interaction in the physical world?
How is AI used in the programming of games and other virtual reality spaces?
As virtual reality becomes more sophisticated and as morepeople play online, real-time games, what at the potential benefits and drawbacks to society and human relationships?
There are many search engines: Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, Dogpile - each offers advantages and disadvantages.
All sites you choose from your results page should be evaluated.
Library Resources
The library offers all kinds of resources that they buy and for which they contract. These sources are more stable and more reliable, but you still need to evaluate the content (again, see http://libresos.pbwiki.com/Evaluation).
Once you have a general overview, you can start searching in more depth. Since this is a current topic, you could look for current newspaper and popular articles.
Online Articles, Book Chapters, etc.
These are parts of journals and parts of books and you search them in indexes. Most indexes we use today are online in the form of databases.
click on “A-Z List of Databases” (left navigation bar)
If you know which database you want, click on it in the list.
NOTE:If you don't know the database you want, you can check the “description” by clicking on that word next to any database on the list.
If you need suggestions on specific subjects, click “Subject Guide to Resources and Databases” at the top of the list of databases, then pick the discipline that fits your subject. Our list is aligned with the departments and programs on campus.
ProQuest Newspapers
This is a very current database. You can even read articles from today's newspapers if you type in today's date.
With a current topic like AI and virtual gaming, it could be a good source to get information. You may get fact or opinion or both.
Since you have two topics that you want to put together, you might want to consider the "advanced" search tab. This will allow you to put in more than one subject at a time. When you get to the "advanced" screen, it's helpful to know two things:
When you enter "artificial intelligence" in a single line, the system assumes that this is a single string of characters where the space between the words is just another character. As a result, it places those words next to each other. This is called adjacency.
You will see a drop down menu box with the word AND in it. When you open it up, you will find other options there. These are called Boolean operators. The ones you'll use most are AND, OR, and AND NOT.
AND gives you fewer results
OR gives you more results
AND NOT excludes terms
If you get confused between AND and OR, just remember the phrase "OR is MORE."
As you want "artificial" and "intelligence" next to each other, you put them in the same line, not in separate lines.
In the next box, you enter "gaming" which requires that both the phrase "artificial intelligence" and the word "gaming" must appear in the article.
they are in "reverse chronological" order, that is the most current one is first and they are listed back to the oldest one
they cover a variety of topics, such as business, technology, career choice, etc. so this is an opportunity to consider an "angle" for your paper
to help you with that, there are subject headings offered to you by the database, so you could click on one of those to refine your search and focus on one aspect only
In order to keep the search relatively simple, you don't have to use the other drop down menu, which lets you choose where you want the search to occur. If you leave it as is, you will limit the search to the "citation and abstract." Later, if you get nothing useful, you can choose the broader "citation and document text," but for now, you can just hit the Search button.
You get a list of results. You can look at a few of these articles and see what you have. Be sure you note more clues. Some samples from a search conducted on April 28, 2008 revealed these examples:
NOTE: The links to articles in this wiki will only work for CSUEB faculty, students, and staff. From off-campus, CSUEB community members will also have to authenticate.
Anonymous.Virginian - Pilot. Norfolk, Va.: Feb 18, 2008. p. D.3
This applies to a specific set of games and their popularity, which could lead to a psychological or sociological angle to your paper. What makes players like one game over another?
If you make a decision about your "angle" at this point, you can click the appropriate subject heading and get a new set of search results to review.
Lexis-Nexis
This is another newspaper service, so you'll find some articles are the same while some are different.
In this database, you enter your search phrase, but you also need to pay attention to where your search will be conducted. The default setting is "Major U.S. and world publications." You can also make other selections, e.g., blogs. Blogs will give you opinion, but there might be good material to use on this topic as blogging about gaming in particular is popular.
You also have to pay attention to the date. This is a current, rapidly changing topic, so you want current material. The default is "Previous two years," but if you get too many results, you may want to narrow that down. You'll also note that when you get results, there's a query provided to you by the database:
The system is questioning the word "gaming" and while you have over 200 results (too many, probably), you might want to use truncation. This is a way of using the root of your word to get "game, gaming, games" and other forms of the word.
While you may have too many results, some of which will repeat what was in ProQuest, you might want to increase your results through truncation, but limit them by date. so you refine your search as follows:
You enter the terms "artificial intelligence gam*"
You narrow your date range to "Previous month"
You still have a large enough set of results, but it's small enough to be manageable. Examples of what you find include:
This discusses a different view from a researcher in artificial intelligence, a professor at Stanford.
Once you have exhausted those options, you can search databases that carry more substantive articles.
Searching Databases
We are going to search a general database: Academic Search Premier.
The platform is EBSCOHost
There's a difference between a database and a platform.
A database is content.
A platform is the system through which the content is delivered, like the floor of a room.
Academic Search Premier
In this database, you want to use the same strategy as you used before. You want to enter "artificial intelligence" on one line and "gam*" on the other. Since you get 400 results, you will want to narrow those options. One option is to use the "Limit your results" feature. To be sure you limit enough, you can use more than one limiter, e.g.
"Published date" (January 2007 to December 2008)
"Scholarly (Peer-reviewed) journals" to see only peer-reviewed articles which can be more complex, but give you more in-depth information.
You get a manageable set of results.
You can read the titles and, if you click on the title, see the abstracts. An abstract is a summary of a text, scientific article, document, speech, etc., giving the essence of the content.
If you find an article you like, you can do the following with it:
Click on "Find more like this" on the abstract page to see if you can get similar articles
Click on one of the "subject terms" on the abstract page for the same purpose
Look at an attached full text PDF or HTML document, if one is provided
Click on "Check SFX for more information" from the abstract page or the results list to see if the full text is in some other database
Email formatted citation information and full text to yourself
To see how this works, you can click on the fifth screen of the results list and look at the abstract page for Virtual Immortality for Virtual Eternity.By: Tucker, Patrick. Futurist, Jul/Aug2007, Vol. 41 Issue 4, p12-12, 1p, 1 illustration; (AN 25310559)
To see how SFX works, you can scroll down on that same screen and click on "Check SFX for more information" for AddAdded
Knowledge acquisition for adaptive game AIBy: Ponsen, Marc; Spronck, Pieter; Muñoz-Avila, Héctor; Aha, David W.. Science of Computer Programming, Jun2007, Vol. 67 Issue 1, p59-75, 17p; DOI: 10.1016/j.scico.2007.01.006; (AN 25333351). You'll see that you are redirected to Science Direct to see the full text of the article.
Once you have your research from various sources you've read AND EVALUATED, you should have enough information to create a working outline and thesis. You can use your working outline to guide your search for additional resources. As you read and evaluate those resources, you may need to revise your outline and thesis.
Sample Working Outline
Although you'll need to do more research, the articles you have found and evaluated to this point should give you enough information to create a working outline and thesis. You can use your working outline to guide your search for additional resources. As you read and evaluate those resources, you may need to revise your outline and thesis.
I. Introduction
A. Growth of online, real-time games like World of Warcraft/changing nature of video games in recent years
B. Note that "gaming" is more than just entertainment now. It's used in space programs, medical training, music, industry, education, etc. (can cite examples from above articles)
B. Working thesis:
As video games become more sophisticated through their use of AI technology and more pervasive as a form of entertainment and other purposes, people should carefully analyze and evaluate the expanding and varied ways that AI-assisted games are being used and could be used in the future.
II. Body
A. AI: brief historical overview from Turing to the present
B. AI: comparison to human intelligence
C. AI in gaming
1. Early uses
2. Current uses
3. Projected uses
D. Rise in video game play
E. Development of game-like, AI-assisted software (sometimes referred to as “serious games”) for non-entertainment purposes
1. Historical research
2. Medical research
3. Civilian pilot training
4. Military urban warfare training
5. Military recruitment
6. Other educational training
F. Cost/benefit analysis of “serious games” and related technology
1. Documented and potential benefits (e.g., resources easily shared across time/space, supports collaborative work, powerful and effective tool, etc.)
2. Documented and potential costs (e.g., isolation from real human contact, blurring of virtual and physical reality, manipulation of individuals or groups by other people through AI-assisted technology, losing control of the technology, etc.)
3. Need to develop context-specific criteria for evaluating the uses of “serious games” and other AI-assisted technology
III. Conclusion
Option 1: caution against the uncritical acceptance of new technologies
Option 2: assess the "intelligence" level of AI and where it is in its development
Option 3: emphasize how these experiments with gaming and AI lead to positive developments in various disciplines
e.g. space programs, medical treatment, music, industry, etc.
Maybe you want to explore a broader concept from this outline. You could do that through a book.
Searching the catalog - another form of database
For example, you might want to explore "artificial intelligence" and/or "gaming" in the library catalog, particularly for your historical section.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.