Senior Project Meeting Schedule

Fall 2024

Author

Affiliation

Justin Dainer-Best

Bard College

This is not a syllabus per se, but rather a plan for how we will work together during the semester. In planning for your work with me, you should refer to this schedule.

As opposed to a normal syllabus, your senior project work should primarily be governed by the Psychology Handbook and the College’s guidelines on senior project. As such, this schedule will primarily help us as a group to stay on-track, remind you of deadlines (also in the handbook!), and set a few ground rules.

Besides our normal meetings, I hold office hours on Mondays and Thursdays. You can make an appointment or email me to schedule something else.

Meetings

There are four “meeting types” in the schedule below.

• Group meetings: We will meet at a group on Thursdays at 10:30am in my office
• Individual meetings: We will hold individual meetings as scheduled. Generally, those of you in Group 1 (YV, ICG, OJ) will meet one week, and those in Group 2 (JBN, PL) will meet the following (or vice versa)
  • Group 1 meetings are as follows:
    • Mondays, 11–11:45am, YV
    • Mondays, 3–3:45pm, ICG
    • Thursdays, 9:45–10:30am, OJ
  • Group 2 meetings are as follows:
    • Wednesdays, 3–3:45pm, JBN
    • Wednesdays, 3:45–4:30pm, PL
• Email: You should email me the “required” writing by early in the week; I will provide feedback on a Google Doc. If you share writing by Tuesday at 5pm, I will also be available for questions during our group meeting time
• None: There is no meeting this week; you should plan to work on your own

In weeks when we do not meet as a group all together, and especially where you do not have an individual meeting scheduled, you may also “drop in” to our normal group meeting time to ask questions—i.e., you may view this time as senior project office hours.

Additionally, you may of course always email me with questions relating to your senior project. If you would like me to answer specific questions about writing, giving me a specific section is recommended.

Given the busy nature of the semester, it is unlikely that we will be able to reschedule meetings if you cannot attend (although you may ask).

Taking notes

Generally speaking, I prefer to work on a collaborative Google Doc with students completing their senior project. I recommend sharing a Google Drive folder with me which contains the following:

If you’d prefer to use another method, let’s discuss! I’m happy to work with you if you’d like to use Overleaf or typst, or maybe Quarto.

• A folder in which you will save articles relating to your project
• A google doc titled, e.g., “Dainer-Best Senior Project meeting notes” in which we will both take notes during our meetings
• A google doc in which you will begin taking notes on the project, brainstorm, outline, etc.

As you create new documents, save them in this folder. I recommend working consistently in the same documents, so that you can see old versions, as well as being able to refer to changes you’ve made.

Note

I strongly recommend beginning right away to use a citation manager. At minimum, keep track in a Google Doc of articles and books that you come across (at least a DOI, but preferably a full citation). Zotero is a good, free, and open-source citation manager and the Library has a guide for it. Importantly, knowing the rules of APA style will be necessary whichever manager you use. (I use a different manager, BibDesk, which I do not recommend if you are writing in Google Docs.)

If you don’t like Zotero, Wikipedia has an article on comparing reference management software.

Class policies

Attendance and participation

You should come to our meetings on-time. When we meet as a group, you should come even if you don’t have much to discuss. (You will benefit from others’ questions.)

Please be on-time and prepared to discuss your own project and progress.

However, do note: if you are not feeling well, please do not come to our meetings. If you have recently been ill, please wear a mask when you attend; masks are effective at reducing spread of many respiratory illnesses. I can also meet on Zoom for individual meetings.

Accommodations & Accessibility

Bard College is committed to providing equal access to all students. If you anticipate issues related to the format or requirements of this course, please contact me so that we can arrange to discuss. I would like us to discuss ways to ensure your full participation in the course. Together we can plan how best to support your learning and coordinate your accommodations. Students who have already been approved to receive academic accommodations through disability services should share their accommodation letter with me and make arrangements to meet as soon as possible.

If you have a learning difference or disability that may relate to your ability to fully participate in this class, but have not yet met with the Disability Support Coordinator at Bard, you can contact their office through https://www.bard.edu/accessibility/students/; the Coordinator will confidentially discuss the process to establish reasonable accommodations.

I am available for meetings online as well as those in person.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

It is important to me that the senior project provides an open and supportive learning environment for all students. It is my intent that students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives be able to benefit from any of my courses. I invite you to speak with me if you have concerns or questions regarding issues of belonging, safety, or equity in the classroom. I want our discussions to be respectful of all students. If I am not helping the classroom to feel like an inclusive environment, I invite you to provide me with [anonymous] feedback.

Plagiarism and Academic Integrity

I expect you to be familiar with what plagiarism is and is not. You may not present someone else’s work as your own without proper citation. Using AI-generated text is not a replacement for your own writing, and automated tools to edit grammar and spelling should be used sparingly. You may not copy someone else’s work. You may not simply reword text from another source without giving credit. Please cite others’ work where relevant, and use only your own writing. If you are not sure about the definition of plagiarism, or whether something constitutes plagiarism, please consult with me or with someone at Bard’s Learning Commons. Students caught plagiarizing will be reported to the Academic Judiciary Board and may fail the senior project.

I operate from the standpoint that you are doing your best to operate with integrity. Using text generators like chatGPT or Grammarly take away your ability to learn from the process of writing—especially with the senior project. Do your best to learn from the assignments in this class.

As a student completing their senior project, please also refer to the Psychology Program’s Handbook chapter on the senior project, specifically the section on academic integrity.

Schedule

This schedule is intended as a guideline for us to think about when we’ll be meeting. Work described as “due” should generally be shared as a Google Doc.

Week	Meeting type	Date	Topic	Due
1	Group	Sep 5	Group: Finding topics; identifying individual meeting times	Availability for the semester
2	Individual	Sep 12	Individual (all): topic for senior project	3–4 topics and thesis statements
3	None	Sep 19	No meeting	Senior project statement due 9/23; share a draft to me after review in SoCo
4	Group	Sep 26	Group: developing topic
5	Individual	Sep 30 / Oct 3	Individual (Group 1: YV, ICG, OJ): writing review	2 pages of writing or outline (Group 1)
6	Individual	Oct 9	Individual (Group 2: JBN, PL): writing review	2 pages of writing or outline (Group 2)
7	Group	Oct 17	Group: IRB discussion
8	Individual	Oct 21 / Oct 24	Individual (Group 1: YV, ICG, OJ): writing review	2 additional pages of writing (Group 1)
9	Individual	Oct 30	Individual (Group 2: JBN, PL): writing review	2 additional pages of writing (Group 2)
10	Group	Nov 7	Group: office hours
11	Email	Nov 14	Email: abstract
12	Email	Nov 21	Email: midway draft	Midway due 11/22 to Program; share a draft of 10+ pages by Tuesday
13	None	Nov 28	(Thanksgiving: no meetings)
14	None	Dec 5	(Boards: no meetings)
15	Group	Dec 12	Group: Plans for winter break