Assignment: Coordinated Projects
Assignment: Coordinated Projects
interested in addressing common questions. The stability and then the ascent of our profession depends on the establishment of common goals for research and a commitment on the part of the educator and the clinician to collaborate on research questions of interest to both. By including the appropriate basic science researchers the gap in the basic sciences on the part of both the educator and the clinician can be narrowed so that questions can be addressed as they relate to the human body and mind and its response to activity. We can no longer afford to destroy each other with words and lack of action. The profession must make a com-
mitment to action using a team collaborating for the outcome of producing internal knowledge for the benefit of our patients and societal knowledge for the benefit of mankind. We must develop the skill and accept the responsi- bility to critically analyze our work and not react defensively to criticism but realize that criticism will help the profession grow. We must recognize that too few of us have the skills or resources to do basic scientific research. However, it has
to be done if we are to attain a credible status with the public in the subject areas we do know—that of adaptation and integration. I predict that, through the experience of collaborative relationship with the basic scientist, many of us will develop the skills necessary not only to do the basic research ourselves, but also to teach these skills to others within our profession. I think we would then attract more students interested in a scientific discipline. We also would have greater strength as a profession in relating to other groups who are infringing on our territory because we would have a strong theory base for our service delivery. Our confidence would be strong knowing that we are the profession to deliver our services—this would be built into our images of ourselves as professionals. The issues from the practice arena and the issues from the education arena would all be given a tremendous boost and be closer to resolution if the credibility of our profession was housed in research methodologies that are strong. It is important for clinicians and educators to recognize the extreme pressures facing each group as each works to gain a stable position within the health system. Perhaps we can all feel that we are approaching the problems together. It is critical that we channel our energy away from conflict and into research. I believe funding for research would be forthcom ing from the government for coordinated projects that demonstrate a link with the basic sciences.
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
