GEOG 101: Human Geographies: People, Space and Change – Winter 2022
Instructor: E. O’Connell

Final Paper Guidelines
Due Date:
Assignment is due Sun. Apr. 3rd at 11:59pm. Assignments should be submitted to the ‘Final
Paper’ dropbox on LEARN. See the Late Policy section below for further information.
Assignment Overview:
The final paper provides an opportunity for students to connect course concepts and ideas to
real-world case studies and examples. These types of connection activities allow students to
demonstrate their understanding of key human geography concepts, connect ideas, and
consider the real-life implications of topics covered in the course.
The assignment involves finding news stories and web articles that connect to key concepts,
topics, and ideas covered in the second half of the course (see below). News articles and
stories should not include the exact same information or content as covered in any case
studies during lectures (i.e., pick a new case study or example!). News articles can also be
used to connect to more than one lecture (i.e., you can use the same article to connect to
multiple lectures, if applicable) or you can find a separate news article for each lecture. You
can also use web stories or other related case studies from relevant and reputable
organizations. When selecting news articles, be sure to select articles that have sufficient
information to make relevant, specific, and detailed connections.
The Final Paper assignment should have a section focusing on 5 out of 6 of the following
topics/lectures (lectures grouped together can be considered one topic), meaning there
should be five sections overall:
• L14 & L15: Geography of Health and Disease
• L16 & L17: Development Geography
• L18: Disasters
• L19: Economic Geography
• L20 & L21: Urban Geography
• L22 & L23: Political Geography
For each lecture (or each group of two lectures), include the following:
1. A summary of the key points and ideas from the lectures. This should not read as a
table of contents of what was covered in the lecture, but instead include an explanation
of key concepts and ideas. The idea is to demonstrate your understanding of the
lecture content by providing an explanation of the ideas, concepts, and topics covered.
2. A summary/description of the news article (one short paragraph) including a url link to
the news article (ensure that this is a working link prior to submitting assignment).
3. An explanation of the connections between the lecture content and the news article
(try to make at least 2 – 3 clear connections)
4. A brief description of the ways in which the article and concepts are related to justice
and sustainability.
GEOG 101: Human Geographies: People, Space and Change – Winter 2022
Instructor: E. O’Connell
General Guidelines:
General length expectations: approx. 6 – 7 pages single-spaced. Your assignment may be
shorter or longer, although note that shorter assignments will be double-checked for
completeness and quality, whereas longer assignments will be double-checked for
repetitiveness and unnecessary information.
- Assignments can be completed individually or in groups of 2 or 3 students.
- Font size: approx. 11- or 12-point font
- Margins: approx. 1-inch margins
There is no need to include an introduction or conclusion. However, ensure that you organize
the information appropriately, and demonstrate flow and progression of arguments/points.
Citing Guidelines:
Students should cite the articles included in the assignment using APA citation style.
Lecture content should also be cited for this assignment – please see the instructions
below for the appropriate formatting for citing lectures.
Students are expected to source/cite all materials, information, ideas, and data taken from
any sources using APA citation formatting. This includes information used from the textbook,
lectures, assigned readings, and any additional sources used to inform the assignment.
Information that is paraphrased should include a citation in the author, date format (O’Connell,
2022). Information that “is quoted directly should be written in quotation marks and cited with
the author, date, page/paragraph number format” (O’Connell, 2022, p. 17). Direct quotations
should be used whenever five or more words in a row are copied directly; you may use
terminology related to concepts and processes without needing to quote directly (e.g., the
term phenological mismatch does not need to be in quotation marks). A references section
should be included at the end of each assignment, with full bibliographic information for all
sources listed in alphabetical order. Note that only sources cited in-text should be included in
the references section. Hanging indents are usually used for the references section.
Lecture content can be cited using the following template:
O’Connell, E. (2022, Jan 12). Environmental Value Systems [PowerPoint Slides]. Lecture
notes from ENVS 195, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Waterloo,
Canada.
When citing lectures in-text, you can just cite the title of the lecture: (Environmental Value
Systems, 2022).
For more details and information on citing using the APA citation style, please see the ‘APA
Citation Guide’ provided by the University of Waterloo: https://uwaterloo.ca/writing-and-
communication-centre/resources-apa-style-citation
Or the APA citation guide provided by Purdue University:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guid
e/general_format.html
GEOG 101: Human Geographies: People, Space and Change – Winter 2022
Instructor: E. O’Connell
Late Policy:
Assignments should be submitted by the due dates outlined in the course schedule (also see
deadlines noted for each dropbox). However, considering the exceptional circumstances we
all find ourselves in, a three-day grace period will be applied for this assignment. This means
that you can submit any assignment up to three days late without explanation or penalty. To
encourage students to submit on time, a bonus mark will be applied based on the following
submission dates:
• Submitted prior to April 3 due date at 11:59pm: 3% bonus added to assignment grade
• Submitted on April 4 up to 11:59pm: 2% bonus added to assignment grade
• Submitted on April 5 up to 11:59pm: 1% bonus added to assignment grade
• Submitted on April 6 up to 11:59pm: no bonus and no late deduction
Assignments submitted on April 7 onwards will have a late deduction applied at the rate of
10% per day off the assignment grade.
NOTE: There is no need to email the instructor or TA to have this grace period applied – you
can simply submit your assignment at any point within the grace period without penalty.
Assignments will not be accepted for grading after the grading has been completed and
feedback made available for students.
In some cases, concessions may be made for exceptional circumstances. Note that for any
exception, students will need to demonstrate (with documentation) why they were unable to
complete the work prior to the original deadline, as well as the during the grace period. For
this reason, you should treat the specific deadline as the ‘actual’ deadline and only use the
grace period if needed. Exceptional circumstances may include:
• Valid medical reason such as illness or accident (appropriate proof such as a Doctor’s
note is required);
• Personal or family emergency (with suitable proof where possible); and
• Other valid reasons beyond the control of the student (to be approved on a case-by-
case basis at the discretion of the instructor).
NOTE: If you know in advance that you will not be able to meet a particular deadline for any
reason, please contact the instructor to see if alternative arrangements can be accepted.

GEOG 101: Human Geographies: People, Space and Change – Winter 2022
Instructor: E. O’Connell
Assignment Grading Scheme:
CONTENT: 75 marks (5 x 15 each = 75)
L14 & L15: Geography of Health and Disease (if selected)
- Concise yet clearly explained overview of the lectures (5 marks)
- Concise yet clear overview of the news article connected to (2
marks)
- High-level, detailed, and thoughtful connection between news article
and concepts covered in the lecture (6 marks), demonstrating:
o Clear understanding of course concepts and material
covered during the lecture.
o Higher-level connections between lecture content and news
article, where possible.
- Connection to sustainability and justice (2 marks)
15 marks
L16 & L17: Development Geography (if selected)
- Same as above
15 marks
L18: Disasters (if selected)
- Same as above
15 marks
L19: Economic Geography (if selected)
- Same as above
15 marks
L20 & L21: Urban Geography (if selected)
- Same as above
15 marks
L22 & L23: Political Geography (if selected)
- Same as above
15 marks
ARTICLES, WRITING AND GRAMMAR: 25 marks
- Appropriateness of news article selections 10 marks
- Clear, concise sentence structure (includes phrasing and length
of sentences)
- Internal cohesion of paragraphs
- Grammar and spelling
10 marks
- Effective and appropriate academic tone
- Overall organization and structure
5 marks

Note: no marks will be applied for the correct use of citations and bibliography using APA.
However, deductions will be taken off the final assignment grade if material is not cited
according to the guidelines provided in the course outline. A lack of citations and proper
referencing will result in up to 10 marks taken off the final grade on the assignment.