# POLISCI 158 Final Project Package

This folder has everything you need to plan and carry out your final project:

- **one overview** of what the project is and how it is graded;
- **seven short workflows**, one for each stage of the project;
- **four supporting docs**: AI use and disclosure, peer review, rubrics, and a proposal template (with the work-sharing contract for partners).

Start with `polisci158-00-project-overview.md`.

## What's inside

| File | Use it when | Feeds into |
|---|---|---|
| `polisci158-00-project-overview.md` | Start of the quarter | Everything |
| `workflows/polisci158-01-question-and-motivation.md` | Weeks 1–3: you have a topic, not yet a question | Proposal |
| `workflows/polisci158-02-scope-and-feasibility.md` | Week 3: before you submit the proposal | Proposal (Oct 11) |
| `workflows/polisci158-03-choosing-your-design.md` | Weeks 3–5: deciding what kind of project this is; example projects | Proposal, implementation |
| `workflows/polisci158-04-sources-and-evidence.md` | Weeks 3–8: finding literature, data, and evidence | Implementation, final |
| `workflows/polisci158-05-building-and-documenting.md` | Weeks 5–8: doing the work | Implementation (Nov 15) |
| `workflows/polisci158-06-final-presentation.md` | Before Nov 30 / Dec 2 | Final presentation |
| `workflows/polisci158-07-final-submission.md` | Weeks 9–10 and finals week | Final submission |
| `docs/polisci158-ai-use-and-disclosure.md` | Every submission | AI-use note |
| `docs/polisci158-peer-review-guide.md` | Each of the three peer reviews | Peer reviews 1–3 |
| `docs/polisci158-rubrics.md` | Before each graded component | All graded components |
| `docs/polisci158-proposal-template.md` | Week 3: writing the proposal | Proposal (Oct 11), work-sharing contract |

## How each workflow is built

Every workflow has the same parts:

1. **Goal**: what this stage is for.
2. **You produce**: the concrete output to take to the next stage.
3. **Steps**, each tagged by who does it:
   - **You**: work you do yourself.
   - **With AI**: back-and-forth with your AI tool, with a ready-made prompt at that step.
   - **You decide**: the choices that are yours to make, often after an AI step.
4. **Check before moving on**: a short self-test.
5. **Common traps**.

**The workflows are a suggestion, not a requirement.** They show one good way through each stage. If a different order, or a different mix of your own work and AI, fits your project better, work out your own. You can even hand this guide to your AI tool and ask it to make a version that follows your own project plan, in the same format.

## Using these files with your AI tool

These files are written so you can **hand them to an AI model** (whichever frontier model you have through Stanford, or the Stanford AI Playground).

1. Open a new chat for each stage.
2. Paste in, or attach, the workflow file for that stage and your own work so far.
3. At each **With AI** step, paste that step's prompt.
4. Work through it with the AI. Make the decisions yourself.
5. Keep a copy of the chat. You'll need it for your AI-use note.

**What the AI does in these prompts.** It questions you, suggests options for you to choose from, and can draft working material: code, analyses, results memos, summaries of your work sessions. **The text you submit is yours.** All written assignments must be in your own words and reflect your own understanding, and substantive AI use must be disclosed. See `docs/polisci158-ai-use-and-disclosure.md` for the exact rules.