Final Project (30 pts): Students will create a researched-based paper (or video) with annotated bibliography, research summary, and inquiry narrative that describes a ta topic related to your field of study that you are passionate about. Students are expected to complete a critical analysis of the topic and are expected to use research from sources such as books, research journals, and historical documents (and cite accordingly). The purpose of this assignment is to provide participants with a fundamental understanding of research analysis and comprehension (reading, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, writing, oral communication, and information literacy ETS).
The project building process will start with the following steps:
Step One: Topic Proposal, Tentative Argument, and Research Questions
In this space you will write about a topic related to your field of study that you are passionate about. You will then develop a tentative argument on the topic. This is tentative because it is expected that your views will evolve through the research and revision process. Next, you will make a list of questions surrounding the topic of your choice that you may decide to research. Your questions should not be yes/no questions, nor questions that may be answered with just one word. To help you focus your topic, please *bold* one question you’ve asked that you find most compelling or worth looking into. Remember the 5 W’s + How if you are stuck. An example:
• Why did my brother develop depression?
• What are the causes? Nature or nurture, or both?
• What are the myths?
• When or at what point in history did depression become a legitimate disease?
• Where does depression affect people the most? The least?
• Who is at risk for depression? Who is to blame (if anyone)?
• What are the best treatments or preventions?
In this submission area, I want you to give me a brief introduction to your topic. I have attached two word documents with guided questions and writing tips to help you.
For full credit for this submission, the topic and research questions submission must include:
Includes a topic and tentative argument on the topic.
Includes a list of research questions surrounding the research topic
Describes why this topic is relevant to the student’s major or academic/professional career.
Topic and Research Question Examples:
• Finance majors might address the economic crisis, America’s nearly 20 trillion dollar debt, economic inequalities, or diverging economic theories or political policies.
• Students in the medical fields may explore the health care debate, functional vs. western medicine, or the controversy surrounding vaccinations and autism.
• Vet tech majors might research endangered species and its effect on biodiversity, breed-specific legislation, or loose laws regarding animal abuse.
• Criminal justice majors might look into gun control, stop and frisk, racial tensions between police and community, hyper-criminalization and/or incarceration of young black men, etc.
• Cyber security majors might want to address the privacy/security dilemma.
•Music majors may take on debates regarding piracy, ethics in sampling, purism, etc.
Remember, these are just examples! You may want to do some preliminary research regarding issues pertinent to your field.
When choosing your topic, it is okay to not already know EVERYTHING about it. The idea is that you begin with what you think, research, and refine your observations and feelings into sophisticated, evidenced argumentation. You should do your best to include aspects of all the ETS. For example, you should analyze and interpret quantitative data. You can use numbers in a variety of ways to help define a problem, to see alternative points of view, to speculate about causes and effects, and to create your evidence-based arguments. One way to do this is by referencing tables or graphs.
Also, treat this project as something you may want to share with prospective graduate programs, future employers, professional colleagues, or the general public.
