Implementation Problem-Based Learning

Individual Research Project
College Writing II

Assignment Description: You are to do research in your major about a topic related to your discipline. For example, a math education major might want to research how problem-based learning (PBL) can be implemented into a secondary math classroom. A nursing major might want to research burnout in ICU nurses. You should start with a general topic and research question you’re interested in exploring. As you learn more about it through your sources, you may refine that research question that you will answer in an 11to 13-page paper (this will include your title page, abstract, and references and include primary and secondary research). In addition to reading sources published on your topic, you will conduct your own primary research (an interview, survey, or observation), so you will need to choose a topic that allows you to do so.

Research and Writing Process:

1. Choose a topic that relates particularly to your discipline and one that interests you. Your topic, should not be too broad, technical, or trivial to be addressed in a paper of just 11 pages.
2. Once you have a general direction, begin selecting, evaluating, and reading sources to narrow your topic and then create a research question. You should spend a minimum of 5 hours in preliminary reading to find and read secondary sources.
3. Develop a working Annotated Bibliography of 10 sources (see guidelines for all source requirements). The majority of your sources should be scholarly, peer-reviewed articles, but you may use up to four credible websites (organizations, education, government). No Wikipedia or popular sources.
4. Take detailed notes on your sources and begin determining what sections and subsections to include in the review of literature section of your paper.
5. Plan and conduct limited primary research: interview professionals, observe, or survey appropriate people. You want to find information that will help you answer your research question. Choose among these methods or a combination.
    Find experts or authorities to interview. NOTE: An expert is someone who knows firsthand about the topic, whether a student, relative, or professional. For example, an education major may interview teachers.
    Limited observation. Go observe in public places using a checklist of key points. For example, while observing in fast food restaurants, count the number of children who are eating healthy options of fruits or vegetables (e.g. fits a paper on childhood obesity or need for healthier diets). Or observe TV programs targeting children for incidents of violence for a paper on the effects of TV violence. You would need to gather data from several observation sessions (3-4 times) to report trustworthy findings.
    Conduct a survey to gather first-hand information. For example, one might survey students in our class about campus racial attitudes or other campus issues, or one might survey teachers in the area as to the value of collaborative learning. Surveys for this project must be limited to individuals you already know or would have to be approved by the ONU research board (IRB).
6. Analyze your field study findings put them into a table/figure to display your data.
7. Write the field study report, which will later be included in your research paper.
8. Draft a preliminary thesis and APA heading outline to guide your writing. NOTE: Your thesis answers the research question you posed. The outline points will become APA headings in the paper: use 2 levels of headings.
9. Develop a first draft and submit it for peer review.
10. Revise a final draft for APA conventions in grammar, usage, and citations.

Required Sections for the Research Paper:
 Abstract: The abstract is a summary written after the paper is completed and provides a brief restatement of your major findings (no more than 120 words).
 Introduction: In this section you introduce the topic and the purpose of your paper along with your thesis.
 Review of Literature: In this section you should answer your research question with your secondary sources—what have you learned from the existing research on your topic? This section should be divided into sections using APA headings. Your voice should control the discussion, not the sources, but you must cite all source material accurately in APA format. You may also use properly integrated and documented tables/figures to clarify or illustrate your findings.
 Methodology: In this section, describe how you collected primary data (survey, interview, or observation) on your topic. Address details like how many people you surveyed, when and how you conducted your survey, and the nature of the questions you asked. Be as specific as possible.
 Conclusion: In the final section of the paper, summarize your findings and then draw conclusions in a fresh way. Your conclusion may address several appropriate/reasonable conclusions, may include your own conclusions in light of research, may suggest further research, may include recommendations/implications, may include a call to action, etc. Avoid making recommendations or drawing conclusions beyond the scope of your research.
 Reference Page: Use APA format to cite all of the sources you used in the paper.

Guidelines
• Your paper must be fully documented, with both in-text citations and a reference page. Any source mentioned in the paper should be included in the reference list; any source you consulted but did NOT use should be omitted from the final reference page.
• Your paper should be written in a style that is neither too formal nor too conversational (no slang). The pronoun “I” is acceptable only when describing your methodology). Third person is appropriate for research papers (e.g. most students consider college writing important to their careers). No second person for general information (e.g. sometimes you (children/people) think the world is crazy).
• Your paper should be written in clear, concise English, and must be free from grammatical, punctuation mistakes, and spelling errors to earn a good grade.
• APA papers include headings and a running header. Follow the appropriate heading format for two levels (headings should be main points and subpoints of your paper).
• The paper should be 11-13 pages double-spaced—the paper itself must be a minimum of 8 complete pages. You will include a title page, abstract, and reference page(s).
• All papers will be submitted to TurnItIn, a plagiarism check program.