RESEARCH PAPER: EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS
Your final paper will be a 5-6 page paper that presents an argument based on scholarly research via the school's library on one of the following two topics. Note that each has a slightly different minimum expectations for types of sources.
OPTION 1: EDUCATION PROBLEMS
One of the most basic concepts in college-level writing is arguing that a specific outcome has a specific cause. For better or for worse, a great deal of social, political, and even scientific writing consists of individuals or groups attempting to persuade others that specific actions cause specific effects, usually as part of a larger effort to convince others to do something to either support or prevent a specific outcome by addressing the root cause. Such arguments are almost always the impetus for shifts in educational policies.
In 5-6 pages, each of you will need to identify a cause and effect relationship in education that you think is either a problem that must be changed OR that is currently not taking place but should. Your argument should accomplish the following:
- Identify a specific effect created by a clearly identified cause.
- Argue that the effect is either good or bad (for the individual student, for the institution, for the students as a whole, for society).
- Suggest what the audience should do in regards to the cause to either support the good created or to reduce the harmful effect.
- Offer concrete evidence to support the cause/effect claim being made.
Notice that this paper requires you to move away from the personal and start to be slightly more public and academic in your presentation. You may still focus on local-level or school-specific issues, but if you focus on social elements or sports, you should address them as policy decisions (or policies that need to be made), not as purely personal narratives.
In order to offer the level of concrete detail I expect in this paper, you will need to do research to support your claim. You will need a minimum of five sources in your paper, and these sources must be actively used: one tokenistic reference to a source just to flesh out your works cited page will not be enough. I expect to see each of the following on your works cited:
- A book (it can be a physical book or an ebook)
- An academic web site
- An article from an academic journal
- A web site produced by an advocacy group or a professional organization
- An article found via the Lexis-Nexis database
Remember that you will need to cite paraphrased facts and ideas, and each direct quotation should have a signal phrase, the quoted material, a parenthetical citation, and a works cited entry. More importantly, keep in mind that your goal is to synthesize the material rather than just summarize it. The information should be presented to support your suggested solution.
OPTION 2: HISTORY WILL TEACH US NOTHING
Identify a particular historical event or figure that was presented to you in a history class that has been sanitized through the process of herofication as defined by Lowen in Lies My Teacher Told Me. Argue that the historical figure or event has been sanitized by presenting additional information about the figure to flesh out the details you feel are missing. Argue either why you think the event or figure was sanitized OR how you think seeing a more complete picture of this figure or event will help people today understand a specific problem or attitude that people must deal with right now.
In order to offer the level of concrete detail I expect in this paper, you will need to do research to support your claim. You will need a minimum of five sources in your paper, and these sources must be actively used: one tokenistic reference to a source just to flesh out your works cited page will not be enough. I expect to see each of the following on your works cited:
- A book (it can be a physical book or an ebook)
- An academic web site
- Two articles from an academic journal
- A web site produced by an advocacy group or a professional organization