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Examining Student Motivation

After reading Chapter 3, Examining Student Motivation, completely answer each question.

1. Explain flow theory and give an example of appropriate task difficulty.
2. Describe some strategies that you think might help you be successful in encouraging your
students to focus on task mastery.
3. Why do children’s levels of motivation seem to change as they become adolescents?
4. What teaching behaviors can you use to help your students feel connected in your class?

Technology in the classroom and social issues (Research Paper)

Focus on collecting articles, and dissertations about Technology in the classroom and social issues.

Compose a research question and subquestions, and design a plan for collecting and analyzing data for the research study using a particular methodology.

The goal of this assignment is to develop a draft of a full qualitative research proposal. The research proposal should be at least 15 pages (but not more than 25 pages), double-spaced, not including your title page, abstract, Appendix, and references page, and should contain the following sections:

A title page
Abstract
Rationale/Problem Statement: Explain your topic. Make a case for why this topic is important to you or your specialization area, etc. State your Research Problem.
Research Questions: Conclude your discussion of your research topic by identifying specific research question(s) and possibly sub-questions.
Literature Review: a minimum of four pages on 5-7 articles or edited book chapters, plus at least two dissertations: Your literature review should justify your study. Information should be drawn from appropriate sources, such as professional journals, books, and dissertations. Information gathered from literature sources must be appropriately cited, following APA guidelines. Provide a synthesized literature review on your topic making the case for why this study will add knowledge that will “fill a hole in the literature.”
Research Methodology: Describe what research methodology you are proposing to answer your research questions and why it is an appropriate method. In addition, include the following as a description of your research plan:
Participant Selection: If applicable, describe the site of the data collection. Explain who your participants will be and what method you will use to select them. Be as specific as possible as if you were giving directions to someone on how to choose and obtain the participants. Include instructions on how to get informed consent from the participants.
Data Collection: Discuss how you will collect the data (interviews, observations, documents, etc.). Tell what sort of questions you will ask (for interviews) or what you will look for (for observations) and why that will help you answer your research questions. Include the interview protocol (if applicable) including how to conduct interviews for your study and what questions will be asked in an Appendix.
Data Analysis: Provide a description of how you plan to code and/or analyze the data.
Methods of achieving validity: No research project is perfect. But how are you assuring that your study is as valid as possible?
Potential Ethical Problems: Could your participants be harmed by your research, either in carrying it out or affecting society after it is finished? Who are the audiences for your research, and do they have “objective” concerns for the practical implications and policy recommendations that you make? Address these and other possibly relevant questions of ethics.
Limitations: No research covers everything. What are the obvious limitations to your study? What will not be “proven” though your study?
References Page: The references page should be formatted according to APA style.
Appendix of your data collection protocol.

Content includes all elements of the Research Proposal as indicated in the instructions.

Content includes at least 15 pages, not including the Title page, Abstract, and References page.

Writing and Organization Criteria Total: 1

The central theme/purpose of the paper is clear.

The structure is clear, logical, and easy to follow.

The tone is appropriate to the content and assignment.

The thoughts are clear and include appropriate beginning, development, and conclusion.

Paragraph transitions are present, logical, and maintain the flow throughout the paper.

Sentences are complete, clear, and concise.

Sentences are well constructed, with consistently strong, varied sentences.

Sentence transitions are present and maintain the flow of thought.

Rules of grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed.

The paper uses words and language that are inclusive, clear, and unambiguous.

Spelling is correct.

The paper includes summary and analysis of appropriate resources.

Research Criteria Total: 3

The paper includes a summary and analysis or synthesis of at least 5-7 scholarly articles plus at least two dissertations.

Professional/scholarly journals are peer reviewed and focus on the profession/application of psychology (located on Proquest, EBSCOHost, PsycNET, etc.). Non-scholarly articles include newspapers, periodicals, secular magazines, etc, and are not peer reviewed. Websites not approved include wilkipedia.com and about.com.

Research focuses on the most current information (past five to ten years) except when citing seminal works (e.g. Freud, Erickson, etc.).

Paper includes the appropriate number of references required by the assignment.

Style Criteria Total: 1

The paper is in the appropriate APA format used by the institution/program (e.g. the 6th edition).

The paper is double-spaced and in the appropriate length required by the assignment

The paper includes an APA style cover page.

The paper includes an Abstract that is formatted to support the appropriate version of APA Publication Manual (e.g. 6th edition).

The paper properly uses headings, font styles, and white space as outlined in the appropriate version of APA Publication Manual (e.g. 6th edition).

The paper includes an introductory paragraph with a succinct thesis statement.

The paper addresses the topic of the paper with critical thought.

The paper concludes with a restatement of the thesis and a conclusion paragraph.

Citations of original works within the body of the paper follow the appropriate version of APA Publication Manual (e.g. 6th edition) guidelines.

The paper includes a References Page that is completed according to the appropriate version of APA Publication Manual (e.g. 6th edition).

Annotated Bibliography in Geography Topic

Project Overview: For this project, you’ll choose a food or drink item, a cuisine, an invention, or an idea, and then research how four geographic concepts are related to and affect your topic. Instead of presenting your research as a traditional paper, you’ll use PowerPoint to create a narrated presentation. Your presentation will be structured like a paper, including a title, introduction to the topic, main body, summary and conclusions, and references. Creative use of properly cited graphics and photos from the Internet relevant to your topic is required.

First, choose a food item, cuisine, invention, or idea that interests you. Some will have more information available about them than others, so it’s worth doing some investigation before you settle on one. If you’re not sure if your desired topic is appropriate, please feel free to ask!

Once you have selected your topic, you will then do research to see how each of the following geographic concepts affects or is related to your topic:

1. Regions
 2. Cultural Landscape
 3. Diffusion
 4. Distance decay. 

The first two concepts are covered in the first chapter of your textbook. Diffusion is covered in Chapter 8, Section 2 (page 484). Distance decay refers to the fact that influence and interaction between locations decreases as the distance between them increases. As such, it has a significant influence on how things change as they diffuse away from their point of origin. Be sure to address these specific geographic terms and concepts in your work. You don’t need to address them in this order, but you do need to address all of them. You may use “subsets” of these definitions (e.g. contagious diffusion) if such subsets exist. Be sure to refer to your text and other reliable resources to ensure you completely understand these concepts. You should be detailed in your treatment of these concepts – for instance, you should explain both how and why your choice varies by region, and how and why it has been affected by distance decay. Remember that geography, as an academic discipline, seeks to explain why things vary from place to place, not just describe how they do.

You will complete this project in 3 separate assignments: an annotated bibliography, an outline, and your final presentation. In this assignment, you will complete your annotated bibliography. Completing the project in separate assignments allows you to work your way up to the final presentation, and provides opportunity for feedback along the way.

Assignment Objective: Assess sources for your research for your final presentation (for credibility, reliability, and relevance) and list references in proper APA format through the creation of an annotated bibliography.

Assignment Instructions: An annotation is a summary and evaluation, and your annotated bibliography will include a summary and evaluation of some of the sources (or references) you will use for your presentation.

To prepare for this assignment, I recommend that you do the following:

Read these directions carefully.
Review the sample annotated bibliography provided to you below.
Read the grading criteria below.The grading criteria is a detailed evaluation that I will use to assess your performance. It also will help you understand what is expected you as you prepare your assignment.

The reason the annotated bibliography is included as part of the research project is that writing an annotated bibliography provides excellent preparation for the final presentation. One of the issues regarding any type of research is the credibility of the sources used, particularly those obtained from various websites. By forcing you to evaluate your potential sources carefully, the annotated bibliography helps you determine if the sources you chose are credible and relevant to your topic. It will also help you understand the topic better, which will help you develop your presentation.

For this project, you will assess three sources to include:

1) a complete citation for each source,

2) a summary of each source, and

3) an evaluation of each source.

Three sources are required for this assignment (i.e., you are to write an annotation for each source). However, you must use five or more sources in your final presentation.

Use the TEMPLATE below to summarize and evaluate each of your three sources.

Citation:

Written in APA reference list format. For more help with formatting, see APA handout.

Summary:

What is the purpose of the source, review article, original research? What topics are covered? This section is generally 3-5 sentences that summarize the author’s main point. For more help, see this link on paraphrasing sources.

Evaluation:

After summarizing the article (or research paper or book), it is necessary to evaluate it and state where you found it – its source (e.g.,journal, website, etc.). Briefly answer the following questions in 3-5 sentences:

What is the format or type of source (e.g., peer-reviewed journal paper, website, book)? How reliable is the information in the article, and how credible is the source (e.g., website’s sponsoring organization, journal or book publisher) and the author(s)?