Write a research proposal and an outline for the topic

 
This page begins your research proposal and outline. Before you start typing, fix your format. The font should be 12. If you’re using MS Word 2007, go to Paragraph above; the alignment for all text should be left. Also in Paragraph, go to Line Spacing and click on “double,” and spacing before and after should be 0 pt. In Page Layout, check that the margins are “Normal,” which is 1 inch all around. Then start with the research proposal and review information from Week 4 Lecture. Put the following information here:
 
Topic: Put your topic here; it should have no more than 12 words and is the same as your position paper’s topic.
 
Research question: Put your one-sentence question here. The question repeats the topic and identifies the objective or your paper.
 
Working thesis statement: Put your one-sentence thesis statement here. It is a sentence containing the problem first, followed by the solution.
 
Research plan: Put the overview of where you plan to conduct your research; name some sites of databases you plan to use. Also, fill in the chart below with the dates for completion.
 
Timetable for Research Project Assignments
Assignment related to the research paper
Description of and points for the assignment:
Due date as indicated in course syllabus:
Exact Date and time in MST:
Research Proposal and Outline
Four part proposal and six part outline (60 pts).
Week 4 in Dropbox
 
Annotated Bibliography
List and summary of at least three sources (100 pts).
Week 5 in Dropbox
 
First Draft of Research Paper
Draft of first three sections of final paper, including introduction, thesis statement, and problem section (60 pts).
Week 6 in Dropbox
 
Second Draft of Research Paper
Draft of final three sections of final paper, including solution and call to action sections
Week Discussion topic 2
 
Research Paper Presentation
The format presentation of the entire paper (50 pts).
Week 7 in Dropbox
 
Final Research Paper
Entire paper addressing feedback on first two drafts. It must have all six sections and include a References page (150 pts).
Week 8 in Dropbox
 
 
 
 
            Next is the research outline. As indicated in the Lecture for Week 4, write down the sentences preceded by the Roman numeral that corresponds to the section.
 
I. Put your introduction or plan for introduction here. Then write down your working thesis statement, the same one from the research proposal above. Here is a sample: For the introduction, I plan to find a startling story of a high school honors student who had trouble graduating because he or she failed the state’s standardized tests. Then my working thesis statement is the following:  Standardized achievement tests should be abolished because they don’t accurately predict students’ performance and reduce schools to test-taking institutions; instead, schools could assess student learning more accurately though the use of portfolios and end-of-year subject tests.
 
II. Put the first reason from the problem part of your thesis statement and make it a complete sentence here. Here is a sample: II. First, standardized tests should be cut since they don’t accurately predict a student’s future performance.
 
III. Put the second reason from the problem part of your thesis statement and make it a complete sentence here. Here is a sample: III. Secondly, these tests should be abolished because they reduce schools to institutions for test takers.
 
IV. Put the first reason from the solution part of your thesis statement and make it a complete sentence here. Here is a sample: IV. One solution is that schools could assess student learning better by using portfolios.
 
V. Put the second reason from the solution part of your thesis statement and make it a complete sentence here. Here is a sample: V, Also, end-of-year subject tests assess student learning more accurately.
 
VI. Put your call to action sentence here. Here is a sample: VI. If we don’t act fast to replace standardized achievement tests, more and more students will fall through the cracks and drop out of school.
 
Before you turn in the paper, go to Review above and click on “Spelling