AGENDA “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” ~Carl Sagan 1/7/13 -Next Week’s Assignments -Choosing a Topic

Good research topics should be:  Manageable  Narrow enough  Argumentative/Analytical  Not persuasive, not a report  Relevant  Connected to your project  Fun!  Something you actually want to put this much time and effort into learning about!

Does this topic pass the MARF test? Project: Volunteering at a local homeless shelter Paper: Indentifying the leading causes of homelessness

Does this topic pass the MARF test?  Project: reading to the elderly at a retirement home  Paper: Figuring out the best funding method for the future of Social Security

Does this topic pass the MARF test?  Project: Coaching a youth softball team  Paper: Researching the benefits and drawbacks to Title IX legislation at the college level

Research Skills Check Info  Some areas of most concern from yesterday’s skill check survey were:  Narrowing down a topic  Writing research questions  Solution? Research Log and Topic Proposal next week

Research Log  Fill this out completely and thoughtfully in order to move onto the next step  Okay to start broad, but it needs to narrow down as you get towards the end  Okay to start specific, and to get more specific  Find a good source? Make sure you have the info you need to revisit it later!

Research Log Entry Example a. Search Terms (what did you type into the search box?): Dementia b. Name of the article/website you “clicked” on: Dementia Types, Stages, Causes, Symptoms, Treatments c. Who is the author/organization behind the website/article?: WebMD

Example continued d. Jot down some notes about what you learned from this website/article: definition- “loss of mental functions […] that is severe enough to interfere with a person’s daily functioning”, 50+ known causes of it, Alzheimer's is a type of dementia (50- 60% of cases), as many as ½ all people over 80 develop it e. How did this website/article help you narrow your topic? What ELSE has it lead you to check out? What questions has it generated for you? I want to learn more about the less known causes of dementia. It gave me good background info, and gave me a couple names of other dementia related diseases to check out. It mentions nutrition-does a specific diet affect rates?  Possible next step?  a. Search Terms (what did you type into the search box?): Dementia and nutrition

Topic Proposal Expectations  Typed up, with proper MLA heading (start practicing now!)  Complete sentences with specific detail  Impeccably edited  Ask me to read it on your screen for approval  Needs to be accepted by the end of class on Friday  Remember, your Research Log needs to be acceptable before you move onto the Topic Proposal. Don’t wait too long!

 What is your topic? What made this topic interesting to you?  This is about your reasons for wanting to research this topic. Why is it “Fun” for you and how is it “Related” (MARF!) to your project?  What makes this topic worth researching?  This is why others should care about your topic-how could understanding this topic help or impact others? Topic Proposal

Topic Proposal continued  List at least 5 research questions.  These should be things that can’t be answered with a simple Google search.  These would usually be “How” and “Why” questions, or bigger “What” questions  What do you expect to find with your research? Form a hypothesis.  SPECIFICS-make a guess, based on what you were discovering during your Research Log, about what you think your research will uncover  NOT “I expect to find the answers to my research questions.”

Topic Brainstorming  Start narrowing your topic (make a web of possible directions you could take)  Chat with neighbors and me about ideas to try to get down to your top 2-3 paths