Senior Capstone Project: Guide
Research
Topic Brainstorm -
Community Problem Solvers
"Real community problems are likely to be complex."
Can't Think of a Problem to Solve?
Rather than aim for a complete problem list, here are some criteria you may consider when identifying community problems:
- The problem occurs too frequently (frequency)
- The problem has lasted for a while (duration)
- The problem affects many people (scope, or range)
- The problem is disrupting to personal or community life, and possibly intense (severity)
- The problem deprives people of legal or moral rights (equity)
- The issue is perceived as a problem (perception)
[From: Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. ]
| Local Community | Global Community |
|---|---|
| Subject Guide to Tennessee Legislation |
7 Real-World Issues That Can Allow Students To Tackle Big Challenges |
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Tennessee Education Tennessee School Vouchers - https://tn.chalkbeat.org/2022/9/19/23362053/school-voucher-tennessee-memphis-nashville-lawsuit-arguments Tennessee Charter Schools - https://apnews.com/article/education-michigan-tennessee-nashville-school-boards-f186007e024fb3fdacc03b0310817381 Tennessee Book bans and legislation - https://tn.chalkbeat.org/2022/9/1/23331530/school-library-law-stresses-teachers-classroom-books Tennessee Climate, Environment, and Sustainability
Local Committees and Services Town Mayor - Ronnie Lokey Vice Mayor - Betsy Wheeler Town Recorder - Janet Robinson
Food Insecurity –
https://www.wgnsradio.com/section/39/volunteer-of-the-week |
Projects that kids and teens have worked on that made a difference.Marley Dias [1000 Black Girl Books] - https://www.marleydias.com/ Amina Anekwe [#EndPeriodPoverty campaign] - https://grassrootscommunityfoundation.org/supergirl-amina-news/
Global Energy Costs/ Crisis Possible solutions for European energy crisis - Fundraising for solar power kits for the poor in Germany and Ukraine
Global Warming |
Community Research
Emerging Voices: Find Your Voice, Use your Voice!
Examine a specific, preferably local or community-related, issue
Develop a practical, viable solution for addressing the issue in order to create change within the community.
Questions to ask
- How do I define community?
- What communities do I belong to?
- What are the needs of my community?
The Webb School encourages you not to be a spectator. The Emerging Voices program urges students to find their voices. So, let’s take a hand in the game and use our voices to affect change.
Your goal in the senior research project is to identify a specific problem within a community and argue for a potential solution for that problem.
The problem must be sufficiently significant to warrant the attention of a given community. However, it should also be addressable -- at least in some small part -- in the scope of this project.
See here and here for recent examples of young people doing exactly this kind of work. Granted, the scale of these projects is probably a bit larger than we might accomplish this quarter, but they should serve as inspiration.
Be inventive and seek original solutions to real-world problems. Your ability to solve problems, big and small, will be immensely valuable at the personal, academic, and professional level. So, too, will your ability to construct effective proposals such as the one we’ll be writing this quarter.
25 Ideas for doing Community or local Research
“Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. ” [Driscoll & Brizee]
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Interview an Expert or Professional face to face
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Interview an Expert or Professional via phone, Skype, OR email
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Visit a Museum
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Tour a Factory or Business
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Volunteer at an organization
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Attend a meeting or service [church, brotherhood, fraternity, society, club]
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Shadow an expert [in person or online]
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Draw insight from an Internship or Externship
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Volunteer or attend a Camp or Retreat
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Attend a cultural festival [PowWow, Storytelling festival, African Street Festival, Nashville Greek Festival, etc.]
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Participate in an event [charity or community]
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Curation - Creating a collection of resources [physical or online]
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Following Twitter Feeds or Blogs - journaling your impressions
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Starting a Twitter Feed or blog about your topic
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Keeping a research journal
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Video Journal an experience
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Conduct an Experiment
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Test Computer Code
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Create an App to address a need
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Chart a Contrast/Comparison
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Creating an “Infographic” to include in your presentation
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Questionnaires to a small group of people
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Survey a group [survey must be approved by Teacher and Lead Adviser]
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Create a Statistical survey
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Opinion Poll within a group or organization
Articles
The Tennessean - Full-text articles from The Tennessean newspaper. Provides Nashville and Middle Tennessee regional coverage.
Tennessee Data Sources
US Data Sources
World Data Sources
- World Health Organization | Global Health Observatory The GHO data repository is WHO's gateway to health-related statistics for its 194 Member States. It provides access to over 1000 indicators on priority health topics including mortality and burden of diseases, the Millennium Development Goals (child nutrition, child health, maternal and reproductive health, immunization, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected diseases, water, and sanitation), non-communicable diseases and risk factors, epidemic-prone diseases, health systems, environmental health, violence and injuries, equity among others
Newspapers
See the Library Staff for print copies of the Shelbyville Times Gazette and Murfreesboro Daily News Journal
- The TennesseanThe Tennessean - Full-text articles from The Tennessean newspaper. Provides Nashville and Middle Tennessee regional coverage.
Topic Selection is Research
Choosing a topic is a process. Choose a topic that is neither too broad nor too narrow. Make sure that enough scholarly material is available on the topic. When was the last time you were listening to the television, news, or a speaker and you felt compelled to “fact check”? What Broad Discipline do you find most interesting? List 1-2 things that you think might be viable research topics.
For Task Definition or Topic Selection checkout
GALE Topic Finder and JSTOR Text Analyzer
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1970s Retro Literary Topic Starters
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AP and Current Affairs Starters
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- Narrow Your TopicProfessor J. Wilkie Monroe Community College
"Pre-search" or "Google it"
You will conduct “pre-search” to ensure that your topic is viable.
Make sure that enough scholarly material is available on the topic.
Type 10-20 Key Words to use in your pre-search
Here are some Tips for Google
Background Research [Lit Review]
Questions to ask and answer in your research:
To help avoid plagiarism the reading/research strategy of journalistic questioning is recommended. The "Gist" worksheet allows you to make notes on a book or article, and then put the source away and write from your notes. The strategy includes the 5Ws and H -- Who, What, When, Where, Why and How
Kick Start Questions for Background Research [Lit Review]
Summation of the source [focus on what is unique about the source] A brief evaluation statement(s) [is this a "scholarly" source or not] How the work is relevant to your research [How, specifically, do you intend to use the source (e.g. as evidence to support a claim, as a counter-argument, etc.)]
- GIST sheet Word version of the GIST sheet - WHAT - What is my paper about? What are the key points? WHY- Why am I writing about this? Why should anyone care? WHO - Who are the researchers in the field? Who am I writing about? WHERE - Where does the research take place? Is there a prominent location in the research? WHEN - When does the research take place? What dates are significant? HOW - How was the research conducted?
- Validity of Sources "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community"Consult pages 46-47
Last two pages
Subscription Databases
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window JSTOR provides access to the highest-quality academic journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences
- Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window Opposing Viewpoints in Context is an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues. Drawing on the acclaimed Greenhaven Press series, the solution features continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience
- Student Resources in Context This link opens in a new window Student Resources In Context offers cross-curricular content aligned to national and state curriculum standards and reinforces the development of skills such as critical thinking, problem solving,
Free Online Journals
Humanities |
STEM |
| JURN finds arts and humanities journals, book chapters, and theses. | Science Direct site has 250,000 open-access articles. |
| Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) searches more than 7,000 open-access journals, which are searchable at the article level. | Wiley free and open-access journals. |
| High Wire Press boasts that it provides “the largest archive of free full-text science on Earth!” Look for journals marked “free site.” | National Institutes of Health offers some of the most extensive access to health research. |
Writing and Sharing
Writing a Thesis Statement
- Writing Center at Harvard University -Developing a Thesis
- University of Iowa - Thesis statement
- The Writing Center at UNC Chapel Hill - Writing Thesis Statements
- Center for Writing Studies University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Thesis Tips
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MLA Google Docs templateMust be in Google Docs
Must be Labeled - Surname_2020 example - Smith_2020
MLA format with in-text citations and works cited
The Senior Research Paper
The paper and all drafts are to be written in the current MLA format with in-text citation and an
alpha-order “Works Cited” page. You will receive rubrics and examples for all “deliverables.”
Research sources - 8 -10 scholarly sources are required for your final paper and presentation
Required formats include Books, Journal Articles, Scholarly Internet resources, Primary Research,
and visuals. The paper should be 8-10 pages.
Jump Start:
Write your paper with the presentation in mind.
Maybe even build your presentation slides to help organize and outline the paper.
Things to include in the Presentation:
- · Introduction
- · Background Research
- · Primary Research Methods
- · Primary Research Findings
- · Conclusion
Introduction
How will you introduce the topic to the audience?
· Brief gripping story or anecdote
· Surprising, and highly significant facts or statistics
· Summary of a compelling case study
· Powerful quote that leads into your research
Background Research:
- WHO - Who are the researchers in the field? Who am I writing about?
- WHERE - Where does the research take place? Is there a prominent location or institution in the research?
- WHAT - What are the relevant studies? What is the state of the art today?
- WHEN - When does the research take place? What dates are significant?
- HOW – How was the research conducted? How have others gone about trying to solve problems you want to tackle, and in what ways will your approach build on and vary from previous work?
Primary Research
Primary Research Methodology:
Write about how you conducted research - Methodology [Primary Research - Survey, Interview, Test, Experiment, Case Study, Contrast/Comparison, Project Journal, and Internship]
Primary Research Findings:
Data to include - Findings/Data/Results
[Explanation of your results can include the use of Tables, Photos, and Maps]
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Using Google Drive With Your Gale Resources to download works cited. Also, download saved articles with annotations and highlights
Presentation Tips
Things to include in the Presentation:
- · Introduction
- · Background Research
- · Primary Research Methods
- · Primary Research Findings
- · Conclusion
Introduction
How will you introduce the topic to the audience?
· Brief gripping story or anecdote
· Surprising, and highly significant facts or statistics
· Summary of a compelling case study
· Powerful quote that leads into your research
Background Research:
- WHO - Who are the researchers in the field? Who am I writing about?
- WHERE - Where does the research take place? Is there a prominent location or institution in the research?
- WHAT - What are the relevant studies? What is the state of the art today?
- WHEN - When does the research take place? What dates are significant?
- HOW – How was the research conducted? How have others gone about trying to solve problems you want to tackle, and in what ways will your approach build on and vary from previous work?
Primary Research
Primary Research Methodology:
Write about how you conducted research - Methodology [Primary Research - Survey, Interview, Test, Experiment, Case Study, Contrast/Comparison, Project Journal, and Internship]
Primary Research Findings:
Data to include - Findings/Data/Results
[Explanation of your results can include the use of Tables, Photos, and Maps]
Mrs. Little's Google Slides Presentation
Before Public Speaking Ted Talk playlist
Free Google Slides Backgrounds
Get Ideas from these Google Slides Templates
