GEN103 Annotated Bibliography - Research Topic and Question Worksheet Assignment

GEN103 Annotated Bibliography – Research Topic and Question Worksheet Assignment

Research Topic and Question Worksheet Assignment

Prior to beginning this assignment,

Read Module 1 in your course textbook.
Watch the GEN103 Annotated Bibliography (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and Picking Your Topic IS Research (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.videos.
Review the Week 5 Annotated Bibliography Example, and the 4 Easy Steps to Using the Ashford Library for Background Research, Possible Topics for Research, and How to Ask an Open-Ended Question handouts.
Download and review the Week 1 Research Topic and Question worksheet that you will complete and turn in for this assignment.

This week, you will develop a research question for your annotated bibliography:

Choose a research topic.
Explore your topic.
Write your research question.

Choose a Research Topic

Choose a research topic related to your program or major. This topic will be used for all five weeks so choose one that interests you and for which two scholarly articles, one e-book , and two non-scholarly sources are available. Review the Possible Topics for Research handout if you need ideas. It is recommended that you review the GEN103 Week 1 Assignment example.

Provide a two to three sentence explanation of the research topic and how it is related to your major on the Week 1 Research Topic and Question worksheet.

Explore your Topic

On the Week 1 Assignment worksheet, fill in the KWHL chart to explore the research topic. Be sure to carefully follow the instructions on the worksheet. The 4 Easy Steps to Using the Ashford Library for Background Research is a helpful resource at this point.

Write Your Research Question

Write the first draft of your research question in the table at the bottom of the Week 1 Assignment worksheet. Your research question will help you focus your research by defining the information you are looking for as you research your topic.

Your research question must be:

Open-ended (should begin with “how,” “why” or “what”)
Clear
Concise
Detailed

The How to Ask an Open-Ended Question handout can help you formulate an open-ended question.

Next, it is recommended you use Tutor.com to help you refine your question. If you use the service, ask your tutor to review your draft question with regard to the criteria in the table. Bring your draft research question to the Tutoring on Demand session. When you have completed the worksheet, save it to your computer and then submit it to Waypoint for grading.

To make sure your submission is as strong as it can be, use Grammarly (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to assist you in locating and correcting grammar and punctuation errors.

Week1ResearchTopicandQuestionworksheet.docx

Research Topic and Question Worksheet Assignment

Running head: RESEARCH TOPIC AND QUESTION 1

RESEARCH TOPIC AND QUESTION 5

Research Topic and Question

Student Name

GEN103: Information Literacy

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

Refer to Module 1.3 of your textbook as you complete this assignment.

In the box below, provide a 2-3 sentence description of your research topic and how it is related to your major. You may refer to the GEN103 Possible Topics for Research handout in the classroom for research topic ideas.

Important: “Prayer in school” is not an acceptable topic for your annotated bibliography because it is used for the assignment examples throughout this class.

Research Topic and its Relation to Your Major:

To help you explore your topic, fill in the KWHL chart below.

1. Write at least three specific thing you know about your topic in the first column, K (K = know).

2. Write at least three specific questions about your topic that you would like to know the answers to in the second column, W (W = what do I want to know).

3. Write at least three specific tools you might use to find out more about your topic in the third column, H (H = how do I find out).

4. At this point, you need to do background research before you can fill out the fourth column. Use the tools you wrote down in H to find out more about your topic. Focus on the questions you wrote in W:

a. When you do background research, it’s fine to do a Google search or to use Wikipedia or other encyclopedias or general reference works; you will not use these sources in your annotated bibliography.

b. The 4 Easy Steps to Using the Ashford Library for Background Research provides directions for using the references sources in the Ashford Library

5. After doing your background research, write at least three specific things you have learned about your topic in the fourth column, L (L = what have I learned).

You must have at least three distinct items listed in each column to get full credit for this portion of the assignment.

What do I know?

What do I want to know?

How do I find out?

What have I learned?

Now that you have done some simple background research, it’s time to write a formal research question. Your research question will help you focus your research by defining the information you are looking for as you research your topic for your annotated bibliography.

A quality formal research question must be:

· Open-ended (Review the How to Ask Open-Ended Questions handout)

· Clear

· Concise

· Detailed

Remember that research questions should generate the kind of research that is suitable for an academic paper. Avoid questions that:

· Are yes/no questions (Often begin with “are” or “do”.)

· Ask for number or date (Often begin with “how many” or “when”.)

· Ask for a list

· Ask for an opinion (Often begin with “what do you think”.)

· Can be answered with a brief explanation or by referring to a single source.

Tip: Open-ended questions usually start with “what,” “why” and “how.”

Develop a research question that will allow you room to investigate your topic. Some examples of successful research questions are:

What can we do in the United States to prevent acid rain?

How do oil spills impact the fishing and tourism businesses in affected areas?

What evidence shows that pesticides are significantly harming the bee population?

Why is the Clean Water Act an important law for the welfare of urban populations?

Type the first draft of your research question in the first row of the table below and fill in all of the shaded areas. Write your final, revised question in the last box.

Type the first draft of your research question in the box to the right.

Does the first draft ask a yes/no question?

If the answer is yes, you need to revise your research question.

yes/no

Does the first draft ask for a number, date, or a list?

If the answer is yes, you need to revise your research question.

yes/no

Does the first draft ask for an opinion?

If the answer is yes, you need to revise your research question.

yes/no

Can the first draft be answered with a brief explanation or by consulting a single source?

If the answer is yes, you need to revise your research question.

yes/no

Type the final version of your research question in the box to the right.

When you have completed this worksheet, save the document and submit to Waypoint. Research Topic and Question Worksheet Assignment