Introduction
The first part, and perhaps the most important part, of doing a quality research project is coming up with a great topic. This year in Encounters, you will be responsible for researching a problem that affects our community. Once your have researched the problem, you will need to come up with a solution and a way that YOU can have a positive impact upon the problem. Before you can begin your research, however, you must come up with a topic that you are interested in, and you must come up with a question that will guide your research.
Task
During this webquest, you will have the opportunity to explore a number of problems, both social and scientific, that impact our community. Your job will be to choose a topic that interests you and that is relevent. You will also begin the process of narrowing your topic to one that is researchable by coming up with a guiding question.
Finally, you will begin to think about ways that YOU can have a positive impact on solving the problem you are researching.
Process
1. You may or may not already have a topic for your Challenge of the Mind research in mind. Browse the following websites for some ideas of relevent social and scientific issues. Keep in mind that some of the topics on the websites you will browse may not be appropriate to present at Challenge of the Mind because the audience will include children in elementary school. Before you begin your research, Mr. Simms and I will need to approve your chosen topic.
http://lib.guides.umd.edu/content.php?pid=289162&sid=2391804
http://www.questia.com/library/sociology-and-anthropology/social-issues
2. Read the attached article which discusses several issues facing the Houston area at this time. http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Challenges-facing-the-city-of-Houston-5073189.php
3. Next, watch the short video on how to narrow down your research topic: http://goo.gl/og1i1Z
4. Finally, click here http://goo.gl/t6KVtb to access the Topic Selection Template. Your grade will be based on the completion of this template.
5. Watch this video from Mr. Simms on how to copy the template and submit your completed research proposal: http://goo.gl/4LFGmT
5. Submit your research proposal by clicking here: http://goo.gl/KrqO75
Evaluation
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EXCELLENT- 90-100 |
GOOD- 80-89 |
SATISFACTORY- 70-79 |
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT- 60-69 |
UNSATISFACTORY- <60 |
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SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE |
Students will make reference, in their research proposal, to four or more pieces of information about their proposed topic. |
Students will make reference, in their research proposal, to three pieces of information about their proposed topic. |
Students will make reference, in their research proposal, to two pieces of information about their proposed topic. |
Students will make reference, in their research proposal, to one pieces of information about their proposed topic. |
Students demonstrate little knowledge about their proposed topic. |
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ORGANIZATION and MECHANICS |
Research proposal is complete, answers all questions, and uses proper grammar. |
Research proposal is complete and answers all questions, but may contain minor spelling and/or grammatical errors. |
Research proposal is complete and answers all questions, but contains a few spelling and grammatical errors. However, these errors are not severe enough to inhibit reading. |
Research proposal is mostly complete, but contains a few spelling and grammatical errors that make it difficult to follow. |
Research proposal may be incomplete and/ or contains significant spelling and grammatical errors that make it difficult to follow. |
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CONNECTION WITH "IMPACT" THEME |
Students clearly choose a research topic that is relevent to the community and propose a way that they can have a positive impact on the solution. |
Students choose a research topic that has some connection to the community and propose a way that they can have a positive impact on the solution. |
Students choose a research topic that ihas some relevance to the community but the proposed solution may be somewhat vague. |
Students choose a research topic that is weakly connected to the community and may not propose a way that they can have a positive impact on the solution.
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Students choose a research topic that is not relevant to the community and does not propose a way that they can have a positive impact on the solution. |
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COMPLETENESS |
Student will show that they have extensively researched the website and that they have done the activities and put forth thought into the selection of their research topic. |
Student will show that they have sufficiently researched the website and have put some thought into the selection of their research topic |
Student will show that they have somewhat researched the website and have put some thought into the selection of their research topic
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Students willl show that they did the bare minimum of research on the paper and show very little thought in the selction of their research topic. |
Students will show that they did very little research and show no originality of thought in the selection of their research topic.
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Conclusion
Now that you have chosen a topic for your research project, it will be time to begin the real work of finding information and creating solutions to the problem you have identified. But first, take a moment to reflect on the difference that ONE person can make in the world. After all, that is really what Encounters is about.