Research is both process and product oriented. To that end, your grade in this course will depend in part on how well you do during the process, and in part on how well your final product turns out.
As you progress over the course of your research project, you will complete a series of products leading up to the final paper. Each of these will be graded on a competency basis. That means that if you do a satisfactory job on the assignment, you get full credit. If you don't satisfactorily complete the assignment, you don't get credit until you do. With many of the assignments I can be a little flexible with due dates. Turning them in a day late is usually not a problem. That said I won’t accept any assignment after the subsequent assignment is due. Additionally, the last three assignments won't be accepted after the due date. We spend only one class giving the short oral presentations. If you miss that day, you can't make it up later. If you don't submit the paper draft on time, there won't be time in the semester for you to adequately revise the paper on the basis of my feedback. I fully expect each of you will satisfactorily complete all the research assignments (and thus earn full credit) by the end of the semester.
Final Note: The number one reason why students fail this course every semester is their failure to keep up with the research assignments. Enough said!
The research assignments include:
1. Tentative Statement of the Research Topic
3. Written Statement of the Research Question
4. Research Abstract of a Published Article
5. First Critical Review of a Published Article
6. Second Critical Review of a Published Article
7. Theoretical Model in Graphical Form
10. Short Oral Presentation of Proposal
11. Draft Research Paper
12. Oral Presentation of the Research