2011-2012 COLLEGE TECH PREP CAPSTONE PROJECT

All South-Western Career Academy college tech prep students will complete a research paper, extension project, and a presentation that demonstrates senior English competencies. The written project will center on a research topic that is connected to their lab.

Parameters

*Beneficial to industry, community, or family.

*School appropriate.

*Demonstrates cross-curricular work with at least one other area.

*An area of personal interest or curiosity.

*Lends itself to research and a 10-15 minute presentation before a panel of judges in April-May 2012.

*A Capstone Portfolio for the judging panel. See page 17.

*Written in Standard English/3^rd person (he, she, they)

*A minimum of 6 sources, no more than two of the same kind of sources including an interview, (See page 3).

Components

*Project proposal

*English/Lab Check-Off sheet

*3 Preliminary readings with summaries

*Evidence of research (50 note cards or other option)

*10 Open-ended interview questions

*1 Interview from an “expert” in the field who is over 21 years of age

*2 Edited drafts attached to final copy

*Research paper – final draft (5 pages) see rubric for standards (Required for

Presentation) 12 font, Times New Roman, double spaced

*10-15 minute formal presentation

*PowerPoint/technology presentation – see rubric for standards

*Self-Reflection paper (1 page)

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*Students will create a project proposal and submit it to the English and Lab teachers for approval/adjustments. Only papers relating to the student’s approved topic will be accepted. Topics must be lab related.

*Duplicate topics will be allowed, but all work must be independent and original.

*Students will be required to keep their English/Lab Capstone Check-Off sheet to ensure deadlines are met for both English and Lab requirements. This sheet is worth points in both classes.

*Students will be required to be prepared to work in English class daily, as well as use personal time to complete their projects.

*Students submitting plagiarized work will receive a zero for the paper, be required to submit a new paper, and disciplined for academic misconduct.

*All components are required before presentation. If the student does not present, the product extension will not be graded.

*Students receiving an averaged score of 88% or better on the paper, extension, and presentation will be exempt from the English 2^nd Semester Final.

*Passing English by 5^th grading period to be exempt.

*No more than 9 days absent.

*If the student is absent the day the research paper, presentation, or extension is due, the student HAS to have an EXCUSED absence slip in order to turn in material or present AND it is due the NEXT time the student is in school. For example, if the student has 1^st period English and is absent, the paper is due when the student comes to school either tardy that day or the next day the student attends school. If the student’s absence is UNEXCUSED, the student will receive a ZERO for the part of the project that was due the day of the absence.

To ascertain second semester lab exam requirements, you will need to speak with your lab teacher(s).

LOCATING RELIABLE SOURCES

You will be required to have at least six (6) sources for your Capstone Project. You may have more than six, but six is the minimum. No more than two sources can be the same kind of source unless you have more than six sources total. Keep in mind that you will also have to have one interview from an “expert” in your field of research.

Primary Sources: A first-hand experience, an eye-witness account, an original idea, or an original piece of work such as a diary.

Secondary Sources: An interpretation, retelling, or analysis of a primary source such as a journalist reporting about an auto accident.

Tertiary Sources: are publications, such as research journals, encyclopedias, that sum up other secondary sources, and sometimes primary sources. (Wikipedia itself is a tertiary source.) Some tertiary sources are more reliable than others, and within any given tertiary source, some articles may be more reliable than others. (Source: Wikipedia)

Does your research fit this criterion:

*Is the research current?

*Is the publish date within the last five years?

*Can this research become obsolete because the topic is constantly changing?

*Is the material biased?

*Does it represent more than one opinion?

*Is this a reputable author, source, organization?

*Is it a primary, secondary, or tertiary source?

Finding Reliable Internet Sources

The Internet is a great resource, but it is also a public forum, where anyone can make a claim or an assertion. If you find an article that provides relevant information for your research topic, you should take care to investigate the source to make sure it is valid and reliable.

It is your responsibility as a researcher to find and use the trustworthy sources. There are several ways to investigate your source.

Author

In most cases, you should stay away from Internet information that doesn't list an author. While the information you find may be true, it is more difficult to validate information if you don't know the credentials of the author.

If the author is named, you will want to find his/her web page to:

· Verify educational credits

· Discover if the writer is either published in a scholarly journal

· Verify that the writer is employed by a research institution or university

URL

If the information is linked to an organization, try to determine the reliability of the sponsoring organization. One tip is the url ending. If the site name ends with .edu, it is most likely an educational institution. Even so, you should be

aware of political bias.

If a site ends in .gov, it is most likely a reliable government web site. Government sites are usually good sources for statistics and objective reports.

Sites that end in .org are usually non-profit organizations. They can be very good sources or very poor sources, so you'll have to take care to research their possible agendas or political biases, if they exist.

For instance, collegeboard.org is the organization that provides the SAT and other tests. You can find valuable information, statistics, and advice on that site. PBS.org is a non-profit organization that provides educational public broadcasts. It provides a wealth of quality articles on its site.

Other sites with the .org ending are advocacy groups that are highly political in nature. White it is entirely possible to find reliable information from a site like this, as always, you should be mindful of the political slant and acknowledge this in your work.

Online Journals and Magazines

A reputable journal or magazine should contain a bibliography for every article. The list of sources within that bibliography should be pretty extensive, and it should include scholarly, non-Internet sources.

Check for statistics and data within the article to back up the claims made by the author. Does the writer provide evidence to back up his statements?

News Sources

Every television and print news source has a web site. To some extent, you can rely on the most trusted news sources, but you should not rely on them exclusively. After all, network and cable news stations are involved in entertainment. Think of them as a stepping stone to more reliable sources.

(http://homeworktips.about.com/od/researchandreference/a/internet.htm)

Name: _____________________________ Class: _________ Date: __________

Notes that provide background information about my topic:

(Be sure to provide page numbers of direct quotes from books or magazines)

MY RESEARCH TOPIC IS:

________________________________________________________________________

These notes are from: Circle One: A Book A Magazine A Web site

Title:__________________________________________________________________

Article Title (for magazine or web site only): _______________________________________________________________________

Author: ________________________________________________________________

Copyright Date OR if web site, date you used web site: ________________________

Publisher of book OR Sponsor of web site: __________________________________

Place of Publication OR web site address: ___________________________________

Summarize in a few sentences what you learned from this reading. Explain how it may connect to your topic of interest.

NOTES:________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

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NOTES CONTINUED: ________________________________________________________________________