Current Issues Research Project: Designing A Resource To Educate Your Audience

Expressing yourself through writing is a skill used both in college, as well as in the workplace. There are many ways to express ideas that are found through research, including projects, essays, brochures, informative posters, proposals, handouts, and flyers.

For this assignment you will create a project that focuses on a social concern (current issue) that is important to you. You will use your creative side to design a type of resource in order to persuade and/or inform an audience of the topic you have chosen. Some different kinds of resources you could choose to design include:

Other Can you think of any other ways you can express research findings, in written form, in order to educate an audience?

Within your created resource, your goal is to make sure that your reader (the audience) is informed and/or persuaded by the message you are trying to send.

1. Create a research project based on a current world issue, or an issue you feel passionate about.
2. Brainstorm and choose a subject that matters to you and that you would like to learn more about. (If you are having a difficult time figuring out a topic, you can view the list we created in our discussion board in week 8.)
3. Narrow the subject down into a manageable topic, develop a stance on the topic, and choose at least three sources that help to support your topic stance. Note: the articles need to be from credible sources, such as peer reviewed journals or other reliable sources.
4. Add photos to support some of your key points. Reference the photo unless you take the photos yourself.

Through this Current Issues Research project, you will build on your writing and reading skills, while incorporating academic integrity, research, and APA documentation skills. Some of the course objectives reached through this assignment include:

1. Organize information into clear and coherent messages;
2. Compose written, spoken and visual messages for diverse purposes and audiences;
3. Evaluate information for currency, reliability, authority and purpose;
4. Use credible sources to support ideas;
5. Show academic integrity by integrating a documentation system to acknowledge sources;
6. Revise messages to improve effectiveness;
7. Apply academic research and writing skills to written research projects.

Add a slogan, catchy phrase, question, or an effective quote to draw the reader in and grab their attention.

Add in paraphrased information from at least three credible sources in order to back up the points you are making.

Add clear detailed statements with regard to why this is an issue and who is affected by this issue.

Add a zinger in at the end of your project, which will leave the reader with something to think about. This could be a question, a quote, or information on how they can take action and advocate for the issue you are discussing.

Add visuals in order to support the information or points you are making about the current issue you are discussing.

Make sure that you add in-text citations for information from sources or photos that you have taken from other sources.

Add an APA (7th ed.) formatted reference list on a separate page to indicate where your source and visuals have come from.