Final Research Project Outline | Instructions and Guidelines

For those doing a research project

You are encouraged to submit an outline for your final research project. Please clearly indicate whether you are doing the research project or the self-reflection research project. Notice that the outlines are slightly different. Feedback will be provided in a first-come, first-served basis. If needed, a zoom conversation will be scheduled to provide further guidance. This activity is not graded.

For those doing a research project, the outline must include at least:

1. The research question or research statement
2. At least one relevant academic source

For those who choose to do a self-reflection research project, the outline must include:

1. A description of the “aha” moment(s)
2. Explain the substantial change in values and beliefs that has taken place
3. Describe an idea of the direction the self-reflection project can take. In other words, you have identify an important change in yourself, thus, what is next? What do you want to learn about the change that has occur? What questions do you have? The answer to these questions will guide your self-reflection research project.
4. Include at least one relevant academic source

Furthering my Learning

There are two options for the final project. One is a research project and the other is a selfreflection project.

The Research Project

The research project aims to further learning about a concept, topic or issue discussed in the course. The research should be informed by the concepts, themes, and issues discussed throughout the course. In this project, students should demonstrate a capacity to formulate and carry out a small research project, to review and synthesize relevant literature and to present a thoughtful and informative research project. The final product is other than a paper. It can be an online poster, a video, a panflet, or a prezi, or something else.

Students are strongly encouraged to submit an outline of their research project. This is done for two reasons. First to ensure that the research topic is informed by and/or expands on a concept,topic or issue learned in class, and secondly, to receive feedback that can range from developing a focused research question to identifying relevant bibliography. Your research project must consult a minimum of three academic sources (e.g., journal articles, books, and published reports). Other non-academic sources, such as TED Talks, blogs, and Wikipedia can be used, but they will not count towards the requirement of having at least three academic sources to complete this research paper.

How to approach the assignment:

1. Identify the research topic. Choose a topic that is of interest to you and that you wish to learn more about it.
2. Formulate a research question or write a thesis statement. This will help to focus your inquiry.
3. Get background information. You may want to read about your topic. This should be useful to identify a research question and to focus the inquiry as well as to identify academic sources that are relevant to your inquiry.
4. Identify relevant academic sources. As you search for scholarly, academic works (e.g., journal articles and book chapters) on the topic, aim for two things: (a) to identify one or two key educational theorist(s), scholar(s), philosopher(s), practitioner(s) with relevant expertise on the research topic, and (b) to identify research conducted in the topic preferable in the Canadian context.
5. Critically organize and communicate information. This is the step in which you methodically examine, organize, and extract the useful information from the sources that you have gathered and determine how it will be used to present your research findings in an organized and coherent way.
6. Cite your work. Use in-text citations to back up your arguments. Include only information you cite in your paper in your reference page. Use APA or other citation style.