Position Paper

Position Paper Resource Sheet

Each major/candidate is required to develop a position paper that focuses on a narrowly defined

educational issue related to teaching and learning and his/her specific discipline. Your issue should

afford you an opportunity to develop an elaborate discussion and argument linked to educational

psychology concepts and theories. Each major/candidate must strongly argue his/her stance on the

selected topic issue, and support his/her claim and its validity with at least five (5) scholarly sources

that should be referenced and cited in the paper. The paper should have a strong, argumentative

thesis that is: developed in a logical manner, consistent throughout the paper, and culminates in an

effective conclusion. The paper should consist of 6-8 pages not including the title, abstract and

reference pages and utilize APA writing format.

According to William C. Kashatus (2002) the following format should be utilized for an effective

position paper:

The introduction should clearly identify the issue and state your position. This introduction should be

brief, usually no more than a significant paragraph. However, make sure that you clearly articulate

what the purpose of the paper is, and what you intend to pose in your paper. The body of the position

paper will consist of several paragraphs. Each paragraph should present an idea or main concept that

clarifies a portion of the position statement and is supported by evidence or facts. Evidence can be

primary source quotations or statistical data. The evidence should be paired with inductive reasoning,

to support the main concept or idea presented in the paragraph. The body generally begins with some

form of background information and should incorporate a discussion of both sides of the issue. Do

not forget to incorporate primary sources to support your argument, NOT your personal experiences

and opinions. In addition, you should also address the other side of the issue; arguing against the

other side of the issue strengthens your own argument. The conclusion summarizes the main

concepts and ideas and reinforces your position; however, the conclusion should not simply repeat

the introduction or body of the paper. It should include suggested courses of action and possible

solutions. Effective position papers should add something new to the discourse while highlighting

existing literature.

The following are hyperlinks that provide excellent supportive information on properly constructing

a position paper:

http://www.arthes.com/composition/position.htm

http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~rmartin/teaching/spring06/cs553/position-assignment.html

http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/co301aman/pop8a1.cfm