English

A2: Research Log 2: Expanding the Conversation 5% of Total Course Grade | Unit 2: Academic Inquiry and Research

Due: October 2 at 11:59pm via Canvas

Background: The Research Logs are both a tool for researchers to track and synthesize research, as well as an important part of the inquiry and research process. Each Research Log will follow the conversation model, which reflects the natural inquiry and research process that most professional and academic researchers follow:

● Log 1: Listening to the Conversation ● Log 2: Expanding the Conversation

Log 2 Purpose: The purpose of Research Log 2 is to start asking new questions about your focused, specific issue you settled on after the first Research Log. During this phase of the research process, you will seek multiple perspectives to try to understand a variety of perspectives, learn what has and has not worked in the past to solve the problem, or what complicates the answers to your inquiry question.

● Your end goal will be to discover the perspectives of a variety of stakeholders through the many questions you will ask. By the end of Log 2 you should feel you’ve heard from many different and sometimes opposing points of view and have worked to understand those perspectives

Audience: Your primary audience will be your CO150 peers and yourself. I will be your secondary audience.

Genre: The Research Portfolio is an academic tool and will therefore include specific academic expectations for research, including MLA citations, synthesis, and summary.

Requirements: Sources for Research Log 2 should help you understand the opinions, concerns, or beliefs of the various people and groups involved in your focused, specific issue. Therefore, some purely informative articles may not work well for this assignment. Hold on to those informative sources, however, as they may be helpful later. For this second log, you will need to have at least two scholarly sources.

Submit one document that includes the following:

● Citation: An MLA citation of the source ● Rhetorical Précis: This is a specific, 4-sentence summary of your source. Please see

instructions on Canvas for how to do this. ● Repeat for each of your three sources

When you are finished with all three citations and their rhetorical précis, complete the Source Discussion at the end of the document, including:

● A 250-300 word discussion, with use of author tags, of your findings thus far. Include the following in your writing:

o What stakeholder perspectives have you learned about so far? What stake do these people/groups have in this issue? Who is missing from the conversation?

o Where do you see overlap in opinions/concerns/values between these stakeholders? In other words, what common ground do you see among the perspectives you've gathered? Do you share any common ground with these people?

o Where do the perspectives differ? In other words, what differences are there between opinions, concerns, or what the groups have at stake with this issue? How do you differ in perspective from these groups?

o What questions do you have about any of the stakeholders’ points of view? What would you like to learn more about from these groups?

Include the CSU Honor Pledge at the end of the document: “I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance on my writing project.”

Rubric Excellent Satisfactory Needs Improvement

Source 1 Includes a correct MLA citation of the source. Includes a correct rhetorical précis of the source.

MLA citation may have a few errors in need of correction. Rhetorical précis may have a few errors in need of correction.

Citation may be a link only or something other than MLA. Rhetorical précis may be written as a regular summary.

Source 2 Includes a correct MLA citation of the source. Includes a correct rhetorical précis of the source.

MLA citation may have a few errors in need of correction. Rhetorical précis may have a few errors in need of correction.

Citation may be a link only or something other than MLA. Rhetorical précis may be written as a regular summary.

Source 3 Includes a correct MLA citation of the source. Includes a correct rhetorical précis of the source.

MLA citation may have a few errors in need of correction. Rhetorical précis may have a few errors in need of correction.

Citation may be a link only or something other than MLA. Rhetorical précis may be written as a regular summary.

Source Variety & Relevance

Sources seek a variety of perspectives and include at least two scholarly sources. Sources seek to answer a focused research question. Sources are credible, current, and relevant.

Sources may need more variety in either type or perspective. Sources may not meet requirements. Sources may need more focus around the research question. Some sources may not be credible, current, or relevant.

Sources may focus on one perspective only or may only use popular sources (when scholarly is necessary). Most sources may lack credibility, currency, or relevance.

Source Discussion

Discussion is 250-300 words and answers each of the questions in depth and with care. Researcher demonstrates a strong understanding of the conversation, uses author tags to reference source, and is aware of what is missing from the conversation to warrant further research.

Discussion may not meet requirements, not address all of the questions, or may not be developed fully. Author tags may be vague or missing. Researcher may demonstrate some misunderstanding of the conversation or what further research is needed.

Discussion may not address the questions or may demonstrate a misunderstanding of the purpose of the assignment.