All requirements are in the attachment

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Humanities

Basic Information:

This assignment involves drafting an annotated bibliography in proper bibliographic format, discussing at least three (3) academic sources. This assignment should be double-spaced, with 1-inch margins, in a standard 12-point font.

Your goal in this assignment is to simulate the first stages of a university research project. Our theme for this assignment will be ‘higher education’ itself. You are asked to do academic research, using scholarly sources, on any one of the following topics:

Sex on University Campuses

Gender Dynamics in Higher Education

Learning Styles

Study Habits

Diversity and Inclusion on Campus

Students and Part-Time Work

First-Generation Students

Campus Responses to Sexual Violence

Note-Taking Strategies

Role of Computers and Devices in University

Plagiarism Outside of the University

Active Reading

Post-Graduation Employment

Health and Nutrition in Students

Time Management Strategies

Privilege and Disparity in Student Finances

Teaching Styles

Higher Education Trends in a Country

Online Learning in Higher Education

For-Profit Universities

Student Debt and Outcomes

Proposals for Making Higher Education Free

Mature Students

Ability and Disability on Campus

Skills-Based Education

Introversion and Extroversion

What Employers Are Seeking

What People Do with Social Sciences Degrees

Distraction in the Classroom

Or: Other (In Consultation with Instructor)

In order to conduct research on any of the above topics, you can include evidence from:

  • Research in Canada, the U.S.A., or any other country in the world
  • Research on colleges, universities, or any other form of higher education

Some tips:

  • You are free and encouraged to identify a specific sub-topic and make it your focus
  • Choose your topic early enough that you have time to switch if you cannot find sources.

Assignment Components:

This assignment has two elements: an introduction and an annotated bibliography.

One: Introduction

Compose an introductory section for your assignment of approximately 400 to 600 words. Writing a strong opening section for a research paper is a crucial skill. While your research will not make you an instant expert on your topic, you should have enough knowledge to compose an introductory paragraph that ties your research sources together.

Main Goals:

  • Your introductory paragraph should:
    • introduce your topic; and
    • introduce a bit of contextual information about your topic.
    • draw on, and properly cite, at least one source.

Citation Formatting:

  • Whenever you draw on a research source (e.g. a book, article, etc.) in your academic writing, you should add a citation giving credit to the source.
  • You can choose draw on (and cite) one or more of three main research sources you’re using to meet the requirements of your annotated bibliography.
  • If you include information in your introductory paragraph from an additional source, you should cite it properly, and add an extra entry into your annotated bibliography on top of your 3 main entries.
  • Your citations should be in-text citations, in APA format, using author-date citations in brackets, as outlined in our course resources.
  • Avoid the use of first-person language in your introductory paragraph draft. While it is conceivably possible to use the words ‘I’, ‘me’, and ‘my’ in a professional way, this assignment is designed to challenge you to find other more sophisticated ways to express your ideas. Also avoid ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘your’, ‘you’, etc.
  • Aim for a fairly formal and analytic tone. Avoid informal or conversational language in your introductory paragraph.
  • Try to use proper ‘source integration’ skills in your writing. For example, be sure that all borrowed phrasing or wording is put in quotation marks with a citation indicating the page number on which the wording can be found.
  • Make sure that your assertions are specific, grounded, and reasonable. Avoid over-generalizing, exaggerating, and/or sensationalizing.
  • For this exercise, at least three (3) of your research resources must be academic journal articles and/or academic books, and/or chapters in academic books, rather than websites, newspapers, or magazine articles.
  • As always, any sources you cite in your work should be added to your bibliography – in this case with annotations added.
  • Government reports and reports by universities may be used and cited, but will count as non-academic for the purposes of this assignment.
  • Each of your annotations should be a short paragraph of approximately 100-200 words that briefly explains what the research resource is about, and then, more importantly, explains why each research resource helps understand your topic.
  • You may use bullet-points to visually separate your annotation paragraphs from your bibliographic citations, but each source’s annotation should be written as a standard paragraph of full sentences rather than in fragments or in point-form.
  • Style tip: Instead of writing: “This article talks about…”, try writing this way: “In this article, Takamuri examines…” It is good form to use signal phrases that mention authors by name and to talk about what they claim, argue, suggest, conclude, etc.
  • You may integrate quotations and quotation fragments into your writing, but your annotations should be mostly your original writing.
  • You should prepare the bibliographic entries in APA format, as outlined in our online resources. There are many very good citation formats, but to keep us all on the same page, APA is the standard format we will use in this course.
  • APA formatting is most commonly used to cite academic articles and books, but there are guidelines for how to cite newspapers, websites, movies, and all manner of resources. You should cite all of your resources in APA style.
  • Any sources cited, mentioned, or used in this assignment should appear as entries in your annotated bibliography. Do also include any non-academic sources you have cited, but be aware that these do not count towards the three (3) academic source minimum.

Writing and Style:


Two: Annotated Bibliography

An “annotated bibliography” is a properly formatted list of research sources, where each item listed is followed by insightful comments (“annotations”) written by the researcher (i.e. you). Compile an annotated bibliography based on at least three (3) of the strongest, most relevant, and most helpful academic resources you have found after your library research. Exemplars of succesful student submissions are available on Avenue to learn, showing the basic format while also showing that minor differences in layout and style are acceptable.

Resource Quality:

Annotation:

Bibliography Formatting:

Assessment Criteria

INTRODUCTION and TOPIC DEVELOPMENT:

  • Topic relates appropriately to the ‘higher education’ theme.
  • Demonstrates appropriate knowledge of background/context.
  • Proper APA citation of any sources used.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

  • Proper APA formatting of reference list.
  • Selection of sources indicates thorough and thoughtful research.
  • Annotations demonstrate reading, understanding and reflection.
  • Annotations explain relevance and helpfulness of selected resources:

GENERAL:

  • Writing is clear and well-edited for spelling and grammar.
  • Phrasing and word choice are formal, precise, and effective.
  • Demonstrates application of class readings and lessons.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

  • Submission has numbered pages.
  • Draws on a minimum number (3) of academic sources.
  • Proper formatting employed (margins, spacing, etc.).

Submission Details

  • You should submit your completed assignment to the dedicated dropbox on Avenue to Learn in a single document in a compatible format (i.e. DOC, DOCX, WPD, RTF, or PDF).
  • Note that PAGES files and GOOGLE DOCS files are not compatible with Avenue and so work composed using Pages or Google Docs must be exported to a compatible file type.
  • Late submissions will be accepted with no stigma, but will face a penalty of 3% per day.
  • Late submissions will be assessed fairly but may receive less feedback and require longer turnaround times.