As mentioned in Week One, discussion groups will examine some of our key assignments and activities leading to the Research Proposal due at the end of the semester. Additionally, each group is assigned one or two chapters of the text to present.

When it comes to presentations, they can help you in many ways. As an individual presenter, you will dive deep into a topic. With a group discussion on your group’s chapter, you should also notice ways to improve or further elaborate on different concepts. I expect you will find that the subtopics in each chapter are often very interrelated.  Finally, as a student checking out other classmates’ presentations, their work can help broaden your own understanding or help you create a personal study guide.

Each member of the group works rather independently. When it comes to assignment discussions, you’ll only need to reply to a few of your group members. If that is particularly problematic on any one week, be sure to email me and let me know you must take the option to reply to classmates in a different group. Ideally, you’ll always reply to your own discussion group members, but inevitably there is always one or two hiccups. Presentations are also independent because each member gets his or her own assignment from the chapter.

Further direction and a rubric are available in “My Grades” on Bb. Additionally, if you haven’t already I encourage you to watch the presentation a previous student did during a Zoomed class in November of 2020.

We have two separate groups of students posting presentations this week based upon Part 1 and 2 of Patten & Newhart’s text.

• Patten & Newhart, Part 2:
  • Jace Armstrong:
    • Topic 12  -Why Researcher Review the Literature
    • Topic 13 – Locating Literature in Electronic Databases
    • Appendix A: Databases for Locating Literature
  • Christopher Ball
    • Library Video on Using Resources to Research Employers
      • Please help your classmates get a real quick overview of what they’ll find in that video and how it relates to Part 2 of the text.
      • The original video is 22 minutes, your video should be closer to four to ten minutes.
  • Mikhail Brown
    • Topic 14 – Structuring the Literature Review
    • Topic 15 – Connecting the Literature to Your Study
    • Appendix B: Electronic Sources of Statistical Information
  • Jack Rice
    • Topic 16 – Preparing to Write a Critical Review
    • Topic 17 – Creating a Synthesis
  • Dalton Wright
    • Topic 18: Why Academics Use Citations
    • Topic 19: Introduction to Style Guides
    • Appendix E: An Introduction to APA Style
• Patten & Newhart, Part 3:
  • Brock Barton
    • Topic 20: Decisions in Quantitative Research Design
  • Ethan Booe
    • Topic 21: Variables in NonExperimental Studies
  • Jialu “Joleen” Cen
    • Topic 22: Variables in Experimental Studies
  • Gretchen Rodriguez
    • Topic 23: Operational Definitions of Variables
  • Syed Yusaf
    • Topic 24: Research Hypotheses, Purposes, and Questions