IRP Guidelines

Individual Research Paper (GRP) Guidelines

(20% of final grade)

Task: (The same as GRP) Choose an issue that affects a specific group of people (i.e. children, teenagers, women, etc.) in your local community, state, country, or region. Then choose an organization or a policy maker that addresses or tried to solve that problem in the past. Write a problem-solution paper that either 1) critiques 1-2 of the current solutions and recommend/justifies 1-2 other new solutions or 2) critiques 3 current solutions and recommends how to improve those existing solutions.

Topic: Chosen by the student; must be approved by the instructor.

Structure: This research paper should be written using a Problem-Solution structure which you will learn more about in class. The Problem-Solution structure is commonly used in academic and work settings - such as a part of research literature, project proposals, and experimental studies.

Note: In general, the structure can vary in a problem-solution paper depending on the purpose and the topic.

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to develop research skills (choosing a focused topic, developing a research question, using library materials for support), source-based writing skills (evaluating, synthesizing, and documenting sources), and critical thinking skills. These can all be applied toward other source-based writing assignments that you will be writing in your own field of study. You will learn how to incorporate more than one source into every body paragraph and back up your ideas with evidence from sources. When possible, the instructor will provide feedback at each step--topic selection, source selection, outlining, source synthesis, etc. However, you should be able to complete all of these steps on your own in order to pass the class.

Outline:

I. Introduce the problem and the organization

II. Solution #1
     a. Description
     b. Critique
     c. Improvement

III. Solution #2

      a. Description

      b. Critique

      c. Improvement

IV. Solution #3

      a. Description

      b. Critique

      c. Improvement

V. Conclusion

Formatting: APA Research Paper formatting should be used including a title page, headers, headings, and the reference page. Final papers should be 5-7 pages, be written in Font Times New Roman, Size 12, Double-space, with 1-inch margins on all sides. (Paper size: 8 1/2 x 11 inches) Note: The References page should not include the annotations from the annotated bibliography.

Sources: A minimum of five academic sources should be used in this paper. The reliability of sources should be emphasized for this assignment. The annotated bibliography may help you with this selection and provide the instructors an opportunity to reject any unacademic sources before you begin formally writing. 

Plagiarism: Both intentional and unintentional plagiarism will be dealt with harshly at this point of the semester. Consequences vary from instructor to instructor, however, ALL A-level final drafts must be completely free from plagiarism. Passing/failing a student will be seriously considered if they are not understanding the seriousness of plagiarism and/or how to avoid it. 

Deadlines: The deadline will be determined soon and announced in class and on the course website. For now, please keep in mind that you should peer review, self-revise, and get teacher feedback before meeting for the individual student-instructor conference at the end of the semester.