Information Literacy - Research Project

Part III: Conclusion Paper - Writing in your Academic Voice

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Identify a research question in psychology.
  • Identify valid, peer-reviewed sources of information to answer the research question.
  • Formulate conclusions to the research question based on the evidence found in the peer-reviewed literature.

Instructions

The field of Psychology makes a number of very important contributions to our understanding of the world. It also provides a very unique perspective on problems and solutions. This series of tasks will teach you how to access the most trusted sources of psychological information and how to use and communicate that information to answer questions.

These instructions are long and detailed, but understand that this one document is covering multiple tasks. Take them one at a time and you will do well!

Academic Voice

Over the time that you are in school you are going to be asked to write a number of different papers, essays, and answers to questions. One of the things that begin to appear over time is the development of your Academic Voice.

Your Academic Voice is the unique way in which YOU write and convey information. Your writing should not be an imitation of others' voices but be your own.

In the early development of Academic Voice a lot of students have a tendency to try and write "complicated" or to appear "smart" in their writing. But this language does not come naturally and it is apparent to the reader that you are not writing in your own academic voice. The purpose of writing is to convey what you know to your reader. Use language that is, for the most part, comfortable for you and seek assistance when you need to learn how to write about more complex subjects and use more precise terms.

Keep in mind that Academic Voice develops over time. Over years of study and work in your field you will become more and more expert at how to write.

TITLE PAGE

Below is a video that very well explains the expectations of a title page using APA Format.

 

For the purposes of this class, your title page should include the following:

Running head (at the top of the page...formatted as in the video)
Your name
Title of your paper
The title of the assignment
The name of the college (Kennebec Valley Community College)
The course number and name name of the class (PSY 101: Introduction to Psychology)
Your professor's name

IN-TEXT CITATIONS

In-text citations occur while you are writing in your actual paper. When you write about other's work you need to tell your writer that the information is not coming from you, but from some other authoritative source.

Click HERE to visit the Purdue OWL Website for more detailed information on in-text citations.  
REFERENCES

In APA Format we are required to provide detailed information related to all of the sources we have used in our writing in a section that is simply called "References"

Please note that other formats use the term "Works Cited" or "Bibliography" for this section, but APA Format uses "References"

This is probably one of the more complex aspects of writing in APA Format because there are different rules for how to cite different kinds of resources.

Please note that this video examples does NOT cover how to format a JOURNAL ARTICLE...which is going to be what we are expecting you to cite. For specifics on citing articles you will need to refer to the OWL Website below and click the
"Reference List: Articles in Periodicals" option.  

Click HERE to revisit the Purdue OWL Website...notice on the left menu there are numerous links that relate to "Reference List" and different kinds of sources. Use these resources to figure out how to cite the sources YOU use in your papers.

You are now ready to write your paper

Research Project - Part III - Conclusion Paper

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CHECKLIST YOU ARE TO USE AS YOU WRITE YOUR PAPER

Title Page - this is the first page in your submitted document and follows the same standard as indicated in Part II. The title of this assignment is "Research Project - Part III"

You must ALSO include in the title, the research question predicated with the phrase "According to the psychological literature"...so here is an example:

Research Project - Part III - According to the psychological literature, what impact does the use of PowerPoint slides in a classroom have on student learning outcomes?
10 pts

Introduction Paragraph - this is on the second page in your submitted document and is structured as follows

  • Start the paragraph with some general statements about why it is important to answer your question.
  • Provide a brief glimpse for your reader as to the details of the question.
  • End the paragraph with your THESIS STATEMENT...which should be structured like the example below...

"This paper will provide evidence to answer the question: (insert your question here)"
10 pts

Summaries - this section starts right below your introduction paragraph

In this section you need to provide individual summaries of the data and information that you have attainted from EACH of your articles. This is NOT a summary of the whole article, it is a statement of the information pertaining to your Research Question that you got from the article.

Be sure that you do not plagiarize your source in your summary. Your summary should be in your own words. Use in-text citations if necessary to cite your information. Click HERE to learn more about how to avoid plagiarism. (Take the time to review this entire website to learn how to prevent plagiarism.)

For each of the articles you need to provide at least a one paragraph summary as to how the article contributes to answering the question.
40 pts

Conclusion Paragraph - immediately following the summaries.

  • Start the paragraph with a restatement of your THESIS STATEMENT
  • Summarize the findings that are presented in the paper.
  • End the paragraph with general statements about the importance of using this information to answer your question
10 pts
References - the last section of your paper is a References page that lists all of the sources that are included in your paper. Any in-text citations should align precisely with this list. Each item on this list must actually appear as a citation in the context of your summaries. 20 pts
Mechanics - spelling, syntax, grammar, punctuation, etc.
10 pts.