All seniors at ACT are required to conduct a research project for their graduation. The following project was designed to target skills they would encounter in a college environment, especially regarding online research.
It's most helpful for me to do projects along with my students so I can catch the potential pitfalls and provide a strong model of what I'm looking for.
Here is a summary of the guidelines that the students were working with:
Goal: Your goal is to create a research blog that documents your exploration of your chosen subject area. You will not only be presenting information for your readers, you will also help them understand your topic area and why it is important to you.
Role: Your role is that of a blog writer with a passionate interest in your subject area. You want readers to care about your topic and be well-informed about how it impacts the world around them.
Audience: Your target audience is well-educated internet surfers who are interested in your topic area.
Situation: You are a blogger who is documenting their exploration of a specific area of interest. Keep in mind that although this is a web-based document, you will be held to high academic writing standards.
Product: A blog that features six 300 word posts exploring your topic area.
- Standards: Your blog will be evaluated on the following factors
- Quality of information presented, using credible sources
- Correct interpretation of information
- Quantity of information presented
- Clarity of writing, including spelling and grammar
- Originality of perspective
- Use of multimedia elements (picture, audio, video)
- Participation in blog community
- Personalization of blog
- Correct presentation of sources
