Research Paper: Students will be required to choose an area of interest relevant to the syllabus of the courses and select, summarize, and critique 8 empirically based journal articles within that area.  This assignment involves using published research to provide an overview of and argument about a topic.  Simply summarizing the information you read is not enough. Instead, carefully synthesize the information to support your argument. Only discuss the parts of the studies that are relevant to your argument or topic.  Headings and subheadings can help guide readers through a long research paper.
Choose a topic that is appropriate to the length of the assignment and for which you can find adequate sources. For example, “self-esteem” might be too broad for a 10- page paper, but it may be difficult to find enough articles on “the effects of private school education on female African American children’s self-esteem.” A paper in which you focus on the more general topic of “the effects of school transitions on adolescents’ self-esteem,” however, might work well for the assignment.
Students will be required to discuss each articles relevance and contribution to the subject matter, highlight the relative inequities or inadequacies in the literature, and suggest areas of future inquiry within their chosen field.  The final bibliography must adhere to APA format guidelines (approximately 8-10 pages).