Assignment 3: Review Paper—Draft of Literature Findings

Evaluate the evidence. Create a draft of the findings of the articles you have selected and how they contribute to our knowledge of this problem. Be sure to address each of the following items in your draft:

• 1.  Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each piece.
  2.  If the articles talk to each other (that is, if they support or contrast with one another), explain how and why.
  3.  What does the evidence tell us?
  4.  Is there another possible explanation you can think of?  Based on what you have read, what is your hypothesis?  In other words, what is your explanation for the findings?
  5.  How can you refine your question or topic even further, now that you have described the findings?

Your draft should be double-spaced and in 12 point, Times New Roman font with normal one-inch margins, written in APA style, and free of typographical and grammatical errors.  It should include a title page with a running head and a reference page. The body of the paper should be at least 5-6 pages in length. Please respond by Wednesday, March 26, 2014.

You will submit your Review Paper next week, so be sure to incorporate the feedback you receive  on this assignment into your final paper for next week. You may also want to review the following documents.

A sample literature review,
a PowerPoint document illustrating how to set up your word processor for APA style
a “Guide for Writing a Literature Review”

The first to I attached to Assignment 1.

PowerPoint Presentations-Tips-2.ppt

Assignment 3 Grading Criteria

Maximum Points

Refined and elaborated the paper topic.

10

Organized the findings into a draft.

10

Identified supporting or contrasting themes.

10

Generated an original hypothesis.

10

Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources, displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

10

Total:

50

Making PowerPoint Slides Best Practices Tips to be Covered ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Title slide and outlines Slide Structure Fonts Color Background Graphs Spelling and Grammar Conclusions Questions References Title and Outline ⚫ ⚫ Include a title slide with the title of your presentation, your full name and affiliation. Make your second slide an outline of your presentation – ⚫ ⚫ Ex: previous slide Follow the order of your outline for the rest of the presentation Only place main points on the outline slide – Ex: Use the titles of each slide as main points Slide Structure ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation Write in point form, not complete sentences Include 4-5 points per slide Avoid wordiness: use key words and phrases only Slide Structure ⚫Assignment 3: Review Paper—Draft of Literature Findings This page contains too many words for a presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you. Slide Structure ⚫ Show one point at a time: – – – Will help audience concentrate on what you are saying Will prevent audience from reading ahead Will help you keep your presentation focused Slide Structure ⚫ Do not use distracting animation ⚫ Do not go overboard with the animation, if you decide to use any ⚫ Be consistent with the animation that you use Fonts ⚫ ⚫ Use at least an 18-point font Use different size fonts for main points and secondary points – ⚫ this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28-point, and the title font is 36-point Use a standard font like Times New Roman or Arial Fonts ⚫ If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written ⚫ CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ ⚫ Don’t use a complicated font Color ⚫ Use a color of font that contrasts sharply with the background – ⚫ Use color to reinforce the logic of your structure – ⚫ Ex: blue font on white background Ex: light blue title and dark blue text Use color to emphasize a point – But only use this occasionally Color ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Using a font color that does not contrast with the background color is hard to read Using color for decoration is distracting and unprofessional. So is using color to creative. Using a different color for each point is unnecessary – Using a different color for secondary points is also unnecessary Background ⚫ Use backgrounds such as this one that are attractive but simple ⚫ Use backgrounds which are light, with dark text ⚫ Use the same background consistently throughout your presentation Background ⚫ ⚫ Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from Always be consistent with the background that you use Graphs ⚫ Use graphs rather than just charts and words – – ⚫ Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain than is raw data Trends are easier to visualize in graph form Always title your graphs Graphs Compare this table to the graph on the next slide. Which is easier to read? January February Blue Balls 20.4 27.4 Red Balls 30.6 38.6 March 90 34.6 April 20.4 31.6 Graphs Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Blue Balls Red Balls January February March April Graphs 100 90 90 80 70 60 Blue Balls 50 Red Balls 38.6 40 34.6 31.6 30.6 27.4 30 20.4 20.4 20 10 0 January February March April Graphs Why is the graph on the previous page difficult to read? ⚫ Minor gridlines are unnecessary ⚫ Font is too small ⚫ Colors are illogical ⚫ Title is missing ⚫ Shading is distracting Spelling and Grammar ⚫ Proof your slides for: – – – ⚫ speling mistakes the use of of repeated words grammatical errors you might have make If English is not your first language, have someone else check your presentation Conclusion ⚫ Use an effective and strong closing – ⚫ Your audience is likely to remember your last words Use a conclusion slide to: – – Summarize the main points of your presentation Suggest future avenues of research Questions ⚫ If appropriate, you can also end your presentation with a simple question slide to: – – – Invite your audience to ask questions Provide a visual aid during question period Avoid ending a presentation abruptly References ⚫ If you used any external resources for the information presented, include a list of references, in APA style. …
Purchase answer to see full attachmen. Assignment 3: Review Paper—Draft of Literature Findings

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.