Final Project ENGL406
Research in Writing & Writing Studies: Qualitative Research
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LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 [email protected] www.leetorda.com Fall 2020 Open Hours for students (office hours): M 12:30-2:00 W 10:00-11:00, 3:00-4:00 Th 10:00-11:00 and by appointment. |
NOTE: All classes, student meetings, and open hours (office hours) this Fall 2020 will be held virtually.
Links to Open Hour for Students Zoom sessions: For Monday Open Hours, click here. For Wednesday Open Hours @ 10:00, click here. For Wednesday Open Hours @3:00, click here. For Thursday Open Hours, click here. Need to make an during a time that is not an office hour? appointment? Let me know you want to meet by adding yourself to my google.doc appointment calendar here: https://goo.gl/3CqLf and I will send you a zoom link for the time you sign up for. |
Final Project Overview: Through midterm, as many of you noted in your midterm portfolio cover letter, doing any sort of qualitative research was totally new. Now, I’m not imagining that you are suddenly experts in qualitative research, but you have a better idea of how it works. You know more about what’s hard about it. You know more about the work that it takes to do this well. And I think you know more about the limitations of qualitative research--what you can say and what you can’t.
For the Final Project, which will make up the bulk of your final portfolio, you have two choices. You can continue to develop the project you worked on for midterm or you can start a new project focused on interviewing one individual. Further details for each option appear below.
Final Project: Starting fresh
If you elect to start anew, you should consult the requirements for Telling the Stories of Others due at midterm. You should expect to turn in the same materials for this new project as you did for that one. You do not need to make your final project longer than at midterm.
One further requirement: Include as part of your final portfolio, a 300 word reflection on how what you learned doing the midterm project helped you to make this project more successful. You can consider comments I made about your midterm project as you write this by addressing how you changed what you did this time around to deal with shortcomings in that first project. You might also reflect on what you understand better about using research to write creative nonfiction, which is essentially what this class turned out to be than you did prior to the start of class.
Evaluation will follow the same policy as outlined in the Telling the Stories of Others assignment, with the addition of the required 300 word reflection in order to insure the “B” grade.
Final Project: Revising your Existing Material
If you elect to continue with your midterm project, there is no specific requirements for how to make it different. However, you must show change and extension. Here are concrete ways you can do that:
For the Final Project, which will make up the bulk of your final portfolio, you have two choices. You can continue to develop the project you worked on for midterm or you can start a new project focused on interviewing one individual. Further details for each option appear below.
Final Project: Starting fresh
If you elect to start anew, you should consult the requirements for Telling the Stories of Others due at midterm. You should expect to turn in the same materials for this new project as you did for that one. You do not need to make your final project longer than at midterm.
One further requirement: Include as part of your final portfolio, a 300 word reflection on how what you learned doing the midterm project helped you to make this project more successful. You can consider comments I made about your midterm project as you write this by addressing how you changed what you did this time around to deal with shortcomings in that first project. You might also reflect on what you understand better about using research to write creative nonfiction, which is essentially what this class turned out to be than you did prior to the start of class.
Evaluation will follow the same policy as outlined in the Telling the Stories of Others assignment, with the addition of the required 300 word reflection in order to insure the “B” grade.
Final Project: Revising your Existing Material
If you elect to continue with your midterm project, there is no specific requirements for how to make it different. However, you must show change and extension. Here are concrete ways you can do that:
- You can include more interviews and/or other kinds of qualitative research (case study, ethnography) to flesh out your work.
- You can include more or some if you did not include any outside research (articles, other media, etc) into your argument.
- You can make it longer--but with reason, more detailed analysis, more inclusion of your source material that you got from your original research.
- You can make a concerted effort to move your work away from academic scholarship and towards something that looks more like the article.
- If you want to insure the “B” grade for the final project, you should be able to document how you attempted at least two of the above.
- If you want to attempt the “A” grade for the final project, you should be able to document how you attempted at least three of the above.