General Organization & Style (20 points):
Follow APA style in use of headings, sub-headings, citations, and references.
Include a title page and abstract, per APA style.
Use in-text citations as necessary to support content. All should be contained in full reference list at end.
The required length is 5 total pages (including references). The goal is to completely respond to all criteria in each section; see separate Evaluation for specific grading criteria. Sample research proposals will be posted on Canvas to provide a general idea of formatting/style.
Part 1: Introduction, Problem, & Purpose (15 points)
Introduction (at least one paragraph)
Select a focus/problem that enables you to directly impact your students, co-workers, or campus. Write a problem statement that clearly states the problem.
State your rationale selecting this problem and conducing this study. Why is this important to you? What is the big idea?
Identify the purpose of this study.
Part 2: Literature Review (20 points)
Conduct a literature review to summarize previous research findings. What does the literature say about the problem? What themes, relationships, gaps, and/or contradictions exist in regard to investigating this problem? Include at least five unique citations from peer-reviewed journals.
Part 3: Proposed Solution/Intervention (10 points)
Determine a potential solution strategy to implement in order to address your problem, supported by research citations. How will this solution impact one or more of your problem(s)?
State the goals of this intervention, as related to your stated purpose.
Part 4: Research Methodology (20 points)
Construct a research design (Action research often follows a quasi-experimental design, but remember that your questions determine the type of design you should select).
State research questions. Provide an operational definition for variables, as needed.
Sketch (in general) how the study would be conducted. Be sure to include the following:
o Research design and specific research questions
o Participants (sample) and sampling procedures (how will they be selected)
o Data collection methods (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) and instruments (surveys, tests, interviews, observations, etc.) that will be used to measure the impact of the proposed solution/intervention.
Data analysis methods that will be used to analyze the data collected (i.e., quantitative test(s), qualitative coding procedures, etc.).
Draft a proposed timeline for implementation (weekly/monthly activity overview can be bulleted list).
Part 5: Discussion and Conclusion (15 points)
Discuss the expected outcomes. Since you are not actually implementing this study, what do you expect would happen if you did? What are the short- and long-term implications for students, you, parents, other teachers, the school, etc.
Conclusion
References
Create a reference list to display each in-text reference cited, as well as all instruments used.
Appendices
The appendix/appendices goes after the References. Forms, questionnaires, assessment instruments, and similar original documents should be appended to the report rather than included as part of the text. Every appendix must be referred to in the body of the report. Title each appendix, assign it a letter, and continue sequential pagination, per APA style.
