Required Formatting

Proposal Format

1. Basic contact information 

2. Proposed topic

3. A 200-300 words summary of the main points you plan to cover in your chapter, including complications and applications

4. A brief description of your idea for any included media

5. A short personal statement (100-200 words) sharing your interest in or connection to the topic you've chose. In other words, what do you have to offer our readers on this topic that will pique their interest? 

Chapter Format

1. Title

• One word or phrase

  1. Exs: intellectual property or “flow”

• Potential for two words or phrases to clarify 

  1. Ex: primary and secondary sources

2. Definition

   • Short paragraph, 2-4 sentences

   • No more than 150 words

   • Plain language

3. Discussion

   • Several paragraphs

   • Between 500 and 2000 words

   • Personal experience required; please use first person

   • Minimal research; extremely minimal direct quotes

     1. Please treat research as you would in a literature review in that it 

        1. Is mostly paraphrased or summarized

        2. Is organized by theme or discussion and not by source

        3. Requires familiarity with the broader conversation that can be synthesized into concise, clear statements without jargon

   • Without explicitly answering the question, consider what helped you to understand this concept

4. Complications

   • What trips people up when understanding this concept?

   • What proves difficult in applying this concept? 

   • Whose opinions are being valued or undervalued in our understanding of this concept? 

   • What are we still learning about this concept?

   • What should teachers, librarians, tutors, or writing center consultants consider? 

5. Application

   • What does this concept look like in classrooms/curricula you have taught or you have seen others teach? 

   • Are there materials you can share with readers? (must meet OER standards)

   • How can readers practice competency with this concept? 

6. Media

   • Primary medium should be written

   • All genres or media are welcome to enhance your written texts

7. Works Cited in MLA style, if necessary

A note on style: 

• Please no jargon (beyond terminology you’re working to demystify). 

• Write for a general audience at a college reading level, but no higher. If you are a university professor used to writing for peer-reviewed academic journals (i.e., your peers and yourself), imagine writing directly to your junior and senior-level undergraduate students or first-year Master’s students. 

• Feel free to use the first person “I”, but please avoid the second person “you.” Instead opt to specify groups with which readers may identify such as future writing teachers, experienced writing tutors, instructional librarians, etc. 

• Use alt text for all images. 

• Please use organizing labels provided in Google drive such as "Heading 1," "Normal Text," etc. to make our formatting most efficient.