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The South Kingstown Senior Project offers students opportunities to engage in personalized experiences utilizing interdisciplinary skills and knowledge while investigating an area of personal interest.
The South Kingstown Senior Project offers students opportunities to engage in personalized experiences utilizing interdisciplinary skills and knowledge while investigating an area of personal interest.
In preparation for the Senior Project Graduation Requirement, students will be supported in selecting and researching a topic that coincides with the focus for their Senior Project experience and writing an extensive research paper that explores that topic.
In preparation for the Senior Project Graduation Requirement, students will be supported in selecting and researching a topic that coincides with the focus for their Senior Project experience and writing an extensive research paper that explores that topic.
Check out the SKHS Senior Project site for additional info.
NEED HELP WITH YOUR SENIOR PAPER?
NEED HELP WITH YOUR SENIOR PAPER?
Drop -in Senior Paper support is available on Monday and Thursday during the Flex Block and can be accessed using the Google Meet link in the Senior Paper Extra Help google classroom.
Drop -in Senior Paper support is available on Monday and Thursday during the Flex Block and can be accessed using the Google Meet link in the Senior Paper Extra Help google classroom.
Google Classroom Code for Senior Paper Extra Help is: wxf7hwq
Google Classroom Code for Senior Paper Extra Help is: wxf7hwq
Additional support is available Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday by appointment. Email Ms. Thomas at kthomas@sksd-ri.net to schedule a meeting.
Additional support is available Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday by appointment. Email Ms. Thomas at kthomas@sksd-ri.net to schedule a meeting.
Click on the link above to access a folder with a sample senior paper from start to finish including article exercise, proposal, mentor interview questions, research notes, annotated bibliography, notecards, outline, final paper and bibliography.
Click on the link above to access a folder with a sample senior paper from start to finish including article exercise, proposal, mentor interview questions, research notes, annotated bibliography, notecards, outline, final paper and bibliography.
Choosing a Research Topic
Choosing a Research Topic
Since your paper must be related to your project, you should already have a general topic in mind. Remember, your paper topic does not have to be exactly the same as your project, but it should be related. For example, just because you have chosen to make a surfboard for your project does not mean that you have to write your paper about surfboard construction, or even surfboards. Instead, surfing can be your topic.
Developing a Research Question
Developing a Research Question
Now that you have a general topic, you need to develop a focused question within that topic to drive your research. For example, if you have chosen to make a surfboard for your project and the topic for your paper is surfing, your research question might be: Why did 19th century Calvinist missionaries ban surfing in Hawaii and how did that impact the development of Hawaiian surf culture?
It is important to understand that crafting a research question is a process and it is unlikely that the question you begin with will be the one you ultimately answer. You should think of your initial research question as a "first draft" and as you conduct your research, you will tweak that question in response to the information you find.
Below you will find some information and ideas from the Hunter College Libraries on developing a research question.
Below you will find some information and ideas from the Hunter College Libraries on developing a research question.
A good research topic isn’t about the answers you find: it’s about the questions you ask. Asking the right research question can help you narrow your topic to a manageable scope for your project, find keywords to look for sources, and eventually find a more nuanced angle on your topic.
How Broad is Too Broad? How Narrow is Too Narrow?
We are often told to narrow our topic early in the research process. While having a narrow research question can be beneficial to making sure the scope of our research process is manageable and will create a workable thesis, we may often make these questions so narrow that we ignore other—sometimes more interesting—approaches to the topic. For example, say your initial research question is: What are the ways women are discriminated against in the workplace? Some initial reading would show that this question is way too broad, yet you may want to keep it a little broad in your initial stages of research.
On the other hand, your initial question could be too narrow, such as How long is maternity leave in New Jersey?
In either case, your background reading on the topic may lead you to a specific profession (STEM fields for example), or a particular issue within the topic (maternity leave). If you are interested in gender and the workplace, you might ultimately ask a question like
one of these:
What can colleges do to recruit more women into STEM fields?
How does the perception that women will need maternity leave at some point influence inequality in hiring practices?
These questions may lead to narrowing down even further into a specific issue, such as specific types of discrimination in STEM fields.
Changing Your Research Question Throughout the Process
Whether your professor gives you a question to research, or you produce your own research question, you should keep it flexible enough to allow you to change that question throughout your reading process. Your reading should help you think about different approaches to your topic.
Get a public library card!
Get a public library card!
If you don't already have one, apply for a public library card, or renew an old one.
If you don't already have one, apply for a public library card, or renew an old one.
The public library has a wealth of resources that will be very useful to you as you conduct research for your senior paper. Once you have one, you will be able to access the catalog here
Don't miss out!
Don't miss out!
Research Muddy Points from URI Libraries
Research Muddy Points from URI Libraries
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