Research Paper

Research Paper:   This assignment will give you experience with the skills necessary for professional writing in the field.  Specifically, papers should be written in a form suitable for publication in a journal or other publication.  You can look at the Journal of Higher Education, Review of Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Journal as a guide for this style of writing. 

There is a great deal of knowledge and theory about higher education administration in the books and journals of the field.  Through reading original research, theoretical reviews, and essays in books and journals, you can acquire a great deal of insight about higher education.  I’d like for you to think about what will be the most relevant for your learning process, dissertation project, or practical application. For this assignment, you are to prepare an 8-10 page paper on one of the topics, concepts, or theories discussed in class that is relevant to your professional or research interest  The idea behind this paper is for you to 

(1) gain additional knowledge and understanding about higher education administration theory and practice; and

(2) add your insights, interpretations, and critical reflections to the current knowledge base.  

The paper should be 8-10 pages, (not including references and cover page) with standard right and left margins (1 inch).  It should be professionally prepared (e.g., double-spaced, paginated) and include references and a cover page.  

You are strongly recommended to share your research paper with a classmate to get feedback, critique, and editing assistance.  Please do not be shy about sharing your work.  Skilled writers rarely send out manuscripts without having a colleague review them. 

The criteria for grading will include: 

• Creativity, innovativeness, and insight into higher education issues,
• Grammar, writing style, etc.
• Thoroughness and use of research (e.g., sources, citations, etc.)
• Well-constructed content, argument, theoretical constructs, and concepts,
• Use of APA style (refer to APA manual and/or http://www.apastyle.org/previoustips.html),
• Applicability of topic to higher education administration.

The following list of criteria will also be considered when grading all assignments:

• the extent to which performance follows the directions of the assignment
• the extent to which writing is free from grammatical errors, typos, etc.
• the extent to which performance reflects familiarity and thoughtful consideration of assigned readings
• the extent to which performance grounds opinions in substantive scholarship
• the extent to which performance reflects respectful, constructive questioning of perspectives,  values, and evidence in others’ thinking and scholarship, clarity of expression, and persuasiveness of arguments