Assignment
Part 1: Research Paper
Choose one of the following three subject areasfor your4-6 page research paper for this class.Tell me what aspect(s) of this topic interest(s) you. Investigate the current research regarding your specific topic and write a clear, original paper on your findings, written specifically for this spring 2018class at CoA.
The general parameters listed below as appropriate subject areas for this assignment are intentionally broad and vague in order to give students a wide range of ideas. Remember that your research paper must be focused on the underlying BIOLOGY of your topic, not just the social or cultural aspect/impact of your topic today.
1) Modern Human genetic adaptations influenced by cultural behaviors
2) Hominin Evolution and Climate Change: early genus Homo to Archaic H. sapiens
3) Evolution of stone tools and the hominins that made and used them: Oldowan tools through
Upper Paleolithic tools
Procedures:
• Introduce and define the topic you are addressing in a clear and concise thesis statement (what is the focus of your paper). Your thesis statement must be stated at the end of your first paragraph.
• Present background information on this topic, including historic research if applicable.
• Compare/contrast the views of several researchers and at least five different sources. Add to the research you compiled in the Annotated Bibliography assignment earlier in this course.
• Structure your paper to present information in a logical progression to build a cohesive narrative.
• Recap and conclude. Your conclusion must include a restatement of your thesis and demonstrate clearly what you learned during this research.
• Spell-check and re-read your finished paper to make sure that it says what you think you wrote.
Requirements:
• Your name and date of this assignment in top left-hand corner (NOTHING ELSE! Do not include my name or the course name/number, DO NOT include a title page or abstract.)
• Subject to be discussed clearly stated in the center of the top of first page.
• Minimum 4 full pages, maximum 6 pages; 1-inch page margins, double spaced, 12-point font
• Useat least fivereputable and verifiable sources (including CoA Library database sources)
• Full APA format source page that includes all sources used in this research paper. Listing only the URL for a website is not sufficient. Refer to your Annotated Bibliography assignment for APA source page format (do not include annotations in your Research Paper source page).
• Your source page does not count in the page total for this research paper.
• Use in-text citations (cite specific sources) for all information that is not common knowledge. DO NOT use footnotes!
Part 2: Annotated Bibliography
This assignment must connect tothe topic of your Research Paper (due 5/4/2018). Read the Research Paper assignment FIRST to understand the appropriate topics that you may choose for your research paper, then complete this Annotated Bibliography assignment.
The Annotated Bibliography assignmentwillhelp you start to identify appropriate source materials for your Research Paper.The point of this assignment is for you to evaluate the usefulness of each source you choose. In order to evaluate the usefulness of information, you first have to read and understand it!
PROCEDURE:
1) Go to the Collegeof Alameda (CoA) Library website. Click on "ArticleDatabases" in the menu on the left side of the CoALibrary homepage, thenclick on Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) from the menu in the center of the page.
2) Log on with your last name and your CoA student ID number.
Type keyword(s) for your specific research topicinto the EBSCO browser bar and click on Search.
For example, if your research paper topic is "Mousterian tools", then that is your keyword search.
3) Look at the "Refine Results" menu on the left side of the screen. Scroll down to "Limit to". Set the publication date to 2012 to 2018. The page will refresh.
4) If you need to limit your search further (see fewer articles), scroll down in the "Refine Results" menu and click on the "Magazines" selection box. You now should have a manageable number of articles for your topic.
ASSIGNMENT: For each of your four chosen articles on your personal research paper topic:
A) Write the full source citation in APA format. You may copy and paste using the citation tool on the right side of the EBSCO page, but be sure you know how to write an APA-format citation for your research paper. This is a valuable skill for your continuing college career.
B) Write brief bullet-point notes about the main points in the article(DO NOT copy and paste!)
C) Tell me if this is a good article or not to use as a source for your research paper and why.
Each article annotation should be at least 150 words in length (longer is acceptable, shorter is not).DO NOT write a summary of the article. DO NOT copy section(s) of the article.
REQUIRMENTS:
1) You must use theCoALibrary EBSCO database to complete this assignment (online).
2) Full name, date and subject in the top left corner of your paper. Nothing else.
3) The source citations for this assignment must be written in APA format, notin MLA format.
You will lose points if you do not use APA citation format!
Example of APA source citation format.