Welcome Back! Senior Project Research Intro.

Semester 2, Starter #1: Works Habits Survey

Info Dump:  Deadlines, honors, timeline, major assignments, work time expectations, etc.

• ALL MAJOR SENIOR PROJECT DOCUMENTS WILL BE ON THE SENIOR PROJECT PAGE OF BOTH LORI's and MY DPS!

Research Question Workshop- Refinement and critique, show to Ashley!  Once you've shown me your refined research questio, please fill out the following document to help us pair you up with a senior project faculty advisor.

Prep for Senior Project Advisor Draft:  Fill out the linked Gdoc of research questions and senior projects.  Please be careful not to delete another student's entry!  

Carruth's Corner Brainstorm Activity
Ok.  So, this semester will be chalk full of lots of independent work time.  This is great because it prepares you for the work of research and writing that you'll experience in college.  It is also challenging at times because 1.  Your brain will get tired!  2. Ashley misses teaching you guys content!  3.  You may struggle to stay motivated to work for nearly 2 hours straight for 5 days in a row in my class.

Thus, in order to provide an opportunity to address the above three challenges, once a week, I will design and teach a mini-lesson on a topic that is of interest to you. We'll call that time "Carruth's Corner". It'll be like Mr. Rogers but less creepy and I promise not to wear a sweater vest.  Anyone who feels they will need a break from senior project work time, can participate.  The lessons will generally be 1-2 class periods long and will vary on content depending on your interests.

So, to help me plan lessons that you are interested in, let's do some brainstorming.

STEP 1: INDIVIDUALLY
Within the realm of humanities, and Ashley's own expertise/interest, what would you want to study. Please write down the fields of study that MOST interest you:

• Environmental issues
• Philosophy
• Poetry reading/analysis
• Literature- short story reading/analysis
• Current events
• US History
• World History
• Essays on culture, life, society, education, etc...

STEP 3:  Now, dive deeper.  
Within the fields of study you selected, what specific topics/time periods/events/themes/poets/authors, etc...would you like to study?

Step 4: GROUP
 In groups of 4-5, share out your list of topics/time periods/events, etc.... 
Make a new list ON THE WHITE BOARD that compiles the ones that you as a whole group agree you would be interested in!

Step 5: Individually
Go up to the board and put a tally mark next to all the ones you think you would join in on, should I teach it!

HOMEWORK 

1. Sample Paper Analysis:  Read and annotate, be ready to discuss tomorrow.  Student exemplar thesis papers are linked below.  Choose one that is similar to your discipline.  So, if you are researching a more sciency question, read the more sciency thesis.  If you're doing a more humanities-y question, choose a humanities one.
2. Bring your Library Card!

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STUDENT THESIS EXEMPLARS!  

• Molly Black:  Education and Standardized Testing (Ed. Philosophy)
• Tony Williams:  Music and the Brain (Neuroscience and Music)
• Shannon Etz:  Arts and Education (Educational Philosophy)
• Tucker Leavitt:  Water Arc Explosions (Physics)
• Bekah Kuster:  Energy Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gases  (Energy)
• Cori Giannini:  Conceptualizing Beauty (Psychology)​​
• Lyle Bryson:  Trends and Youth Culture  (Marketing/Psychology)
• Philip Wiley:  What makes good science fiction?  (Literary Analysis)