What’s this assessment? Identifying a Research Problem (and Why It Matters)

What is the purpose of this assignment?

Throughout the semester, we have been discussing the crucial importance of being able to enter into an academic conversation. One of the key elements of entering a conversation is being able to describe the conversation as it exists: if you can’t describe what’s already happening in the conversation, no one will value what you have to say about it or in it! To this end, and as you think about your final Project Pitch assignment, you are first tasked with describing the conversation around your topic, your ideas, and how it relates to your target audience.

What will your document look like?

For this assignment, you will write a description of what you have found (so far) in your research on your topic. This description will consist of only two paragraphs, and, once you've completed the first two research journals and the Finding and Analyzing Sources for the Project Pitch, it should only take you about 30 minutes to complete.

For the first part, you will explain how this particular topic is important to your target audience -- in this case, the St. Kate's community. There are many problems in the world that we could and should discuss or address, so why is your topic particularly important the St. Kate's community, in terms of the present moment, the University's mission and goals and values, and the people that make up the community? You can think about it in terms of the Integrated Learning Series: what should next year's The Reflective Woman students spend time studying? Why? Or you can take a different educational approach like and lecture series or training course. Why should we in this community have events around your topic?

For the second part, you will need to summarize what the conversation looks like as it currently exists: what are the main things that people talk about in terms of the topic? What are the dominant ideas or concerns? Who is in the conversation – what sorts of people are they, what is their interest in the topic, what are the seeking, and so on?

How will your assignment be assessed?

Here’s what I’ll be looking for as I read your assignment:

Does your discussion of the topic's relevance to the community demonstrate how the topic connects to aspects of the community -- its people, its values, its mission?
Is the description of the voices clear in how it presents their ideas? In other words, as someone who is most likely not familiar with your materials, I’ll be looking to see if I can understand what’s happening in the conversation about your topic through your summary of the ideas.this is a writing assignment