Assignments
Reading & Discussions (6@10 points/60 points)
various due dates
We’ll read and annotate our shared texts together in a platform called Perusall. My goal for the reading and our discussions is to support your research design throughout the semester. Some of the readings will model the research we are doing, and other reading will more directly address how to do primary research. We’ll get set up in Perusall in our first class session.
Research Memos (3@15 points/45 points)
various due dates
Our memos serve a variety of purposes: we’ll share insights, reflections, and research progress via these short updates. We’ll each create a Google Doc for our memos and continue to update the same document with each new memo. The series of memos will function in some ways as a research notebook.
Memo 1: Making Sense of the CSU Success Dashboard data (due Feb 14)
We’ll spend time understanding the CSU dashboard findings: Link here. You’ll then share your insights: what trends are you able to make sense of? which of the findings are interesting or puzzling to you? do you find yourself wondering what is missing? what questions arise after looking over the data shared on the site?
Other resources: Chico State Fact Book; Chico State briefs, case studies, and reports
Memo 2: Forming areas of interest (due March 21)
This short memo will lay out some initial ideas or questions you would like to pursue for your research project. Talk about why you are interested in understanding this aspect of success and equity at Chico State. What ideas do you have already about how you’ll collect data: interviews? surveys? participant-observation? etc
Memo 3: Data collection & analysis (building this in with Research Narrative assignment)
This memo will give us an update on your progress with data collection: what have you collected so far? what are you learning? where are you stuck? what support might you need to analyze the data?
First Case Study: You (25 points)
due Feb 23
For this first paper, I’d like to invite you to place your Chico State experience alongside the data from the CSU Dashboard and other Chico State data we uncover. What is the story behind the numbers? Do you see your college experience reflected in the data and the findings? You might start this paper by sharing some highlights and challenges in your college career so far: how have you made connections? what have you learned in course work? what were some of the challenges along the way? what resources have you utilized? You could compare these experiences with the data we’ve reviewed. Where do the findings reflect your experience? What is missing from the data based on your college experience?
Shared Google Doc: kjaxon@mail.csuchico.edu
Second Case Study: Peer Interview (25 points)
due March 9
We will create an interview protocol together with a series of questions and set out to interview a Chico State student from outside our class. We’ll compare the interviews to your experiences and the Chico State data: how do the stories (yours and another student’s) compare to each other and to the data about college success?
Using the transcripts, as a class, we’ll start to identify themes that emerge from the interviews and your own case study. Think of this as our first primary data: what does the data tell us about success and equity at Chico State? How do our interviews and case studies compare to the Dashboard data? What questions might we pursue next?
otter.ai can help with transcription
Shared Google Doc: kjaxon@mail.csuchico.edu. Link to our shared folder to upload transcripts
Research Narrative with Annotated Bibliography (70 points)
due April 25
Think of this Research Narrative as the story of your research process and progress so far: how you’ve searched, what you’ve learned, what is challenging…along with short summaries of secondary sources. Here are the guiding questions:
- Why are you interested in this area of research into college success and equity? Is there something (an experience, our class work or reading) that made you want to know more?
- How have you found sources so far? What has been your process for looking for sources? What have you found/learned from your secondary sources?
- What have you learned so far from your primary research and data collection? (this will be a more lengthy section)
- What do you need to do next for your research?
- Below this introduction will be a summary of at least 4 sources:
- what the text is about (1-2 paragraphs)
- how it helped you with your research (did the source provide some background info? Some data? An argument? A good model for how you might share our findings?)
Here is an example from a former student.
Shared Google Doc: kjaxon@mail.csuchico.edu
Data Storytelling: Going Public With Our Findings (25 points)
due final exam
We’ll negotiate how we want to share what we learn this semester: we might invite select members of the campus community to a poster session or presentation. We might create a short film. We might write short policy recommendations. We’ll decide together.
