Assignment: Use Research to Separate Fact from Fiction

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Instructions

You now have enhanced understanding of implicit bias within individuals. This can also manifest itself through the written word. This week, you are asked to identify a theme/topic that is of interest to you. Ideas of themes/topics that may be of interest include summer learning opportunities for students, technology integration, professional development for educators, obesity prevention, redistricting attendance boundaries, suspension and expulsion alternatives, educational benefits of the arts in schools, and anti-bias education.

Certainly, there are a multitude of topics, so don’t feel that you need to choose from this list. The most important thing is to select a relevant topic that is of interest to you. Using the NCU Library and educational databases that contain peer-reviewed journals, locate three articles by three different authors that support a specific train of thought, lead to the same conclusion, and contain findings that are considered valid. These authors should have personally conducted research or reviewed scholarly research by others, yet all share the same findings, thereby substantiating the evidence through the process of triangulation. Then, conduct a web search using any search engine and find claims by at least one source that would essentially refute the claims made by the three well-researched authors.

In your submission, you are to address the following points:

Provide an overview of the theme/topic that you selected and why it is of importance to you.

Describe the methodology you employed and the process undertaken when conducting the research and identify the specific sources where the information was garnered.

What information within all of the documents was similar/different?

For any of the sources, could any information be included to further support a given claim and make the point(s) stronger?

What evidence/data was used to substantiate the claims from the resources utilized?

Identify any bias that may exist and postulate the potential causes for it. In other words, why do you think the single source/author point of view counters the scholarly, peer-reviewed work?

Through this activity, what changes (if any) will you now make when conducting evidence-based research?