Research Proposal Evaluation               NAME____________________________
WR 123, Spring 2010, Prof. C. Agatucci                              

___Grade penalty if submitted late & NO revision option.    GRADE ________
   
___Formal Graded Assignment must be word-processed, double-spaced, and submitted in both paper (hard) copy and translatable electronic form, or it will NOT be accepted for grading. 
___(MS) Final Draft meets required specifications and Plagiarism is avoided: Sources summarized, paraphrased, & quoted are cited in PARTS 1, 2, 3; & full bibliographical information is given in Part 4.
Electronic version has been submitted to Turnitin to test for verbatim plagiarism: see WR 123 Syllabus. 

PART 1. Research Topic Introduction, Rationale, & Documentation System
___1.A. Introduction to focused topic is clear; key terms are defined & sufficient background is provided for general, non-specialist WR 123 audience; In-Text Citations are provided for sources summarized, paraphrased, &/or quoted in Part 1 (and complete bibliographical entries for all sources cited here, are given in Part 4)
___1.B. Rationale: Student’s reasons for choosing topic (e.g. personal experience, connections, other source/s of special interest) are elaborated & persuasive in promising that student can sustain interest/commitment to research project & bring it to successful completion in one quarter. Topic’s (potential) value to student researcher & others is projected. Practical reasons for topic choice (e.g. number of sources available, serves research project for another class, willingness to conduct open-minded inquiry, etc.) also stated.
___1.C. Documentation system is identified, with brief accompanying statement that it was pre-approved as appropriate for student's topic choice by Cora (& if doubling with another course, by the other instructor).
___In-Text Citations are provided for any sources summarized, paraphrased, &/or quoted in Part 1 (and complete bibliographical entries for any sources cited here are given in Part 4)

PART 2. Leading Research Question & Working Hypothesis predict a clear, enabling focus and well-defined point of departure for this proposed research project, and NOTE WELL: there must be a clear question-answer correlation between 2.A. and 2.B!
___2.A. Leading research question is clearly stated, and provides a central focus & clear point of departure for the research project.
___2.B. Working hypothesis/Tentative thesis) provides preliminary answer to the leading research question is clearly stated, seems well-informed & specific enough to suggest student has conducted diligent exploratory research, preliminary reading & thinking in preparing this proposal.
___In-Text Citations are provided for any sources summarized, paraphrased, &/or quoted in Part 2 (and complete bibliographical entries for any sources cited here are given in Part 4)

PART 3.  Research Plan section is complete, shows strong evidence of serious, diligent exploratory research & preliminary thinking/reading on the research topic; and offers persuasive accounts & examples of college-level informational research skills, developed specifically enough to direct future research in promising ways.
___3.A. Supporting Research Questions & Preliminary Answers.  Organized list of supporting research questions & preliminary answers: (using complete well-formed questions/sentences)
  -Are thoughtful, well-informed, and relevant to Parts 1 & 2;
  -Include key terms & concepts, and at least some preliminary answers to above questions are integrated;
  -List of questions & preliminary answers is logically organized (e.g. related groupings set off by labeled subheadings, outline format, white space, etc.)
___In-Text Citations are provided for sources summarized, paraphrased, &/or quoted in Part 3 (and complete bibliographical entries for all sources cited here, are given in Part 4)
___3.B. Search Strategies that student has already used and plans to use in future to find valuable sources, suggest diligent exploratory research , class preparation, and competent college-level (LIB 127) informational research skills; and promise to yield a solid research base for the Critical Research Paper.
  -Brief but clear explanation of Search Strategies used to find each of 7+ sources (documented in Part 4) is provided - i.e. means (search strategies) used to obtain ends (sources) are explained
  -Search terms & boolean commands used are identified, distinguishing those most valuable so far;
  -Any additional search strategies already tried but that did not yield useful sources, are identified;
  -Future plans--e.g. search strategies, informational resources, search terms, other leads, etc.--are described, and promise to yield a solid research base for Critical Research Paper
  -Understanding of differences among "primary" and "secondary" and "teritiary" sources is demonstrated
        with brief definitions and specific examples.

PART 4. Working Annotated Bibliography Required Minimum = seven (7) relevant sources already located and consulted.  For each source:
___Complete bibliographical information is given, showing good faith attempt to follow pre-approved documentation system format.
___Annotations (using complete sentences) identify type & length of source, search strategy used to find source, & briefly summarize source contents.

___WRITTEN PRESENTATION is Clear, Coherent, & Grammatically Correct.