Assignment:
OVERVIEW
For most students, research that involves the creation of a dissertation will demand a new skill set and new ways of thinking. Your research in this program will undoubtedly require a mixture of knowledge, dispositions, and skills - some of which you have already attained through the course of your academic experience and some which are going to be new to you. It is vital to assess your level of preparedness for the task ahead and then to develop a plan to gain the knowledge, dispositions, and skills you may lack or that require enhancement. This assignment is designed to provide you with an opportunity for self-assessment and planned development.
INSTRUCTIONS
The student will conduct a personal assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) related to their research understanding, dispositions, and skills. Students will devise a preliminary plan for personal growth as a scholar/researcher. This assignment will be approximately 6 to 10 pages in length. It will have three major sections.
Section 1 - Key Result Areas: Identify Points of Research/Writing Development (1 to 2 pages)
Using your books and additional sources, create a bullet list of the knowledge, dispositions, and skill, you will need to carry out the successful completion of the dissertation process. You may briefly explain each point where needed, but lengthy descriptions are not required. Here is an example of how you might approach this section of the assignment.
Research and Writing Knowledge Required:
1. Understanding of the five chapters of a dissertation
2. Being able to identify the critical elements of a literature review
Research and Writing Dispositions Required:
1. Possess a passionate interest in the topic including a belief in the value of the study
2. Foster a positive attitude toward learning about statistics
Research and Writing Skills Required:
1. Develop skills in the use of is Zotero.
2. Gain skills in searching Jerry Falwell Library database resources
Section 2 - Conduct a Personal SWOT Assessment (2 to 4 pages)
Using the SWOT analysis approach, identify your strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats with regard to your preparedness for the task of research and writing the dissertation. Carefully consider each category and be realistic because you will use this analysis to create your plan for scholar/researcher development. Feel free to elaborate where necessary.
Part 3 - Plan for Scholar/Researcher Development (3 to 4 pages)
Now that you have identified the knowledge, dispositions, and skills you will need to do research, and you have realistically assessed your strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats with regards to your research and writing preparedness for doing dissertation quality research, you need to develop a plan to create measurable gains in areas you lack. Your research courses will certainly help you in the knowledge and skills areas, but this plan is your plan, and therefore, it needs to reflect your awareness of where you need to be better prepared for the research task that is ahead. This plan will help to take you to the finish line. You are to lay out a plan for personal development. Include goals and action plans to achieve those goals. You can use the chart below as a model or develop your own approach.
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Key Result Area
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Goal
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Action Steps
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Timeline or Deadline
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Creating APA Reference Lists for Papers and Dissertation
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Become comfortably proficient at using Zotero by the end of the current eight-week term.
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1. Download a copy of Zotero
2. Watch Zotero Videos
3. Use Zotero to create my APA style citations page for an assignment.
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1. By the end of week four of this term
2. By the end of week six of this term.
3. By the completion of the final assignment for one of this term's courses.
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Your growth point
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Your goal
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Your steps to achieve this goal.
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Your self-imposed deadlines or a timeline to achieve the goal.
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Your growth point
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Your goal
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Your steps to achieve this goal.
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Your self-imposed deadlines or a timeline to achieve the goal.
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Your growth point
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Your goal
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Your steps to achieve this goal.
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Your self-imposed deadlines or a timeline to achieve the goal.
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Your growth point
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Your goal
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Your steps to achieve this goal.
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Your self-imposed deadlines or a timeline to achieve the goal.
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Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.