CONCEPT PAPER WRITING

Designing a Concept Paper or Essay

Description of the Problem/Discrepancy Statement: This is the "what" and "why" of this section. What is currently happening and what should be happening? What is the discrepancy between what "is" and what "should be"? For example: Fifteen third-graders are reading two or more grade levels below third grade. Some of these students may not be reading at all, some are only able to read the first or second pre-primer, some may be reading on the first grade level, but none of them are reading on their grade level.

Research for Concept Papers:

Review of the related literature: This is what others have discovered about your problem and the results of studies that have been conducted and published. You must review many articles and cite at least eight in your concept paper that relate to your topic. Use the literature to substantiate the existence of your problem and to identify strategies used by other researchers to address the problem.

Methods:

After defining your need/problem and identifying the discrepancy between "what is" and "what should be", you must create a strategic plan to address the problem. This section describes how the research project will be conducted. This is where you will list your goal(s) and objectives and describe your strategies. What activities, within what timeline, do you plan to implement in order to achieve the objectives and the goal(s)? who will be involved? What strategies will the teacher use and what activities will the students complete to demonstrate progress toward the objectives? How long is the projected implementation time needed to produce valid results and to objectively arrive at some conclusions? Will you use any special materials or a new curriculum? Is technology involved?

Evaluation Plan:

How will you know whether the objectives---and therefore the goal(s)---have been achieved? How will you establish the baseline (the starting point of the problem)? How will you evaluate the students' progress during the implementation period? How will you evaluate the students' progress at the end of the implementation period? How will you analyze the results? What will you do with the data you collect from these evaluation processes? Will it be used to guide future intervention, for example? How will you report them, and to whom?

Writing Goals and Objectives of Concept Papers:

A goal is a general statement that indicates what you wish to accomplish by the end of the time period. It describes the final, long-term outcomes that are expected. What is to be achieved by the end of the unit, grading period, or the end of the year?

Objectives indicate the milestones (or steps) that must be achieved to demonstrate that the goal has been reached. Objectives must be observable and measurable. They must tell who will be able to do what, how will you know that they can do it (criteria for mastery, for example), and when they will will be able to do it.

Always use action verbs in your objectives when writing concept papers, such as: match, draw, label, write the answer, tell, complete, point to (or name), calculate and explain in writing, summarize in writing (or verbally), create and publish (e.g., a webpage) .

NEVER use these words in objectives (they are not directly observable and measurable): learn, know, grasp (as in "understand") ("grasp" is fine as an action verb related to the physical holding of an object), appreciate, comprehend, indicate, apply, familiarize, believe, enjoy, like, show, recognize

For each of the words in the preceding list, you would have a very long objective to meet the requirements for a measurable objective. For example: The students will indicate (or show) that they understand how to add two 2-digit numbers with carrying by writing the correct answers to all 10 problems on a teacher-made test. Better: The target students will write the correct answers for all 10 2-digit, two number addition problems (with carrying) on the teacher-made test.

Every objective of concept essays must be observable (I can see and/or hear what the student is supposed to be able to do) and measurable (there is criteria for mastery and a method for determining whether the student has met that criteria).

You would then need to perform the following research and writing procedures:

1. Collect information and resources

2. Formulate one or more goals and several objectives

3. Select strategies that research shows have been effective and plan procedures

4. Select activities and create a timeline

(You will plan for, but will not do the next six steps for this course)

5. Assemble and prepare materials

6. Introduce and implement the project

7. Monitor progress and the process

8. Identify strengths and shortcomings in the project

9. Correct errors, difficulties, and/or omissions

10. Appraise the project's ongoing and long-term results.

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