Writing, Research & Technology, Fall 2012 Knowledge is Power Argumentative Multimodal Hybrid Research Assignment

When the average student is engaged in higher-order thinking using multimedia in interactive situations, on average, their percentage ranking on higher-order or transfer skills increases by 32 percentile points over what that student would have accomplished with traditional learning (Metiri Group, 2008). Primary goal of assignment: To become mindful citizens and rhetorically effective collaborative writers in the multimodal public sphere For this assignment, you will be an investigator, a reporter, an expert. You and your group will brainstorm and workshop a topic and research agenda that you have a direct interest in. Just as with traditional research, you will begin with a research question that you genuinely want to learn more about. Through your research, you will develop your argumentative thesis that you will prove/support through the demonstration of a multimodal, webbased argument. Your goal is to discover/uncover, not to merely regurgitate others pre-existing arguments. Preliminary Readings: Powell, Alexander, & Borton (2011) Interaction of Author, Audience, and Purpose in Multimodal Texts: Students Discovery of Their Role as Composer Kuhn (2005) Picturing Work: Visual Projects in the Writing Classroom Step One: Formulating a topic of curiosity Brainstorm a list of topics that affect you. What are you interested in knowing more about? Step Two: Formulating a research question Your research question should be: Pertinent to your lives or your generation, or your major/interests Specific (For example, dont tackle all the corruption in politics in one assignment) Researchable through a broad variety of sources (video, interview, print, etc.) Argumentative (Whats the point if everyone agrees? You have nothing to prove) New, not obvious or expected (If its been done already, do something else) Possible research questions (suggestions, by no means limitations). This is where you would begin your research before formulating your thesis: What is in the food that we eat at Rowan? Is bullying a problem at the college level? At Rowan? Are Rowan students educated enough about sexual assault on campus? How will fracking affect us in New Jersey? Should the government bail out student loan debt? Teach For America: Has It Betrayed Its Mission To Save Poor, Struggling Schools? How could the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol ballot measure affect our economy? How and when should alcohol education (or sex ed) be taught in schools? Step Three: Obtaining preliminary sources & completing a Works Cited Sources: This is important. Failure to follow these guidelines will reduce your grade. You must have 6-10 sources (no more, no less) for your research assignment. You may have no more than two personal interviews from experts in the field You may use no more than two web sites, and it must not be a biased secondary source with listed facts/stats about your topic. Your sources must have an identifiable author or sponsoring organization. Television interviews and digital clips are approved source materials; again, beware of bias

Avoid:

Clearly biased websites Anonymous sources Outdated sources (more than 5 years, 10 max) Wikipedia and similar secondary sites Obviously biased news organizations (such as FOX) Unreliable interviews; if the person is not an expert, why should you interview him/her?

Step Four: Determining the answer to your research question Now this part isnt always easy; but developing a clear, directed thesis is paramount. Essentially, your thesis should be the answer to your research question. Your thesis should explain to your audience how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. It should directly answer the question asked of you, and make a claim that others might dispute. In other words, you dont want to still be working your way through the answer halfway into your project; know what you want to prove. Step Five: Determine and plot the best modes and genres to express your argument, as outlined below. You MUST combine your genres and modes with a 5-7 page traditional research paper to create a hybrid multimodal research project. For this assignment, you and your group will create a new Weebly site together where you will collaboratively blog, post drafts, and ultimately create your final argumentative page on the website that will make your argument to the public. You will include a combination of 5-7 page (double-spaced) researched pages accompanied by 4-5 other argumentative genres. We will look at examples in class, but you will have options. Review Step Six as you plot. You must include at least 3 of the following on your webpage: Documentary created/filmed by you (example to view: Are rural farms better than factory farms?) Oral History Interview (example: Mushrooms) A satirical news piece created/filmed by you (Think Jon Stewart) A photo essay (sample here) with at least 20 photos/captions. You must have at least 10 original photos, and you may have up to 10 borrowed photos with attribution. An original persuasive song, written and performed by you/your group Consider the four aspects that comprise ones representation of meaning: materiality, framing, design, and production (see Albers article). Step Six (may be eliminated due to Sandy): Rhetorical analysis of your groups design and modal/genre choices. This piece should appear as a separate tab on your web page and will explain the following: Who is your target audience for this page? If ONE person in the world could Google your page and be persuaded by it, who would that ideal audience member be? Be as specific as you can here (Avoid general audience or everybody or all college students or all of Rowan). Consider: age, gender, socioeconomic standing, political affiliation, sexual preferences, geography, education, etc.) What led you to choose the modes and genres you chose for your web page? Why were your choices the best? Consider materiality, framing, design, and production. Which genres do you feel were most successful and WHY? Which were least and why? Discuss design and arrangement. What prompted your group to choose certain fonts? Colors? Order and spacing?
Due dates: Brainstorming: Topic Proposal Presentations: Sources due: Draft one of paper: Rough draft of entire project: Final Presented in class (10 minutes top per group):