Research Proposal

ASSIGNMENT: Review the in-text comments and summary feedback you received on your Touchstone 3 draft to enhance your writing. You will then submit a revision of your Touchstone 3 draft that reflects the evaluator’s feedback. Make sure to include a copy of your Touchstone 3 draft below the reflection questions for this unit.

As this assignment builds on Touchstone 3: Draft a Project Proposal, that Touchstone must be graded before you can submit your final research essay.

Sample Touchstone 4
A. Assignment Guidelines
DIRECTIONS: When finalizing your persuasive proposal, you will need to use prior feedback to edit and revise your draft. The final version should be cohesive and have sources integrated throughout. It is also important to proofread and check for grammar and spelling errors.

Keep in mind: Refer to the list below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets these guidelines.

Editing and Revising
❒ Have you significantly revised the essay by adjusting areas like organization, focus, and clarity?
❒ Have you made comprehensive edits to word choice, sentence variety, and style?
❒ Have your edits and revisions addressed the feedback provided by your evaluator?
Cohesion and Source Integration
❒ Is the information presented in a logical order that is easy for the reader to follow?
❒ Have you included smooth transitions between sentences and paragraphs?
❒ Have you introduced your sources clearly and in a way that demonstrates their validity to the reader?
Conventions and Proofreading
❒ Have you double-checked for correct formatting, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization?
❒ Have you ensured that any quoted material is represented accurately?
B. Reflection Questions Guidelines
DIRECTIONS: Below your assignment, include answers to all of the following reflection questions.

How much time did you spend revising your draft? What revision strategies did you use and which worked best for you? (2-3 sentences)
List three concrete revisions that you made and explain how you made them. What problem did you fix with each of these revisions? Issues may be unity, cohesion, rhetorical appeals, content, or any other areas on which you received constructive feedback. (4-5 sentences)
What did you learn about your writing process or yourself as a writer? How has your understanding of the research process changed as a result of taking this course? (2-3 sentences)
Keep in mind: Refer to the list below throughout the reflection process. Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets these guidelines.

❒ Have you answered all reflection questions thoughtfully and included insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses?
❒ Are your answers included on a separate page below the composition?
C. Rubric
Advanced (100%) Proficient (85%) Acceptable (75%) Needs Improvement (50%) Non-Performance (0%)
Revising
Demonstrate comprehensive “re-visioning” of the composition.
There is evidence of comprehensive re-visioning of the draft composition, including adjustments to organization, focus, clarity, and/or unity where needed or appropriate. There is evidence of significant re-visioning of the draft composition, including adjustments to organization, focus, clarity, and/or unity where needed or appropriate. There is evidence of some re-visioning of the draft composition, including adjustments to organization, focus, clarity, and/or unity where needed or appropriate; however, a few areas need some additional revision. There is little evidence of re-visioning of the draft composition, such that multiple areas in need of changes were unaltered. Revisions are absent or did not address the issues in the essay.
Editing
Demonstrate comprehensive sentence-level edits throughout the composition.
There is evidence of comprehensive edits to the draft composition, including adjustments to word choice, sentence completeness, sentence variety, and/or style where needed or appropriate. There is evidence of substantial edits to the draft composition, including adjustments to word choice, sentence completeness, sentence variety, and/or style where needed or appropriate. There is evidence of some edits to the draft composition, including adjustments to word choice, sentence completeness, sentence variety, and/or style where needed/appropriate; however, some issues were overlooked. There is little evidence of edits made to the draft composition, such that many errors remain. Edits are absent or did not address the issues in the essay.
Source Integration
Integrate source material appropriately and effectively.
Introduces sources smoothly and effectively through direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Uses APA formatting for references with 2 or fewer errors. Primarily introduces sources effectively through direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Uses APA formatting for references with 3-4 errors. Introduces some sources effectively through direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary, but more variety could be used. Uses APA formatting for references with 5-6 errors. Relies too heavily on one method of source integration (direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary); does not thoughtfully apply source integration techniques.Uses APA formatting for references with considerable, 7+ errors. Shows no attempt to integrate source material into the composition or relies on quoted source material for over half of the composition.Does not use APA formatting for references.
Cohesion
Establish and maintain a logical flow.
Sequences ideas and paragraphs logically and uses smooth transitions (within and between paragraphs) such that the reader can easily follow the progression of ideas. Sequences ideas and paragraphs logically and uses transitions (within and between paragraphs) such that the reader can easily follow the progression of ideas. Primarily sequences ideas and paragraphs logically and uses sufficient transitions (within and between paragraphs) such that the reader can generally follow the progression of ideas. The progression of ideas is often difficult to follow, due to poor sequencing, ineffective transitions, and/or insufficient transitions. The progression of ideas is consistently difficult to follow, due to poor sequencing and lack of transitions.
Conventions and Proofreading
Demonstrate command of standard English grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.
There are few, if any, negligible errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are occasional minor errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are some significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are frequent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.
Reflection
Answer reflection questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.
Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; consistently includes insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses, following or exceeding response length guidelines. Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; includes multiple insights, observations, and/or examples, following response length guidelines. Primarily demonstrates thoughtful reflection, but some responses are lacking in detail or insight; primarily follows response length guidelines. Shows limited reflection; the majority of responses are lacking in detail or insight, with some questions left unanswered or falling short of response length guidelines. No reflection responses are present.
D. Requirements
The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded:

Composition must be 6-8 pages (approximately 1500-2000 words).
Double-space the composition and use one-inch margins.
Use a readable 12-point font.
All writing must be appropriate for an academic context.
Composition must be original and written for this assignment.
Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited.
Submission must include your name, the name of the course, the date, and the title of your composition.
Submission must include your graded Touchstone 3 assignment.
Include all of the assignment components in a single file.
Acceptable file formats include .doc and .docx.
E. Additional Resources
The following resources will be helpful to you as you work on this assignment:

Purdue Online Writing Lab’s APA Formatting and Style Guide
This site includes a comprehensive overview of APA style, as well as individual pages with guidelines for specific citation types.
Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style
This page on the official APA website addresses common questions related to APA formatting. The “References,” “Punctuation,” and “Grammar and Writing Style” sections will be the most useful to your work in this course.
APA Style: Quick Answers—References
This page on the official APA Style website provides numerous examples of reference list formatting for various source types.