your topic will need to stem from the following question in some way: “What is something that happens in school (middle school, high school, or college) that limits student agency?”

In short: You will all research a problem that you have identified within the education system. For your final essay (the paper after this one), you will outline the problem, explain how student agency is limited because of what is happening, and then offer a reasonable, achievable solution to the problem.

Assignment Specifics:

Interestingly,this Essay #3 will NOT make an argument (that will come in your final paper of the semester); instead, Essay #3 outlines your research process for learning about your topic and summarizes and evaluates your sources. In this essay, you will:

• introduce your topic, research question, and research process
• outline the SOAP of THREEdifferent articles (we’re looking for articles found in the public domain)
• summarize the main ideas of each article
• discuss important, surprising, or relevant passages from each article
• conclude by teasing out the similarities and differences between the arguments.

Essay #3 should be between 4 and 5 pages long,typed and double-spacedin 12-point, Times New Roman font; it should include in-text citationsand a Works Cited pagefollowing MLA format; and the essay should follow my Format for Written Work.

You should prioritize paraphrase over quotation when writing your summaries. You must cite ALL paraphrases.

Some questions that might lead you to a specific topic:

• What barriers exist that prevent first-generation college students from graduating from college?
• What barriers exist that make higher education particularly challenging for international students?
• Are “Dreamers” still struggling to graduate college, despite being eligible to attend? Why or why not?
• Does the cost of college limit what students choose to study in college?
• Do parents and/or cultural values limit what majors students choose to study?
• Are four-year colleges that focus on a liberal arts foundation hindering student progress? Why or why not?
• Are we teaching college composition all wrong? Why or why not?
• Are educators creating unmotivated students? Why or how so?
• What factors lead students to plagiarize in college?
• Are colleges and universities investing in the appropriate resources to support students?
• Do students plagiarize in college because of how they are taught in secondary schools? Why or why not?
• Are students underprepared for college-level writing?
• Are students inadequately prepared to write in the workforce after graduation?

Source Search List:

• Write down your topic or research question that you think you might want to explore for this project:
• Then, cross out unnecessary words and underline important terms:
• Based on your identified search terms, start searching! If you get too many or too few results, modify your search terms.
• What search terms ended up being unhelpful? What search terms ended up being helpful?
• Why do you think the terms lists in your second column ended up being helpful? How did they help you get closer to your final Project #3 topic and source list?

e.g.: What barriers exist that prevent first-generation college students from graduating from college?

e.g. Whatbarriersexist that preventfirst-generation college studentsfromgraduating?

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1.Why do you think the terms lists in your second column ended up being helpful? How did they help you get closer to your final Project #3 topic and source list?