This assignment measures your ability on how to assess the quality of various sources of information, distinguish peer-reviewed sources, and how to evaluate their credibility for use in academic research. This assessment also supports your achievement of Course Learning Outcome 1.

In this assignment, you will be critically evaluating the quality and credibility of various sources of information. More specifically, you will continue exploring the Ashford University Library to locate both primary and secondary sources of information appropriate for academic research that relate to the topic you identified in this week’s discussion posting.

Instructions
First, you will conduct a scholarly search using the key words “action research”andyour chosen topic from Week One Discussion: Topic Selection (such as testing and assessment, educational standards, educational technology, literacy strategies, culturally and linguistically diverse students, safe classroom environments, disability research in general, AD/HD, autism, emotional/behavioral disturbance, intellectual disabilities or learning disabilities, etc.) and the grade level of your current or future professional goal. Your search should be conducted using a scholarly search option, such as Google (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.,Bing (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., Yahoo (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., or any other major search engine. For example, “action research and AD/HD and first grade.” Be sure to take the time to inform yourself on sound research sources including use of peer reviews as listed in the recommended and required resources for the week.

Then, using the same keywords you used to search the Web, you will conduct a search in the Ashford University Library using one of the academic databases (ERIC, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, and so forth) and create a table such as the one below using Microsoft Word. Finally, you will select two sources from either table that you feel are the best overall based on currency, credibility, authority, and academic integrity and construct a summary. For each article in your tables, use the following format:

APA Reference Entry

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy 

Source Type

(e.g., journal article, magazine article, book, and so forth)

Annotation

(e.g., two to three sentences summarizing the contents of the source)

Written Communication:
Using support from your assigned reading, the Instructor Guidance, and the discussions, submit the following for evaluation. Use the following guidelines for creating your written assignment. If you have questions about the assignment or the rubric, please contact your instructor using the Ask Your Instructor discussion before the due date.

In your paper,

• Web Search (3 points): Construct a table that includes a 6th edition APA-formatted citation, source type, and a two- to three-sentence annotation for five scholarly sources gathered from an open web search.
• Library Search (3 points): Construct a table that includes a 6th edition APA-formatted reference entry, source type, and a two- to three-sentence annotation for five scholarly sources gathered from a library search.
• Learning (2.5 points): In a paragraph, explain what you learned through this process of selecting articles and what was most informative for you about this experience.

The Finding Nemo? No, Finding Research Assignment

• Must be three to four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of Finding Nemo? No, Finding Research
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least five scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Next Steps: Review and Submit the Assignment

• Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to ensure you have achieved the distinguished levels of performance for each criterion. Next, submit your document no later than Day 7.

Recommendation: 
The MAED and MASE programs provide the opportunity for you to create an online portfolio that can be used in your career development and professional practice. Throughout your respective programs, you will have various assessments that can be included in this e-portfolio, and these will be finalized in the final capstone course, Capstone 2: Culminating Project, EDU696. You may select this assignment and subsequent coursework to include as work samples. Therefore, it is strongly encouraged you save your coursework on a flash-drive (e.g., a USB removable drive) or store in a cloud-based option such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or other similar applications.

Success Tip: Be mindful of the Week Six Final Project. The Week Six project involves conducting a peer review of an action research proposal. Preparation for this assignment must begin early to make certain you are planning ahead and saving your work. Review the full instructions for the Week Six assignment for specific information.