Overview
HUM101 requires a Final Portfolio Project. This project will focus on an issue (social, professional, or personal) that you wish to investigate critically.
Please read the full Portfolio Project description (attached on the second page).
For this Portfolio Milestone, you will submit your revised topic and a draft outline of your Final Portfolio.
Directions:
Include the following in your milestone submission:
- A 2-page outline of your project which includes:
- Refer to the CSU Global Writing Center’s tips on how to form up an outline. (attached below)
- Use the CSU Global Writing Center’s outline template for a good start. (attached below)
- Main points and sub-points
- One paragraph describing your revised topic selection and a research question OR a thesis statement that you will use critical thinking skills to investigate.
- One paragraph describing how you will use the intellectual standards to critically investigate the topic.
If you need assistance with your writing style or you need writing tips or tutorials, visit the CSU Global Writing Center. Review the grading rubric to see how you will be graded for this assignment.
Reference:
Steiner-Williams, J. (2014, August 18). Developing a thesis statement [Video]. LinkedIn Learning.
Portfolio Project Description for the reference:
Portfolio Project (300 Points)
Critical Investigation
Use Paul and Elder’s (2012) intellectual standards to find a topic or problem that is clear, relevant, significant, and precise. Select an issue that you wish to investigate critically (social, professional, or personal). Examples of topics:
- How can I secure a job in accounting when I have no experience in the field?
- What proposals has the city of Denver made to reduce water consumption? How might this impact individual consumers?
- What financial changes do I need to make to retire at the age of 62?
- Should wolves be reintroduced to Rio Blanco County?
- How can I manage my children’s cell phone usage?
- How can the pay gap between men and women best be addressed in my company?
- What are the most effective ways to address anxiety and depression? How can I use these to better my health?
IMPORTANT: The Final Portfolio is not a traditional “term paper.”
Your final portfolio submission should include the following sections:
- Title page
- Introduction
- Engagement with issue or problem using scholarly sources and the intellectual standards proposed by Paul and Elder (2012): What is the issue? Why is it significant? Why is this issue relevant to you (and/or your community)? What have you learned about the depth and breadth of the issue or problem from scholarly sources?
- Engagement with your own assumptions or thinking about the issue. What assumptions do you bring to this subject? What concepts are “at work” in your mind as you investigate this issue? Why is this subject of interest to you and how might this skew your investigations? These questions constitute some of the issues covered by Paul and Elder (2012) in their “elements of reason.”
- Engagement with scholarly sources: How do the scholarly sources aid you as you think about the issue fair-mindedly and with depth? What have you learned from the scholarly sources that have helped you analyze the issue?
- Conclusion: Reflect on your issue or problem and how the sources informed your thinking. What have you learned? How can you apply the intellectual standards and elements of reason to this issue or problem to come to creative solutions? What critical questions remain?
- References Page
Details:
- You may write in the first person for your Final Portfolio Project.
- Your paper should engage a minimum of six scholarly sources that are not required or recommended readings for this course. The CSU Global Library (Links to an external site.) is a good place to find these sources.
- Your paper should be 5-6 pages in length (not including the title page and reference page). Format your paper according to the CSU Global Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
- Refer to the Revision Checklist (Links to an external site.) for an overview of items to consider as you add final polish to your draft.
Consult the Sample APA Paper (Links to an external site.) for a more complete list of requirements. You may wish to review the APA Template Paper (Links to an external site.) for help formatting your essay according to the requirements. If you need assistance with your writing style or you need writing tips or tutorials, visit the CSU Global Writing Center (Links to an external site.). Review the grading rubric to see how you will be graded for this assignment.
References :
Elder, L., & Paul, R. (2012). Critical thinking: Competency standards essential to the cultivation of intellectual skills, Part 4. Journal of Developmental Education, 35(3), 30-31.
How to form up an outline
In this section, you’ll find resources on creating Outlines. APA style does not require any specific formatting for outlines because APA style is intended for published texts and academic essays.
CREATING AN OUTLINE
An outline is a drafting tool to help you plan your paper. An outline provides structure for the sections and/or paragraphs of your paper, depending on the scope of your project. Please note that APA style does not require any specific formatting for outlines because APA style is intended for published texts and academic essays.
An outline should illustrate the progression of your thesis statement. Since each paragraph should have a main idea supported by evidence, you can use support from your research to outline your paper, paragraph by paragraph
- A thesis statement is a short statement that introduces the argument of your paper as a whole.
- Every paragraph in your paper should begin with a claim/main idea, which will be a debatable assertion or position that requires support. Claims build off one another in order to develop an argument over the course of an essay.
- Every claim should be supported by evidence or support, the proof that validates your claim. Evidence and support usually come from other sources, like peer-reviewed journal articles. This can include facts, data, statistics, anecdotes, and more.
Keep the following tips in mind when creating an outline:
- Remember, outlines should be helpful for you when writing your paper. You should be able to look at your outline and write major sections or paragraphs using the information and ideas in your outline.
- Level 1 bullet points should outline the major topics and ideas of your paper.
- Level 2 bullet points should plan out sub-topics, supporting ideas, and organizational aspects of your essay.
- Level 3 bullet points illustrate an extra level of thought and detail in your outline that you might not need. However, if you have done a lot of research on your topic already, you can use Level 3 bullet points to plan out your analysis for each piece of evidence or where to address specific counterarguments.
- It is not always required, but it can be a good idea to include a references page after your outline. This way, your sources are already organized when you begin drafting your essay.
This downloadable sample outline will help you understand what a completed outline could look like.
You can use this downloadable outline template to help you get started with your assignment.
