EDIT 7650
Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations Draft
Assignment Description
Value: 10 points

created 1-17-08

Task
In the Results section, you presented your findings in objective terms. In this section, you may discuss these results.  What do they clearly mean?  What do you think they might mean? Interpret them if necessary. Explain your results if you can - why do you think the results are as they are?  You probably had such subjective thoughts while writing the results, and now you have a chance to use those thoughts. Make sure, however, to use "marker words" such as:

• "One possible interpretation of this finding is...."
• "In my opinion, ..."
• "This result could possibly indicate..."
• "This result strongly supports the conclusion..."  or "This result provides some evidence that..."
• "It is possible that ..."
• "Almost certainly, ..."
  

These phrases are essential in alerting the reader to your use of informed opinion and reflection in this section.  Make sure to tie each conclusion or opinion to the evidence presented earlier.

My task, once again, is to give full credit for complete submissions, and to provide quick formative feedback so that you may revise and go on to the next step.

In this section, you may need to use narrative more so than in the Results section.

• Feedback/Action table: as in the past, provide an updated table that lists feedback given and actions taken. Simply add to your previous version and include it here.
  
• Overview: write this last, but present it first. It should outline the elements to follow within this section.
• Discussion: take each result and try to explain it. Be rational, and differentiate between your levels of confidence.
  
• Conclusions:
  
• If you have not done so already, provide a table that answers your research question(s). Restate the question, provide your answer, and connect back to each piece of supporting evidence.
• In a bulleted list, provide your conclusions.  These are the "facts" that you believe you have learned from this study. They may include answers to research questions, and other conclusions may have cropped up as well.  Make sure that your Discussion explores your reasoning, and clearly demonstrates how you connected the dots between results and conclusions.
  
• Recommendations:  in another bulleted list, provide the changes you expect to make in your own practice as a result of this Project. Include general recommendations for others as well, if you think they are warranted. Make sure that these recommendations are based on your findings, and that you have discussed the connections.  Remember that your situation may be very limited and that it's not safe to generalize if so.  However, you can often recommend that educators in similar situations consider a certain action or experiment with a certain approach.
  
• Educational significance: What difference will your findings make?  Discuss the importance of your findings.  Revisit your original Research Question and remind us why this problem was worthy of research, in light of your findings.
  
• Summary: in approximately 3 paragraphs (or less), sum up your entire study: what you did and why, what you learned, and how your practice will change.  If a reader can only read one page to describe your study, this should be it.  Look at the abstract for any published research study as a model.
  

Submission Format

• Keep in mind that your AP will be online eventually.  Because it's difficult to comment on web pages, I prefer either a GoogleDoc or Office documents for this assignment.
  
• WebCT dropbox:
  
• If it's a GoogleDoc, submit the URL in the dropbox and remember to "share" with me (use my Gmail name: maryannfitz@gmail.com.)
• If you use Office, use the smallest possible number of files, and name them thus: SusieQ-discussion.doc. (Substitute your name for SusieQ.)
  
• Self-assess on an embedded rubric.
• I plan to submit my feedback in the same Dropbox.
• Mechanics are not evaluated here, but do your best because it saves time.
  

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