q Frist Draft

6 of 3

1. Pick a topic relating to HR you are interested in finding out more.

2. Develop a main argument (thesis statement).

3. Identify three articles to the topic.

   • Suggested Website: www.workforce.com

   • Make sure the articles are related to Human Resources topics.

1. Give a summary of each of three articles (about a half – one page for each article). The purpose of these summaries is to give these persons a clear overview of the articles’ main points.

1. Synthesized Reflection

Describe the importance of the topic you have selected (not each article, but the topic that connects the articles). State what impact or importance this topic has on managers. All three articles must be used to support your argument and citations must be provided for the cited contents/information from the articles.

“Synthesis means putting ideas from many sources together in one essay or presentation. After reading several books, watching movies and participating in a variety of class activities, your task is to organize some of the information around a theme or a question, make generalizations, and then present information (statistics, quotes, examples) in a logical way to support your argument.

Remind yourself that a synthesis is NOT a summary, a comparison or a review. Rather a synthesis is a result of an integration of what you heard/read and your ability to use this learning to develop and support a key thesis or argument.

Learning to write a synthesis paper is a critical skill, crucial to organizing and presenting information is academic and non-academic settings.” (Adopted from http://archives.evergreen.edu/webpages/curricular/2001-2002/poliecon2001/synthesis.htm)

1. The majority of points (60%) will be assigned to the “Synthesized Reflection” portion of your review.

1. Style in Business Writing

• The paper must be written in business writing style.

• To develop an effective business writing style (adopted from http://pages.uoregon.edu/ddusseau/101/199/style.html)

  1. Use shorter sentences.

  2. Use simpler sentence structures.

  3. Use active voice.

  4. Write from the point of view of the company/manager.

  5. Avoid nominalizing verbs. (changing verbs into nouns, i.e. "decide" into "decision.")

  6. Recommend action rather than refer to individual mental states (i.e. I think, I feel like, etc.).

  7. Avoid personalizing pronouns such as “they,” “it,” “those,” “you,” and “these.”

     1. For example, change “You need to….” to “Managers need to…” “They need to…” to “Employees need to…”

1. GRADING

Summaries

The purpose of the summaries is to give this person a clear overview of the article’s main points.

• The criteria for the summaries are

  1. Conciseness and accuracy

  2. Comprehensiveness and balance

Synthesized reflection: Importance

• The criteria for this section are

• Clearly stated the impact or importance the topic has on managers

  • State WHY the topic is important

  • Using examples is a good way to explain why the topic is important

• Organization should be logical

• Paragraphs should be developed with pertinent examples or citations from the articles used for the summary

• Writing style will be suited to the intended readers

• Citing all three articles to support the main argument.

Clarity, readability, grammatical correctness, format

• • • • The paper must be typed, double spacing, 12 point Times New Roman font. Expected length is at least 4-5 pages (2-3 pages for article summaries, at least 2 pages for synthesized reflection).

      • Cover page – include the topic and student number

      • Include copies of articles that you read from www.workforce.com.

• Links to the articles are acceptable as long as the links lead to the actual articles.

  • • • Put articles’ title and authors’ name on top of each summary.

      • Use headings and subheadings

I. First Draft

• Double spaced

• 12 Font size Times New Roman; 11-font size if Arial used.

• 4 -5 page excluding the cover page

• Must written in Word format. PDF or other formats are not Accepted.

• A paper must follow the layout:

• Cover page with a proper title (2 points)

• Title of 1st article, author’s name, and URL to the article (3 points)

• Title of 2nd article, author’s name, and URL to the article (1 points)

• Title of 3rd article, author’s name, and URL to the article (1 points)

• Heading - Synthesized Reflection (2 points)

• Late submission will NOT be accepted.

• Students who have not submitted their first draft by the deadline will not receive a peer’s paper to review. This will result in losing a total of 35 points (20 for the first draft and 15 for the peer review).

• Where to submit: Canvas - Assignments – Mini Research Paper First Draft

Grading Rubric