Class:  LAS301 “The Adult Learner”

This Assignment needs A personal project and research proposal! Please read all the instructions that I have provided down below!

The personal project and the research proposal are related to each other, but they are separate, please provide all the citation work, and should be in APA style  

This week we’ll converge where research meets personal passion.

We’ll learn about the personal project involving research and begin the process by crafting informal research proposals as we contemplate personal goals and values in a community.  

We’ll also take in a number of perspectives and best practices related to conducting and synthesizing research.  

The goal of this week’s module is to begin situating ourselves as lifelong learners within the context of our own lives and communities. To do this we’ll consider questions such as:

What am I curious about?

What kinds of knowledge do I value?  

What motivates me to learn new things?  

How do I learn best and how will I employ my strengths in this learning process?

Where can I find discourse communities that resonate with my values and curiosities?

Important things your presentation must include:

• Topic and Purpose (What are you learning and why?)

• Process and Methods (How did you go about learning it? What happened at each phase?)

• Materials (What gear or materials were involved? What media did you engage in your process?)

• RESEARCH (How have your sources shifted your paradigm, inspired creative thinking, pushed you to inquire further, or upended your sense of direction?)

• Consider and Compare Opposing Viewpoints (What are the various sides of this topic?)

• Observations (What have you noticed? About the process? About yourself?)

• Conclusions (What have you learned so far? About yourself? About the topic at hand?)

• Further Questions (What do you want to know next? Where do you see this project taking you in the future?)

• Source list (Who and what did you learn from? Give credit where credit is due. Any style OK.)  

Aim for a presentation that is around 10 minutes in length or 3-5 pages if you go in the essay direction.  

This personal project involving research may lend itself to the composition of your personal mission statement. And, by that I mean, your personal mission and purpose may be related to and informed by the topics that interest you and propel your lifelong learning. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to directly connect. If you’re uncertain about potential connections between the two and would like to talk it over, I’m here for that.  

Give yourself permission in the course of this project involving research to embrace Beginners Mind. Give yourself the Grace to start EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE with what you have at hand. Give yourself permission to be MESSY, to be IMPerfect, to FAIL, to get things wrONg, and to change your mind!

Challenge yourself to be resourceful, frugal, creative, and most of all … to HAVE FUN.  

Research Proposal

Write a 1–2-page informal research proposal outlining the topics and questions you’d like to explore independently for the next few weeks. Include a few ideas for sources. Discuss the kinds of research methods you might use, and what thoughts you have about how you will present your research a couple of weeks from now.

If you have any questions for me regarding this creative research experiment, you can include them in this proposal.  

Make sure to pick something that you are NOT already an expert in. It may be related to your field or something that you have some knowledge of.  

If you’re feeling uncertain, review the preceding pages in this module.

The most important aspect of this project will be documenting your process and synthesizing what you glean from your sources.

Your presentation will weave your personal story (or WHY you chose to research this thing) with your research process, so don’t worry about perfection or getting all the answers. This project does not require the production of a polished product. Instead, its intention is to ignite your fires of curiosity. A successful project involving research might lead to years of experimentation and learning.