Instructional Models Research Paper
Assignment (50 points)
- Compose a 10-page research paper excluding introductory material and references on one of the theories or instructional models we will discuss in this class.
Topic: ARCS motivation model and gamification in e-learning
Requirements
- Choose one of the theories or models from the class topics to write on. Your topic must be specific enough to be discussed in a short paper.
- Adhere to APA submission format (6th edition), including title page, abstract, running header, headings, in-text citations, and references.
- The article should cite at least 15 sources, including books, articles and journals. Other sources, such as websites and ERIC documents, should be used judiciously, since these documents have not been reviewed by others except where the papers have been submitted from a conference such as Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT).
- Your paper will be peer reviewed in order to increase the quality of your writing. The peer review draft should be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.doc / .docx).
- Your final formatted paper should be submitted as a PDF (.pdf) using the guidelines below in “Submitting Your Assignment” section.
Research Paper Structure
Below is the format for your paper, which should yield you success.
Introduction (approximately 1 page)
- Tell the reader what your topic is, give us the background, and give us some indication of why this is important…why should we care? At the end of this section, include an advance organizer for the remainder of your paper.
Theory (approximately 2-3 pages)
- Who has written about this topic before? How have they interpreted your topic? Synthesize this information into a meaningful way for the reader. Don’t just start each paragraph with, “Grant (1999)…Smith (2002)…Thompson (1985).” You should use synthesis here, not summary. You should be combining multiple references together to present. Do not summarize a single reference.
Cases (approximately 2 pages)
- This section should include an introduction with advance organizer. At the beginning of this section, tell why these cases were chosen. This reason cannot be because you found them. Summarize each of your cases. You should have at least two cases. Where and how is your topic being used/done? What are their successes? What are the challenges these folks have faced and written about? It is okay to summarize here. Do not present answers or recommendations to the challenges yet.
Recommendations (approximately 2 pages)
- Take the opportunity to address the challenges you mentioned within the cases. How would you suggest they overcome their challenges? Who else (in the literature) has also suggested this type of approach to overcoming the challenges?
Conclusions/Next Steps (approximately 1 page)
- Remind us what you have written about, emphasizing the recommendations for improvement. Where can folks go for more information?