Return to Economics of Education HomepageEconomics 4250 H
Economics of Education
David B. Mustard
Paper Assignments
Educational Research
Project - paper and presentation
In
teams of 2-4 students you must thoroughly analyze some educational issue.
Your own research on the issue should go far beyond what we discuss in class.
Each group must present its paper and results in class. You will be graded
both on your contribution to the research project and your presentation. Each
paper must indicate who contributed what portions of the project.
There
is no minimum or maximum length of the report. Instead of writing a paper
of a certain length you should thoroughly evaluate the issue. For example,
if you use regression analysis your paper will be more concise than others.
If you have questions about the length of the paper, please ask me.
You want to find research ideas that are interesting, important, and tractable for 8 weeks.
You may study issues that are well developed or that are less settled.
I generally give a few extra points for taking on a more risky (less
settled and often more creative) research question.
Although you may obtain your own data, a successful research project
may utilize academic research or qualitative evidence like interviews.
Potential
topics include local issues (proposals for charter schools or evaluating
Athens-Clarke County's limited choice education program), state issues (Governors'
educational reform proposal, HOPE Scholarship, or funding differences for
local school districts), and federal plans (the role of school vouchers in
the presidential election or the ability of teachers' unions to influence
voting behavior). You can choose topics from any level - primary, secondary,
undergraduate or graduate education.
There
will be a series of due dates for this project, which tentatively are as follows:
Initial Formation
of Groups and 1 Page Project Summary - Fri. Sep. 25
In-class feedback on group projects - Wed. Sep. 30
Final Formation
of Groups and 1 Page Project Summary - Wed. Oct. 14
Project
Outline and Preliminary Reference List- Fri. Nov. 6
Papers Presented in Class- Wed. Dec. 2, Fri. Dec. 4, Mon. Dec. 7, Tue. Dec. 8
Final
Paper Due - Mon. Dec. 14.
**Please
note. At each of these deadlines I encourage you to submit as much
information as you have. The more information you provide, the more
feedback I will be able to give.
EXAMPLES OF OLD PAPERS
1. "The Advanced Placement Program: How Have AP Classes Changed Secondary and Higher Education in America?"
2. "Does the College You Attend Affect Your Future Income?"
PAPER POLICIES
All paper assignments must be handed
in at the beginning of class. Assignments not handed in at the beginning
of class will be assessed late penalties. For each 24-hour period after
the paper is due, there will be a penalty of 10% reduced from the grade.
Spelling, grammar and structure affect
lend credibility and strength to your argument, and therefore, will be evaluated
in your grade.
----------------------------------------------- PAPER ORGANIZATION
Each paper should be organized as follows:
1) Title page with authors and abstract--short (about 150-250 word summary of the paper, why it is important and its results)
2) Introduction--a few pages that motivate the paper, provide a general introduction to the topic, outline the rest of the paper. The introduction is usually 2-5 pages.
3) Main analysis--can be organized into a few different sections. This is the heart of the analysis.
4)
Conclusion--a summary statement of the main findings of your paper. This
should be about .5 - 1.5 pages.
5) References
Please use page numbers on the center of the bottom on every page.
Use footnotes and not endnotes. Footnote identifiers should go outside of punctuation.
I strongly encourage you to use tables and figures
to provide more persuasive evidence of your argument. However, when you
use them be sure to integrate them into the text and describe the main
point or two of each table. Tables and figures are not stand alone
items, but need to be explained.
----------------------------------------------- CITATIONS
You should use the standard social science citation form, which you can see in the journal articles we read in class.
For example, "Bush (1999) argues ...." or "Many studies (Jones 1998, Marshal 1999, Wilson 2000) conclude that high-stakes testing may have adverse impacts"
You should cite things that are not general knowledge. For example, there would be no reason to cite like "because most schools are on break in the summer, children are looking for ways to fill their time."
SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING
I highly recommend that you read John Cochrane's "Writing
Tips for Ph.D. Students." June 8, 2005.
Argument/Evaluation:
Use active voice not passive voice. Active
voice makes the argument more concise and comprehensible.
Get the facts right
Both sides - costs and benefits
Believe vs. feel or use "argue" "contend"
"maintain"
Can often eliminate "seems to" and "appears
to"
More accurate:
Very general about some things. Watch use
of buzzwords (efficiency)
affect-effect
their-there
to-two-too
principal-principle
More Concise:
Eliminate
- “in order to” -
can be written "to".
- "in an effort
to" regulate -> "to"
- “in fact"- eliminate
- “due to the fact that"- use "because"
- "needless to
say" "It is needless to say that the regulation imposes costs and benefits."
- "in other words"
- "that is"
- "itself" "themselves"
etc. "The government regulated the industry itself"
- "so as to" ->
"to"
- "actually" -
can often be omitted.