Synthesis Paper
For this learning activity you must identify a problem or question(s) on a topic related to adult teaching and learning in your field of expertise and interest and that relates to one (or more) of the theories/models studied in this class. You will search the relevant literature on your chosen topic for authors who have addressed your problem or questions. You will then synthesize this information into a written paper.
Please note that a synthesis is not a summary, comparison or review of a topic. Rather, a synthesis is the integration of ideas to create your own thesis, argument, or conclusion. If you would like additional information on what a synthesis is, please visit with the instructor. As well, you might do an Internet search on Bloom’s Taxonomy for a description of a synthesis.
Ideally this synthesis paper will be an extensive search of all appropriate sources and include references to empirical studies (experimental research, surveys, case studies, phenomenological studies, etc.; either online or print), sometimes referred to as primary sources, and non-empirical sources (literature reviews, opinion articles, best practices, brochures, web sites, personal communication, etc.), sometimes referred to as secondary sources. The expectations are that the paper will be made up of enough recent primary studies on your topic with other secondary studies to conclude an answer to your problem/questions, or to substantiate that there is not enough research on your problem/questions to yet reach a conclusion.
Completing your synthesis paper for this course is a two-step process:
Step 1: Paper Proposal. Identify your potential topic and resources early in the semester. This will allow you sufficient time to obtain articles and books through Inter-Library Loan (ILL); CSU or the lending library will send you a copy of the article at no charge, via email. To this end you will need to develop a short draft of your proposal for the paper, using APA format for an article. Include all of the following:
1. Title Page
2. Abstract
3. Introduction: Includes setting the background for the project the actual problem and/or questions. This should be about one page and serve to inform the reader on what you plan to investigate.
4. How you plan to go about addressing the problem or answering the questions. What is your search strategy? What databases will you be searching? What keywords will you be using? This is usually just about one page long.
5. References (include a list of books and articles that you will be analyzing and synthesizing)
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