About Political Science Research-Based Experience (PSRBE) is an assignment where

About
Political Science Research-Based Experience (PSRBE) is an assignment where you participate in work-based learning preparing you for employment as an undergraduate research assistant to a political scientist.
Work-based learning (WBL) is growing in popularity in higher education. The premise is straightforward: part of your educational experience should feature a work-based learning component to help you acquire practical knowledge, skills, and abilities related to general and specific career opportunities in your chosen field.
While this is a political science-centric research-based experience, it is important to highlight that the research-based experience principles you learn here can readily be applied to other disciplines in social and behavioral sciences and humanities, such as anthropology, economics, history, psychology, and sociology.
Video Recording of Walkthrough
Question: I want to listen to a specific slide, how can I navigate the video recording?
If you want to navigate to specific parts, please view the recording in YouTubeLinks to an external site. and find the Table of Contents in the description of the video.
The Table of Contents includes links to specific slides and the audio explanations.
PowerPoint Slides of Walkthrough
Estimated Time
An estimated 40-80 hours is needed to complete this activity over the 8-week term. It is recommended that you allocate 5-10 hours per week to complete this experience.
This is a self-paced assessment, but weekly submission is required.
If you read the estimated time and starting to feel anxious, that is understandable. However, I suggest you take a deep breath and take a moment to put this into perspective.
Any 3 units course, such as this one, expects that students spend 144-152 hours in total for the course. This means you are expected to spend up to 144-152 over the course of the term reading the textbook, completing assessments (i.e. assignments, discussions, and quizzes), and working on projects. Given that this Political Science Research-Based Experience is 50% of your overall grade, it is fair to anticipate spending 40-80 hours on this.
As you update this outline, you will be re-submitting it to me every week. Some weeks, you will make great progress. And other weeks, your progress may less than what you were hoping for.
Lastly, remember, that the motto of Political Science @ Cuyamaca College is with you every step of the way. ?
Course Student Learning Outcome(s)
This assignment relates to the following Course Student Learning Outcomes:
Formulate research questions, theories, and hypotheses for topics in political science.
Critique and evaluate political science research, with particular attention paid to the methodology and research design.
Identify, compare, and contrast differing methods used in political science.
Prompt
Political science faculty who hold a Ph.D. degree have extensive coursework and research experience that culminates in the dissertation. In political science, a dissertation in a book-length document, or a series of 3-6 journal articles, that demonstrates a Ph.D. candidates’ unique contribution to their scholarly field.
Traditionally, political science faculty at community colleges focus near exclusively on teaching, while political science faculty at state universities (i.e. San Diego State University) split their time between teaching and research, and political science faculty at research universities (i.e. University of California, San Diego) are focused near exclusively on research.
Ph.D. trained faculty, regardless of institution, are uniquely situated to create work-based learning opportunities for their students and specifically develop undergraduate research assistants for the rigors of graduate school, serving as a graduate student research assistant, and earning their Masters and/or Doctoral degree.
Below is a visualization of the work-based learning trajectory of political scientists:
Suggested Self-Pacing Schedule
Below is a suggested self-pacing schedule. I want to emphasize that each student is different, so how you process information, populate the research paper outline template, and how you progress each week is highly individualized.
PSRBE – 00 – Topics – Weeks 1 and 2
PSRBE – 00 – Literature Review – Weeks 1 through 4
PSRBE – 01 – Title – Week 3
PSRBE – 02 – Main Point – Week 3
PSRBE – 03 – Question – Week 3
PSRBE – 04 – Puzzle – Week 3-4
PSRBE – 05 – Debate – Week 3-4
PSRBE – 06 – Theory – Week 3-4
PSRBE – 07 – Hypothesis – Week 3-4
PSRBE – 08 – Research Design – Week 4-5
PSRBE – 09 – Empirical Analysis – Week 4-7
PSRBE – 10 – Policy Implications – Week 7
PSRBE – 11 – Contribution to the Discipline – Week 7
PSRBE – 12 – Future Research – Week 8
PSRBE – 13 – Reflection – Week 8
Instructions
Step 1: In Week 1, download a copy of the Research Paper Outline templateLinks to an external site.to your cloud drive.
Save a copy the template in your Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, or another cloud based service. Do not save on your computer hard drive, since hard drives can fail and you will lose all your work.
Step 2: In Week 1, add 3 Topics to your Research Paper Outline Template.
In “0 – Topics” section of the template, make a list of 1-3 topics you are interested in researching for the 8-week duration of the course.
I strongly recommend listing topics that you are really, really interested in.
Step 3: During Weeks 1 through 4, conduct a Literature Review on the topic of your choice.
The purpose of this step is to use scholarly databases to find peer-reviewed research articles, read the abstracts of these articles, and situate each article as part of your growing understanding of the topic you selected to research.
Use Chapter 1 in Introduction to Political Science Research Methods to assist you with this step
You should dedicate at least 16-24 hours to this step during Weeks 1-4.
Here is a list of scholarly databases:Google ScholarLinks to an external site.
Cuyamaca College LibraryLinks to an external site. One Search
OPoliSci.com – Open Educational Resources and practices for political science faculty and studentsLinks to an external site.
You should identify at least 20 articles to include in your literature review.
Step 4: Each week, populate/update your Research Paper Outline Template and resubmit the assignment for instructor feedback.
There are 8 unique due dates for this assignment:Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, February 13, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, February 27, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, March 6, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 11:59pm
Support
How do I resubmit the assignment every week?
Visit Can a student resubmit Canvas assignments? – Canvas Community (canvaslms.com)Links to an external site. to learn how.
Where can I download a PDF version of the textbook Introduction to Political Science Research Methods (IPSRM)?
You can Download a PDFLinks to an external site. at Introduction to Political Science Research Methods – An Open Education Resource Textbook (ipsrm.com)Links to an external site..
Where can I download a PDF version of the textbook Polimetrics: A Companion to IPSRM?
You can Download a PDFLinks to an external site. at Polimetrics: A Companion to IPSRM – Introduction to Political Science Research Methods.Links to an external site.
Frequently Asked Questions
For the Literature Review, do I need to read the Abstracts for each article?
Yes. The Abstracts are a meaningful summary of the article.
For the Literature Review, can I include more than 20 articles?
Yes, by all means, feel free to include more than 20 articles. Depending on how interested and engaged you become with the topic you selected, I think you could reasonably read up to 60 article abstracts within Weeks 1 through 4 of the course.
The due date for this assignment seems to shift every week, is this suppose to happen?
Yes. There are 8 unique due dates for this assignment:Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, February 13, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, February 27, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, March 6, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 11:59pm
Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 11:59pm
But, I have to manually move the dates so they reappear on your To Do List.
Feedback from the Instructor to You
Each week, after you re-submit your assignment, you can expect feedback from the professor by Friday evening or sooner.
Rubric
RubricCriteria
Ratings
Points
Topics: # included
3
2
1
0
30
18
12
0
Literature Review: # Sources
20+
19-10
< 10
0
400
240
160
0
Title: included
Yes
Missing
10
0
Main Point: included
Yes
Missing
10
0
Question: included
Yes
Missing
50
0
Puzzle: sentences
3
2
1
0
100
60
40
0
Debate: # sides
2
1
Missing
100
60
0
Theory: Independent variable: included
Yes
Missing
100
0
Theory: Dependent variable: included
Yes
Missing
100
0
Hypothesis: declared
Yes
Missing
200
0
Research Design: declared
Yes
Missing
300
0
Empirical Analysis: Dataset: Source identified
Yes
Missing
100
0
Empirical Analysis: Dataset: Type identified
Yes
Missing
100
0
Empirical Analysis: Appropriate Statistical Model: Identified
Yes
Missing
100
0
Empirical Analysis: Appropriate Statistical Model: Explained: # sentences
4
3
2
1
Missing
100
80
60
40
0
Policy Implications: # objects influenced
4
3
2
1
Missing
100
80
60
40
0
Contribution to the Discipline: Declared
Yes
Missing
50
0
Future Research: declared
Yes
Missing
50
0