Essays /
Evaluation Paper - how to optimize the development of children [12]
Hi,
I have to write another paper evaluating a web article. I really need to get 100% on this essay to get an A in the class. I am so overwhelmed and stressed with school work and I feel intimidated by this essay. I don't know why? Its not hard. I probably wouldn't feel intimidated if I didn't have the pressure of getting 100% on it and the pressure of having so much school work due each week and trying to get good grades at the same time. Also, my mind gets few hours of sleep and I think that is getting to me as well, but I can't sleep since time is ticking away (sorry I'm venting). Our professor gave us the instructions below for our essay. It has to be at least 3 pages. Maximum 5 pages.
Choose a recent (within the last 2 years) article written for parents, teachers, or other family members on how to optimize the development of children (any age between conception through adolescence may be used) or written for family members on how to improve family functioning. This article is casual, one that would be read by non-child development people. Evaluate this casual article by comparing it with professional research that pertain to the topic of the article, using professional journals, edited books, research monographs and/or government publications. The main requirement is that the sources report original research or theory by the authors (i.e., that primary sources of theory and research be used for the evaluation). Cite sources in the body of the paper and provide a list of reference cited at the end of the paper using APA style.
Content
1. Describe the process you used for finding a web article suitable for this assignment. What advise would you give to a parent on finding an article on your topic?I do not think it is enough for me to say I went online and used google.com to find a casual web article on my topic. The advise I would give to parents is to find a computer with internet access and summarize their topics into keywords. Then, I would recommend they use google.com as their search engine. Once they enter the keywords on that site a list of websites will appear and they can decide which websites answer their questions best. That's all I have to say on the questions above.
2) What credibility did you give initially to an article drawn from the WWW? What are your thoughts about the practical experience versus scientific information as credible sources of information about children or families (as applied to the article)? Why?Well, the author states she has 20 years of occupational therapy. I would give her article some credibility. I think scientific information helps support practical experiences best. Not all practical experiences benefit everyone and what scientific information does is it helps broaden practical experiences so that everyone else can benefit from them as well. I don't know if that made any sense. lol.
3) what were the main points of the article? Provide concise summary.The article describes what characteristics pertain to children who are resilient. It informs parents different ways of promoting resilience with their child. It also, explains the benefits resilient children have in life.
4) How sound were the points made by the author when compared to current scientific theory and research on the topic of the article? This question should receive emphasis in your write-up. In your professional life, people will ask you to refer them to articles about children and families. You should be able to identify current information that is well supported by professional theory and research. Thus, the key question here is the following: are the main suggestions made in the article in agreement (or not) with scientific research? In answering this question, you should compare the main points summarized in 3 above with information drawn form the scientific sources identified.This part I like since it is compare/contrast. I can find a lot of scholarly articles on this topic. Is the professor stating that he wants the majority of the paper to be about the web article versus scholarly articles? So, you think the rest of the questions above should be at least a paragraph long or should question # 3 be a page long and #1 and #2 a paragraph long?
5) What are your overall conclusion about the article? Also give two original examples of how the information in the article could be applied to real life on to working with children in the home and the second to working with them in community settings such as school.How long should this part be? I page long or half a page?
By the way, this is the web article I picked: e-bility.com/articles/child_resiliance.php
I would appreciate your feedback. Thanks! =)