The master's paper you will write in ADTED 588 usually takes the form of a critical review of literature and application to practice. (More detailed information about the forms this project can take will be provided in Unit 10.) Selecting a topic for your master's paper doesn't need to be complicated or difficult. You want to identify a topic that is interesting to you, "doable," and that contributes to knowledge or practice within the field. The thinking process around how you might frame your master's paper study is a fundamental and key step in the process of writing the paper. A good way to begin such "framing" is to work with a small group of fellow learners using the Thesis Generator exercise below. (Note: You will not be writing an actual "thesis" for your master's program. The master's paper you write in ADTED 588 will have some of the features of a master's thesis, but usually takes the form of a critical review of literature and application to practice in a particular area.):

For this exercise, please continue working in your same teams to choose a problem or issue (from a list provided under "Your Tasks," below) and to draft answers to the first three questions on the generator. This activity is important practice for you, as your next task will be to use the thesis generator on a topic of your own choosing. You will complete that activity on your own, so take advantage of this opportunity to practice!

How will this work, you ask? For the first half of the week, your team will work through the discussion together in a private discussion forum created for your team. (That discussion forum is a space that only you and your fellow team members can access. I may access it, too, from time to time to see how you are progressing, but you should send any questions you have for me directly to my course e-mail account to make sure I see those.) You may also choose to use the course e-mail or a chat room (Chat rooms are virtual spaces where you can communicate in real-time by typing messages back and forth--similar to e-mail or a discussion forum, but everyone "chatting" has to be logged in at the same time. Chat rooms are available in the Communicate link. I will be looking in on the various private team discussion forums to see your progress. If you have questions for me at any point, you should e-mail me directly. During the second half of the week (no later than Monday morning, please), you will share your team's "final" answers with the entire class through a whole-class discussion forum.

You will have one week to work on this activity. Since your communication with one another will be asynchronous (i.e., time-delayed, unless you use a chat room) you should get started early in the week to allow time for your interactions. Likewise, plan on checking the discussion forum several times during the week in order to keep the communication going. Throughout the exercise, your team should work together to share ideas about the issue you have chosen, as you will submit your team's final "answers" as a single submission. As you work, feel free to expand on the problem/issue statement to clarify your ideas and approach. In fact, we'd like to see a lot of different ideas and approaches. What interests you about this situation? How would you be likely to conceptualize the problem? What would you want to find out?

We will be coming back to this exercise as we move through the next several units to explore different research methodologies. You should think of this exercise as a brainstorming activity rather than a search for a final product at this stage. This assignment will not be graded. However, your meaningful participation will count toward the overall "Class Participation" grade for the course. For specific directions for this assignment, see "Your Tasks" (below).

Your Tasks:

To complete the Thesis Generator Activity, follow these steps:

Your team will work together in a private discussion forum assigned to your group (the discussion forum will be called Unit 03 - Thesis Team X, where "X" is your team's number). (Within your team you should select one individual to serve as the leader for this assignment.)

Review the list of "Problems/Issues for the Thesis Generator Exercise" and select, as a team, one problem/issue that your team will address. You may want to review the thesis generator examples included as a resource at the end of this section.

Based on the problem/issue your team has selected, each team member should then individually attempt to formulate the first three steps in the Thesis Generator and then post it to your assigned Unit 03 - Thesis Team discussion forum. The most difficult part of this task is Step 1. Sometimes it is easier if you turn the problem statement into a research question. Focus on making it clear and "doable" with a research study.

Read your teammates' initial thesis statements and give them feedback on items such as:

Review the feedback you receive from your teammates.

1. • Was the problem statement (or research question) clear and succinct?
   • Was the purpose of the study clearly articulated?
   • Did the statement convince you that the problem is worth solving? (Please avoid statements like, "I really like what you did." If you like something, say why! The point of this exercise is learning to analyze and give feedback.)
   • Engage in a discussion with your teammates in your team's discussion forum (or by e-mail or in a chat room) in order to come to a consensus on your team's "answers."
   • The team leader should post your team's final answers to the whole-class discussion forum title Unit 03 - Final Thesis Statements (teams).
   • Each of you should now read the thesis statements that the other teams have posted and reflect upon their postings. Again, the point is to do a critical analysis of other postings.