You will interview an adolescent (age 10 – 18ish). Your interviews will focus on what they like and do not like about at least two different contexts (e.g. home, school, the mall, the park). For the things they do like, ask them why they like those things. For those things that they do not like, ask how they would make changes and why those changes would be an improvement. Your task for this assignment is to link the things that adolescents like and don’t like about two different contexts to adolescent developmental needs including physical, social, cognitive, and emotional developmental needs. Use a pseudonym for all names including people and places.
The first part the paper should be descriptive—whom did you interview and what did he/she say? What did your interviewee like and dislike about the two contexts? The second part of the paper should be interpretive and address two questions. First, how do these particular contexts meet or not meet 1-3 specific developmental needs (one clue: you could use sleep in physical development). Second, how could these contexts be changed to better meet the developmental needs of the adolescent you interviewed? In this paper you will be expected to integrate your interview data with class readings to support your argument. Your paper should focus on one to three major themes Including, Stereotypes, ethnic identity development, peer-relationship, teaching-student relationship, sleep (e.g., physical development). It should be 5 pages total in length.
This paper is designed to assess learning goals 1, “Articulate how the adolescent and the adolescent’s contextual experience combine to influence development,” 2, “Use research to inform your understanding of adolescent development,” 3, “Articulate implications of research for practice,” and 4 “Develop oral and written communication skills.”
Preparing for your Interview
Below are some general guidelines and example questions for the interview assignment…
1) Ask open ended questions such as “Where do you spend most of your time?” “What do you like about…?” “What do you not like about…?” “Why do you like….?” “Why do you not like…?”
2) Please know that you don’t have to have all of your questions written in advance. If the person you are interviewing says something interesting or confusing, feel free to follow up and ask for more information. You might try phrases such as “Can you tell me more about…?” or “I’m not quite sure I understand what you meant by…?”
3) Know that your goal is to get information about what your interviewee likes and dislikes about a couple different contexts. You can be specific and talk about two different contexts in school (e.g. lunch, PE, a class they like, a class they dislike), or more general and talk about home vs. school (or anywhere else). As long as you can get information about what they like and dislike about two different contexts, then you’re in good shape.
4) For the paper, you’ll need to make some connections between what the students say they like and dislike and their developmental needs. Do they like places where they can make more choices? Do they dislike having to sit still all the time in class? Do they like to be with their friends? These are all things that you can link to the developmental needs of adolescence.
PART 1: Interview Description (1-2 pages)
- In a brief paragraph, describe the student you interviewed and the two contexts discussed.
- Summarize the main points of what the students like about these contexts and why they like those things.
- Summarize the main points of what the students disliked about these contexts and the things they would change to improve the situation.
- Do not provide transcripts.If you find that you are using a quote that is more than two lines long, step back and think about how you can summarize the comment.
PART 2: Interview Analysis (about 4 pages, or more if you must)
Introduction
- Main theme of paper is introduced.Please note that you should not try to link your interviews to every topic that we have covered in class.Instead, limit your paper to one to three of the main ideas that we have discussed.
- Thesis statement is clearly stated and relates to the main theme of the paper.Thesis statement should address the question “How can different contexts best meet the developmental needs of adolescents.” Again, focus on 1-3 developmental needs.
- Main points are organized and clearly stated.
- Main points are supported with evidence from
- your interviews
- course readings or scholarly articles
- Evidence supporting main points is identified and summarized (CITE). Scholarly research article
- Evidence supporting main points is critically evaluated.
- The main points, and evidence, directly relate to the thesis statement of the paper.
- Evidence from interviews and course readings are synthesized to make a clear argument regarding your thesis statement.
Supporting Evidence
Conclusion
- Main points are summarized and clearly related back to your thesis statement.
- Take home message is clearly stated.
Format of Paper
- Follows systematic guidelines for style and citations (APA, MLA, Chicago) (exception: page numbers included in parenthetical citations even if not quoting).
- Free of spelling and grammatical errors.
- Double spaced, 1 inch margins.
Reference Page
- Systematic citation style is followed.
- Reference information is complete.
GRADING RUBRIC
Part 1 (20 Points)
Description of the adolescent and the contexts discussed (6 points)
6 = Description is clear and provides relevant details
Description of what the adolescent likes about those contexts and why (7 points)
7 = Description is clear and provides relevant details
Description of what the adolescent dislikes and what they would change (7 points)
7 = Description is clear and provides relevant details
Part 2 (50 Points)
Introduction (8)
8 = Introductory paragraph provides a clear explanation of 1-3 key things that you feel are central to your argument.
Supporting Evidence from Interview (8)
8 = Evidence from the interview clearly supports your analysis of how the contexts meet or do not meet developmental needs and what could be improved
Supporting Evidence from Readings (8)
8 = Evidence from the readings clearly supports your analysis of how the contexts meet or do not meet developmental needs and what could be improved
Conclusion (8)
8 = Conclusion clearly ties together your overall argument about contexts meeting developmental needs
Coherence (8)
8 = All sections of the paper are clearly on the same topic and the paper flows smoothly
Proofreading (5)
5 = Good effort at proof-reading your paper
References (5)
5 = A complete and accurate list of references is provided (the references should contain at least as much information as is in the syllabus reference list). In-text citations are also provided
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