W12B. Writing up Introduction, Background, and Rationale

1. Summary

1.1 Session Topic and Agenda

The session is titled Writing up Introduction/Background and Rationale for Research Proposals. Its agenda contains five parts:

• small-group tutorial arrangements, schedule, and procedure;
• final submission details;
• Introduction elements;
• preparation for writing the Introduction;
• initial in-class writing of the Introduction.

1.2 Small-Group Tutorials: Arrangements

Each student must sign up for one tutorial slot: April 20, April 22, or April 27. Sign-up must be completed before April 15, 00:01 MT.

After sign-up, each student must:

• create a Google Drive folder for the full research proposal and incoming peer reviews;
• place the folder link in the sign-up sheet;
• submit full-text TSA 12 both to Moodle and to their own folder;
• find peers’ full texts in peers’ folders and prepare written reviews using the required feedback form;
• upload reviews to peers’ folders according to the schedule;
• attend the tutorial and provide oral peer feedback.

1.3 Small-Group Tutorials: Submission Schedule

The schedule pairs full-text submission dates with review dates by selected slot.

• Full-text submission: April 16, 23:59; April 18, 23:59; April 23, 23:59.
• RP review submission: April 20 by slot time; April 22 by slot time; April 27 by slot time.

Submission channels are fixed:

• full text goes to Moodle as TSA 12 and to the author’s Google Drive folder;
• peer review goes to peers’ Google Drive folders.

1.4 Small-Group Tutorial Procedure and File Format

The tutorial procedure has three required actions:

• submit full-text draft by the relevant deadline to both platforms;
• submit peer review in two separate files;
• provide oral feedback during the tutorial.

The two review files are:

• File 1: the filled Peer-Review Form table;
• File 2: the reviewed research proposal text with mistakes highlighted according to Sections V and VI of File 1.

1.5 TSA 12 Pass/Fail Rules

TSA 12 is passed only if all conditions are met:

• full text is submitted to Moodle by the specified time;
• written peer review is submitted to peers’ folders by class time using the required form;
• in-person tutorial participation is completed with valuable feedback.

Participation is graded individually, not as a group. If at least one condition is not met, TSA 12 is failed.

1.6 Final Submission and Grading Context

Final submission details:

• opens: April 21, 00:01 MT;
• due: May 2, 00:01 MT;
• submission mode: each student submits individually in Moodle;
• grading mode: group-graded.

Students must follow the research proposal rubrics in the syllabus for the final version.

1.7 Academic Misconduct and Quotation Limits

The policy is strict:

• plagiarism leads to submission failure;
• patchwriting is treated as plagiarism and leads to submission failure;
• falsification (altering, generating, or inventing content, sources, search procedure/results, data, documents, images, or other work) leads to submission failure;
• quotation share must not exceed 10% of total text (calculation guidance: syllabus, p. 8);
• exceeding the quotation limit also leads to submission failure.

1.8 Introduction Elements: Required Content Logic

The Introduction section contains four elements.

1.8.1 Background Information

The background provides context through:

• a brief history of the topic;
• explanation of topic importance;
• relevant data or statistics supporting the research need.

The writer should explicitly address:

• what is already known;
• what is missing;
• what additional knowledge is needed;
• why the research is worth doing.

1.8.2 Research Problem and Objectives

The research problem and objectives must be clear and concise. Objectives may be stated as:

• a research question;
• a hypothesis;
• an aim.

Objectives must be realistic and not over-ambitious. Students should specify exactly what they intend to learn by conducting the research.

Guiding checks include:

• Is there a problem?
• Why does it exist?
• What will be proved or disproved?
• What will be understood more deeply, analyzed, evaluated, or created?
• What will be tested and demonstrated?
• Is there a hierarchical structure of aims?

1.8.3 Significance of the Research

The significance subsection should explain:

• why the research matters;
• how it contributes to the field;
• potential implications or applications.

It should also answer:

• why the problem must be investigated;
• what contribution will be made, to whom, how, and why;
• how original the contribution is;
• why the project is worth pursuing;
• theoretical and practical importance of expected outcomes;
• which issues are visible in existing literature;
• how the proposed research addresses those issues.

1.8.4 Key Terms or Concepts (Optional)

This part is optional. If included, terminology should be explained for non-specialist readers.

1.9 Writing Strategy and Classroom Drafting Workflow

A key writing tip is to assume readers are busy and need the gist quickly. The Introduction should be concise and interest-generating, not exhaustive.

Preparation and drafting sequence:

• form research groups;
• discuss research design;
• fill the table in Handout 1;
• start writing the Introduction in groups;
• follow guidance from the IU Academic Style Reminder;
• write in the Google document provided by the instructor.