You are to develop a brief proposal in preparation for two later assignments. The purpose of this proposal is for you study an area of diversity of special interest to you while developing research skills.

There are many types of diversity that we have touched on in this course. Project 1 asks you to select one area of diversity you would like to learn more about and research this area of diversity to answer the following questions:

What are the most important communication barriers that affect your chosen area of diversity? How is this group affected by discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes, or ethnocentrism? What communication strategies can help to improve communication for this group and reduce discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes, or ethnocentrism? This project will have three parts. In the first part, you will write a proposal explaining the topic you have chosen. For the second part, you will conduct research on your topic and create an annotated bibliography of sources related to your topic. The final part of the project will ask you to write an essay putting it all together.
You will select an area of diversity and write a paragraph of approximately 250-300 words. Discuss this area of diversity, why it is of interest to you, and what you hope to learn from your research into this area.

Here is a list of some common areas of diversity. You may choose from this list, or you can suggest your own area of diversity to explore. If you choose an area not on this list, be sure to explain your choice and why you feel it is a strong topic to research.

Race Ethnicity/National Origin Age Class Gender Sexual orientation Physical ability Linguistic diversity/language Religion Political or philosophical belief systems Your proposal should be written using Microsoft Word or Open Office (freeware found at Apache OpenOffice - Official Site - The Free and Open Productivity Suite).

Submit your paper using the assignment dropbox.

Paper requirements:

250-300 words Double-spaced APA writing conventions (http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial.aspx ) Proofread for grammar - SmartThinking is available to assist you with your writing and is available at Smarthinking, Inc. The final eight-page essay for Project 1 will be due at the end of Week 5. Be sure to plan ahead to have enough time to complete the final essay.

Before you submit this assignment to the dropbox below, be sure to upload a copy to the "Final" dropbox for this assignment on Turnitin.com. A "Draft" dropbox is also available so that you can use the originality report provided as a learning tool to improve your work prior to final submission.

The project proposal is worth 5% of your final grade and will be graded using the SLA Research Topic Proposal Rubric. Please review the rubric carefully so you understand how you will be graded. Click on View Rubric above.

M3A1: Project: Annotated Bibliography If viewing this through the Assignment tool, click the title above to go to the Submissions area.

Project: Annotated Bibliography An icon of paper with lines on it symbolizing Lecture

Image of two people completing a puzzle This activity is designed to assist you in developing research skills, to explore an area of diversity of interest upon which you wrote your proposal in Module 2 and to prepare for the Project 1 essay.

We have touched on many types of diversity in this course. Project 1 asks you to select one area of diversity you would like to learn more about and research this area of diversity to answer the following questions:

What are the most important communication barriers that affect your chosen area of diversity? How is this group affected by discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes, or ethnocentrism? What communication strategies can help to improve communication for this group and reduce discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes, or ethnocentrism? This project has three parts. You have already completed the first part, the proposal explaining your chosen topic. This is the second part, where you are asked to research an annotated bibliography of sources related to your topic. The third part of the project will ask you to write the final essay based upon the research you find.

For this assignment, you will create an annotated bibliography of at least five college-level sources related to your Project 1 topic. Your sources should come from reputable sources, such as academic journals, books, professionally published magazines and newspapers, or reputable websites. You may not use Wikipedia, blogs, or personal web pages.

The Excelsior Virtual Library offers access to many helpful databases that will link you to academic journals and other high-quality sources.

For your annotated bibliography, you will need to list each of your sources in APA style. Beneath each source, you will write one fully developed paragraph that explains the most important information from that source and tells the reader how this information relates to your topic and to communication in relation to the area of diversity you have selected to research.

There is more information about creating annotated bibliographies in the resources below:

Annotated bibliographies. (2007). University of North Carolina. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/annotated-bibliographies/ How to prepare an annotated bibliography. (2010, February 12). Cornell University Library. Retrieved from http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill28.htm To assist you with completing this assignment the following resources are available:

Getting Started with Your Research: Starting Your Research APA writing conventions: The Basics of APA Style Frequently Asked Questions:

Find Answers 24/7 Research Databases: Research Databases Communication and Mass Media Complete, listed alphabetically, 5th one down the list Proofread for grammar - Smarthinking is available to assist you with your writing and is available at Smarthinking, Inc. The final eight-page essay for Project 1 will be due at the end of Week 5. Be sure to plan ahead to have enough time to complete the final essay.
Before you submit this assignment to the dropbox below, be sure to upload a copy to the "Final" dropbox for this assignment on

Turnitin.com. A "Draft" dropbox is also available so that you can use the originality report provided as a learning tool to improve your work prior to final submission.

This activity is worth 5% of your overall grade and will be graded using the SLA Annotated Bibliography Rubric. Please review the rubric carefully so you understand how you will be graded. Click on View Rubric above.

Project 1 Final Essay An icon of paper with lines on it symbolizing Lecture

Image of two people completing a puzzle So far you have completed a proposal and annotated bibliography of sources for Project 1. For the final portion of the project, you will need to compose a well-developed essay of eight pages (approximately 2,000 words) in which you draw on your research and our textbooks to answer the following questions:

What are the most important communication barriers that affect your chosen area of diversity? How is this group affected by discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes, or ethnocentrism? What communication strategies can help to improve communication for this group and reduce discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes, or ethnocentrism? Remember, your essay needs to focus on the topic you proposed and researched in the Module 2 and Module 3 assignments.

Your essay should be approximately 2,000 words and adhere to APA guidelines for formatting, citations, and references. For academic essays, it is important to remember that the majority of the essay should be written in your own words. While you can (and should) use brief quotations from your research to support your analysis, you need to place quoted material in "quotation marks" and use in-text citations whenever you refer to information from a source. Quoted material should make up no more than approximately 10-15% of an academic essay. The rest should be in your own words.

Submit your paper using the assignment dropbox.

Before you submit this assignment to the dropbox below, be sure to upload a copy to the "Final" dropbox for this assignment on

Turnitin.com. A "Draft" dropbox is also available so that you can use the originality report provided as a learning tool to improve your work prior to final submission.

Paper requirements:

2,000 words Double-spaced APA writing conventions Use your research from the paper proposal and annotated bibliography Proofread for grammar - Smarthinking is available to assist you with your writing and is available at Smarthinking, Inc. The final essay is worth 15% of your overall grade and will be graded using the SLA Writing Rubric. Please review the rubric carefully so you understand how you will be graded.