Integrative Inquiry Project Wendy Bianchini Morrison

HDFS 101

As part of the requirements of a university CORE IS course, you will be required to fulfill a semester long inquiry project. This project will include scholarly research into a topic of your choice, written progress throughout the semester, a final written paper describing your inquiry findings, and a “Pecha Kucha” style presentation to your classmates in a small group at the end of the semester.

Integrative Inquiry Project: 185 TOTAL POINTS Human Development is an INTERDISCIPLINARY field, meaning research from almost every field of study contributes to our knowledge and understanding of human development.

As a CORE IS course, our class contains students from many different fields of study. Therefore, we are going to use our interdisciplinary make-up to see how these different disciplines impact development. We are going to be using Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model as a starting point.

Ecological systems theory, developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner, also called developmental systems theory or human ecology theory, identifies five environmental systems with which an individual interacts: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, macrosystem, and the chronosystem. This theory provides the framework from which developmentalists study the relationships with individuals’ contexts within communities and the wider society.

INQUIRY: In your field of study, or if undecided, an area of study of interest to you, identify one factor that you are interested in and analyze its impact on human development.

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INQUIRY QUESTION: How does some factor of your choice impact human development?

Examples of broad topics—you can make your topic more specific if you would like:

What is the impact of the food children have access to in schools on human development?

What is the impact of the design of a building, a neighborhood or a city on human development?

What is the impact of having healthcare coverage or not on human development?

What is the impact of different types of early childhood education on human development (ie: Montessori, Waldorf, Head Start, etc.)?

What is the impact of photography, film or other art/entertainment on human development?

What is the impact of a particular historical event on human development?

What is the impact of a specific agricultural practice on human development?

What is the impact of access to clean water on human development?

What is the impact of a specific mental illness on human development?

Engage in a comprehensive inquiry of your chosen topic.

Your inquiry will include:

– at least two peer-reviewed academic journal articles related to your topic. – at least one cross-cultural example comparing your topic in one culture (this would

most likely be your own culture) to a similar or comparable topic in another culture. – at least one face-to-face interview with a professional related to your topic (think

about interviewing a professor in your department, or someone else with professional expertise. You may also conduct additional interviews with non- professionals with experience with your topic.)

– interactive exploration of your topic (this should include visiting relevant sites, such as schools, neighborhoods, art exhibits, medical settings, etc., interviewing others about your topic, and documenting what you find by taking photos, making notes).

The project includes the following components:

1) Participate in a research session at the MSU library: 10 points. 2) Work on the project in stages throughout the semester, including identifying your inquiry topic:

10 points, completing an annotated bibliography: 25 points, and a draft of your paper: 50 points.

3) Create a 5-6 page research paper summarizing the results of your inquiry: 50 points. 4) Create a peer-evaluated “Pecha Kucha” presentation to share your findings in small groups: 40

points.