Credits: 3

Course Description:

This course develops students’ academic writing and research literacy in education through a workshop-based format. It combines short, focused lectures with guided writing activities, peer feedback, and iterative drafting. Students will generate and refine an education-focused research topic, learn how to search for and evaluate scholarly literature, and synthesize sources into a coherent literature review. Across the course, students progressively build the key components of a capstone thesis proposal, strengthening their ability to construct an academic argument, write with clarity and coherence, and use citation practices appropriately. The course also introduces the responsible and transparent use of AI tools to support academic reading and writing while maintaining academic integrity.

Course goals:

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Develop and refine a clearly scoped research topic in education, and articulate a focused purpose and set of guiding questions for a capstone thesis proposal.
2. Locate, evaluate, and synthesize scholarly literature to produce a well-organized literature review that identifies key debates and establishes a rationale for the proposed study.
3. Write a coherent capstone thesis proposal using appropriate academic conventions, including structure, argumentation, academic style, and accurate citation practices.
4. Use AI tools responsibly and transparently to support academic reading and writing, while demonstrating critical judgement and adherence to academic integrity.