Written Assignment Instructions
In 2.5 pages or less (PLUS additional, separate title page and reference page), answer the following question:
Written Paper Topic Question:
In 2023 through present-day, Canadian parent groups, government bodies and educators find themselves enthralled in heated debates and protests surrounding the rights of students to disclose their gender identity and to request that teachers and/or other professionals within their schools use their preferred pronouns, without the need for parental consent or permissions. Revisions to this policy were first initiated in New Brunswick, however similar legislation, including limiting or restricting access to age-appropriate sex education and related literature and resources was quickly adopted in other areas of Canada including Saskatchewan, Alberta, and within various school divisions in Manitoba.
INSTRUCTIONS
please make sure to add reference from this article:
what are parents rights groups actually fighting for in schools.
These articles are optional:
this student is stuck in the middle of canada's gender policy debate https://macleans.ca/politics/saskatchewan-school-g...
Globe and mail: growing up trans: six teens open up about discovering who they really are https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/growing-up-tr...
globe & mail: alberta premier promises to protect parental rights as UCP members https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/art...
60 minutes Australia: raising "theybies" - young children allowed to choose their own gender
I HAVE ALL ARTICLES POSTED/ OR LINKED WITH THE QUESTION
Further instruction:
To support your argument(s), you must reference specific research findings of at least one peer-reviewed research article, accessed through UM Libraries (research of your own choosing).
Introduce the issue at hand and clearly state your position, and reasons why.
Describe the methodology and outcome of the research you select, and clearly indicate how it supports your position on this issue.
Save a PDF copy of this research article and include it in the submission folder along with your written document.
Review the posted grading rubric before submitting your work - this is the exact document that is used to grade all submissions.
Additional Points:
Consider in your response, for instance, to what extent do you agree or disagree that these policies are based on misinformation? Based on your understanding of psychological health, education, and interpersonal relationships in the context of gender and gender identity as discussed in this course, do you believe these revised policies help or hurt students under the age of 16? How might such legislative changes impact gender inclusivity in Canada more generally, and in the long-term? Are there other points or arguments not discussed in these articles that you would like to address? Feel free to do so.
You may use specific research discussed in the text or other assigned readings, or find your own. However, be sure to cite/reference the appropriate sources, and you must work independently - many students submitting the same additional research study is an indication of inappropriate collaboration (i.e., academic dishonesty).
Grading Information
In order to receive full marks, you assignment must meet the following criteria:
- Must be completed independently- All assignments will be checked across Chat GPT, course-sharing sites (e.g., CourseHero, StuDocU, etc.), and other students' submissions. Any instances of plagiarism/academic dishonesty will be reported directly to the Dean - NO EXCEPTIONS.
- Discuss the findings, do not quote them - Be careful here! Your answer should be a discussion, not a collection of direct quotes from the textbook. You will lose marks for any direct quotes included. Note that including direct quotes without proper citation is considered plagiarism by UM standards.
- Be an appropriate length - Your written response should be approximately 2 pages (max 2.5 pages) in length, and be double spaced. Papers shorter than 1 page in length (double-spaced) will be deemed insufficient and receive a score of 0.
- Do not include the titles of articles cited - this will take up unnecessary room towards your page limit and cost you marks (this is not correct APA formatting).
- Use appropriate paragraph breaks to organize your ideas is enough for full marks. Typically, you should limit one main idea to each paragraph. This helps your reader follow your arguments, and provides cognitive 'breaks' to allow your reader to more easily digest your main points.
- Adhere to APA formatting & citations- Your answers must be in 12-point font, double spaced, and written in complete sentences/paragraphs (i.e., not point form). Please be sure to separate your thoughts using appropriate paragraph breaks. A useful resource has been posted for you under 'Useful Toolkits'. You need to include a title page and reference section for this assignment. You do NOT need an abstract for this assignment. Below are some points to help guide you...
- You must include at least one peer-reviewed source in your discussion and attach a PDF copy of this reference to your assignment. The textbook and additional handbook are excellent places to find these studies that would be appropriate to use to support your position on the issue presented. Once you find the reference you want to use, download the actual paper using UM Libraries and save as a PDF document to upload along with your written responses.
- If referencing the same source throughout a paragraph, only cite the source once (typically following the first sentence in a paragraph, or at the end of the paragraph), and NOT at the end of every sentence (this is called repetitive citation and is an APA error/waste of writing space). The idea is to make it clear to your reader which source you are referring to throughout your writing using a strategic combination of your use of language, and in-text citations.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT GRADING RUBRIC -
MAX 15 points (15% of final grade)
Understanding of the Issue (4 points)
* Is the main issue clearly understood and described, highlighting the concerns of both sides? (2 points)
* Has the student taken a clear position on the issue, using informed and well-articulated arguments? (2 points)
Application of Independent Research and Discussion of Personal Position (6 points)
- Has the student identified and uploaded at least one empirical, peer-reviewed article to support their position on the debated issue of ‘pronoun policies’ and/or sex-education in Canadian schools? (1 point)
- Has the student clearly described the methodology and outcome of the research discussed, and indicated how it supports their position on the issue, using their own words? (3 points)
- Has the student brought in other interesting arguments to support their position on the issue? (2 points)
Clarity, Mechanics, Formatting, Grammar and Punctuation (5 points)
- Does the written document include appropriate and correctly formatted in-text citations to reference work or ideas that should not be credited to the student, or the textbook? (2 points)I
- Is the written work free from grammatical, formatting (i.e., paragraph breaks, in-text citations), and spelling errors? (2 points)
- Does the written document include a correctly formatted title page and reference section, according to APA 7th standards? (1 point)
15 POINTS TOTAL - contributes 15% of final grade