English Language Arts: Research Planning (TEKS.ELA.9-12.12.B)
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Texas High School ELA › English Language Arts: Research Planning (TEKS.ELA.9-12.12.B)
Initial Research Plan (Student Draft): Title: Tracing the Cultural Influence of Spanish Missions on Contemporary South Texas Festivals Timeline: 2 weeks total. Week 1: Visit five historic missions across San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley; conduct on-site archival research; schedule and complete 30 interviews with festival organizers and community elders; begin a GIS map of mission-era influence on current festival routes. Week 2: Transcribe interviews; code themes; finalize GIS map; write report and design an exhibit for the local library. Resources: School library computers; city bus; personal phone for recording; free GIS software downloaded the night before travel. Notes: Interview questions will be improvised; no prior permissions arranged; assume archives allow walk-in access and photo capture; plan to publish findings online immediately after week 2.
Which revision would most improve the plan's feasibility, logical sequence, and likelihood of producing meaningful results?
Add a detailed daily schedule and a color-coded timeline but keep the goal of visiting five missions and completing 30 interviews within two weeks.
Drop interviews entirely and rely only on online articles to save time while maintaining the same geographic scope and two-week deadline.
Narrow the scope to one mission site and one related festival in San Antonio; complete a literature and archival review first; secure permissions and consent before interviews; pilot-test interview questions; use publicly available city GIS layers; extend the project to five weeks to allow for transcription and analysis.
Expand the project statewide to include all Spanish mission sites while collaborating with a university lab, but retain the two-week window by working longer hours.
Explanation
Option C addresses multiple weaknesses at once: it narrows scope, sequences literature and permissions before fieldwork, adds a pilot, uses accessible GIS data, and extends the timeline to accommodate transcription and analysis. The other options either keep unrealistic timelines/scope, remove a key method (interviews), or add complexity without added time.
Initial Research Plan (Student Draft): Title: Mapping Urban Heat Islands Around Schools in Austin Timeline: 3 weeks. Week 1: Borrow sensors from the science department and begin recording temperatures every hour from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 50 locations near schools citywide. Week 2: Continue hourly data collection; train a machine learning model to predict temperatures for missing areas. Week 3: Prepare a formal policy brief and present findings to city council. Resources: Two handheld thermometers; four group members; public transit. No calibration planned. No safety or property access plan (some sites include school rooftops and private parking lots). No roles assigned. Data will be stored on each member's phone.
Which revision would most improve the plan's feasibility, logical sequence, and likelihood of producing meaningful results?
Reduce to 8–10 publicly accessible sidewalk locations; calibrate and pilot-test instruments; assign roles; collect at standard times for two weeks; compare with a nearby weather station; analyze with simple statistics and a basic heat map; add a safety and permissions plan; use a shared data sheet; extend to four weeks total.
Add drone-based thermal imaging over all 50 sites to improve coverage and finish within the original three weeks without changing resources or permissions.
Keep 50 locations but reorganize the schedule into rotating shifts to maintain hourly readings while still skipping calibration and permissions to save time.
Switch entirely to satellite imagery and skip field measurements, then use deep learning to model temperatures for all neighborhoods by the end of week 3.
Explanation
Option A right-sizes the scope, introduces calibration and a pilot, clarifies roles and data management, uses accessible analysis, obtains permissions, and extends the timeline modestly. The other options increase complexity without resources, ignore ethical/safety constraints, or remove valuable primary data.
Initial Research Plan (Student Draft): Title: Bilingual Signage and Consumer Behavior in El Paso Retail Corridors Timeline: 1 week. Plan: Photograph 200 storefronts, survey 300 customers in person, and run multivariate statistical tests to determine how bilingual signage affects purchasing decisions. Photos will include interiors and customers when possible. Survey questions will be written on the first day and administered immediately. No sampling plan or consent process is outlined. Statistical software will be learned on the last day.
Which revision would most improve the plan's feasibility, logical sequence, and likelihood of producing meaningful results?
Eliminate surveys to save time and rely only on quick observations of storefronts, keeping the 1-week timeline and 200-store sample.
Add social media scraping of customer comments and integrate eye-tracking technology during shopping to increase precision within the same 1-week window.
Keep the same sample sizes but shift photography to nighttime to avoid customer consent needs, then analyze with the planned multivariate tests.
Limit the study to one retail corridor with about 50 storefronts; develop and pilot a short consent-based survey; create a coding scheme for signage types; photograph only exteriors or obtain permission for interiors; use descriptive and basic comparative statistics; extend the timeline to four weeks, including training and data security steps.
Explanation
Option D introduces ethical consent, a pilot, a coding scheme, and permissions while narrowing the scope and using appropriate analyses on a realistic timeline. The other options either remove key methods, add impractical complexity, or attempt to bypass consent and keep unrealistic targets.
Initial Research Plan (Student Draft): Title: Gulf Coast Flooding Narratives and Community Data Timeline: 4 weeks. Week 1: Learn hydrologic modeling software and collect 20 oral histories from residents affected by recent storms. Week 2: Build a flood model for the entire city; transcribe all interviews. Week 3: Analyze city drainage datasets and integrate them into the model; draft policy recommendations. Week 4: Finish analysis, produce a documentary, and host a public forum. Resources: Two classmates; personal phones for recording; no consent forms; no training in interviewing or modeling; no data-sharing agreements; no safety plan for field visits during storm season.
Which revision would most improve the plan's feasibility, logical sequence, and likelihood of producing meaningful results?
Keep all original goals but ask community volunteers to complete the 20 interviews themselves while the team focuses on modeling within the same four weeks.
Refocus this term on 8–10 oral histories coordinated through a community center; complete interview training; use consent and release forms; record with phones plus a backup device; allocate two weeks for transcription and thematic coding; use existing floodplain maps and rainfall data for descriptive mapping instead of building a new model; add a safety and scheduling plan; adjust deliverables to a brief and a small community share-out.
Eliminate oral histories to avoid consent issues and spend all four weeks attempting a full hydrologic model for the city using trial-and-error tutorials.
Add a requirement to produce both a journal article and a full policy white paper within four weeks to increase impact, without changing methods or training.
Explanation
Option B narrows scope, sequences training and consent before fieldwork, plans for transcription and analysis time, uses accessible secondary data for mapping, and adds safety and realistic deliverables. The other options either offload ethics improperly, remove a core method, or inflate expectations beyond resources.