AEE 578 Research Article Critique

This is one of the major assignments listed in the course outline and counts for 10% of your grade. The reason it has not been introduced to you before now is that you need the background provided by the previous classes in order to successfully complete this assignment with a high level of competence. There is no “weekly assignment” this week . This is to allow you to concentrate on this assignment.

You are to read the article “Leadership Self-Perceptions of WLC Participants” from The Journal of Agricultural Education (2002, Vol. 43, No.2 by Rutherford, Townsend, Briers, Cummins, and Conrad) and evaluate it. (Note: WLC stands for Washington Leadership Conference. This is a week long leadership training conference held for FFA members every summer in the Washington DC area.) This article is on-line at http://pubs.aged.tamu.edu/jae/pdf/vol43/43-02-22.pdf

I could provide you with a list of questions to look for and thus guide your critique. However, we want you to be able to think independently and be able to evaluate research on your own. When you are no longer in this class, you should be a “wise” consumer of research and be able to evaluate research. Therefore, you will need to develop your own criteria to use in evaluating this article.

Your critique will probably be 3-5 typed pages in length. In deciding what to look for in evaluating this article, you need to keep in mind the concepts taught in this class. You may want to pay particular attention to the readings listed for the last class (Nov. 30). They could provide valuable insight into what to look for.