36 Presenting Research Findings
In addition to completing an Annotated Bibliography, you are asked to present to your peers the information you found in the format of a Discussion Post. In these posts, you will write with a hypothetical audience in mind. In contrast to the Annotated Bibliography, you will be writing a summary and synthesis of the information you have gathered regarding your critical inquiry question and/or trends in your field. While the main focus and content will depend on the information you gather, the intent is to pull together and organize the vast amount of information into a manageable presentation of your information for that week.
In a way, you can think about this discussion post as providing your audience with the “SparkNotes” version of what you found. What trends did you find within the specific context (Professional Organization, Social Media, or Informational Resources)? What did you find that relates to your critical inquiry question? In general, what are the sources used for and who is their audience? How would these sources help someone at your stage of career or academic development?
Goals of this assignment: Why should you present information in multiple ways? Isn’t it just busy work or duplicative? The answer is that very rarely do we present the same information to the same type of audience. For example: you wouldn’t necessarily talk with your friends the same way you talk with a potential employer. A presentation at a conference would look different than a marketing pitch, even if the ideas behind them are the same. One of the degree outcomes for this class is to practice writing with clarity, which includes understanding the context and purpose of writing and to use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose. You will be assessed, in part, on these degree outcomes. Your goal is to synthesize the research you’ve done this week to present to a group of your peers.
Be sure to check out the student samples to help you format your discussion post, however keep in mind that the information could vary.
Assignment Guidelines: General Discussion Post Format for Annotated Bibliography
For the discussion part of this project, you will be presenting your research for the week as a discussion post. The discussion post should be providing a general presentation of your findings. Assume that your audience is exploring a similar critical inquiry question so you’ll aim to focus on how the sources are relevant to your question. When thinking of your audience, ask: who are you, what are you writing about, why are you writing about it, and what is the audience going to get out of reading it? Essentially, you are summarizing your findings to your fellow students.
The format for the discussion post should be as follows:
Subject Line – Pulls your readers in with a title that is an engaging and accurate representation of the content of your post.
Introduction – Provides the purpose of your post and a little about you so that your readers will know they’ve come to the right place. Your critical inquiry question must be included, or your readers won’t know what question your research findings is supposed to be answering!
Body of Post – Summarizes and synthesizes the sources you researched. What trends did you see? How do these sources help you with your critical inquiry question? What do you think your audience needs to know about these sources to help them strategically plan for their career or academic goals? Think about how you can present your research findings and analysis in a way that is engaging and easy to understand. How can you organize the presentation of your research findings to provide your readers with a good flow of information, analysis, and conclusions? Are there headings you could use? Are there images or graphics you could include to represent or illustrate the key points of your findings?
Citation Section – Demonstrates your credibility by providing the sources of any paraphrased, summarized, or quoted material in your post in a References or Works Cited section; any images are also attributed to their sources. The References or Works Cited section will be formatted using the style guide for your field of study, which you can assume your readers will be familiar with.
Annotated Bibliography: – Submit your annotated bibliography by Sunday night to the appropriate submission link in Canvas.
Student Sample A
The pandemic has greatly impacted our way of life, but it has significantly disrupted one of the most vulnerable populations: children and adolescents.
While working as a pediatric psychiatric nurse on a children’s inpatient unit, I have seen firsthand the impacts that COVID-19 has had on our youth’s mental health. My critical inquiry question of “How has pediatric psychiatry practice been impacted by COVID-19 and how should these trends inform my academic and career choices?” is related to my field of study in psychiatric nursing, and my associated profession as a pediatric psych nurse. Children are not equipped with the coping mechanisms needed to get through major and traumatic life events, let alone a devastating pandemic that has disrupted and changed many aspects of day to day life (NAMI, 2021). The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) stated that people affected by mental illness face additional challenges as a result of the pandemic (NAMI, 2021) and I aim to develop an understanding as to how the pandemic has impacted children and adolescents with existing mental illness.
UNICEF released an October, 2021 press release in regards to the impact that has been observed on children and adolescents across the globe. They determined that one in seven adolescents worldwide live with a mental illness in some form, and that one in five have reported feeling depressed or a loss in doing things they found interesting (UNICEF, 2021). The organization reports concern with development in children as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, stating “children have spent indelible years of their lives away from family, friends, classrooms, play – key elements of childhood itself,” and that the repercussions of this will be significant (UNICEF, 2021). It is reported that worldwide, 1.6 billion children lost their education to some extent, and this loss along with the loss of routine, structure, recreation and the concern for health and well being of themselves or family resulted in an increase in the levels of stress and fear in children and adolescents (UNICEF, 2021).
The HEARD Alliance, an organization based out of California that works directly with healthcare professionals, mental health professionals and educators, recognizes a need for resources for teachers and their students, as well as families. One of the resources they provide is a guide on how to talk to children about the pandemic and what is going on, as a stressor for them is lacking an understanding and experiencing confusion and fear as a result (HEARD, 2021). Another issue that they recognized is the level of stress that teachers and parents are experiencing, and that it is “filtering down” where children are picking up on this (HEARD, 2021).
With this topic and the resources provided, I seek to gain a better understanding as to how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children and adolescents with mental health conditions, especially those in inpatient psychiatric settings.
Resources:
Heard alliance homepage. HEARD Alliance. (2021, June 30). Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.heardalliance.org/.
Kids, teens and young adults. NAMI. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Kids-Teens-and-Young-Adults.
UNICEF. (2021, October 4). Retrieved October 26, 2021, from https://www.unicef.org
Student Sample B
School Violence: Prevention vs. Reaction
Due to the current shortage of mental health support staff in schools, I’ve decided to refocus my career in that direction. I work at an elementary level, and there are so many children who need that type of support to help put them so that as they age into middle and high school, they have the tools and skills to cope with stressors as they arise. With trained mental health support staff such as School Psychologists being at an all time low due to budget cuts, is it really effective for schools to eliminate or reduce these preventative support positions while funds continue to be allocated for drills, in-school police officers, and other post incident resources?
According to i-Sight, in 2017, students in grades 9-12 participated in the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The survey indicated that nearly 20% of students experienced on campus bullying and/or cyber-bullying, while about 10% had been threatened or injured with a weapon on campus over the 12 months prior to taking the survey. (Yahnke). Although I feel it is important to ensure there is a crisis and emergency plan in place, I think it’s even more important to have measures in place to aid in the prevention of school violence. These measures vary from technology to human services.
Because of the current climate that exists with regards to school violence, there are a lot of response plans in place such as drills, lock downs, and law enforcement involvement. While I think these are important components to have in place, there seems to be fewer and fewer resources being allocated in schools to focus on student and staff mental health. All across the country, there is a shortage of mental health support staff in schools. In New Hampshire specifically, there is a significant shortage of School Psychologists, and other mental health related positions. These positions are designed to help implement resources for counseling, bullying prevention, crisis intervention, family communication, and then psychological testing, assessments, and incident tracking. Schools can also adopt a trauma-informed approach – which helps to identify children who have experienced hardships which might make them more susceptible to acting out or shutting down in the classroom. (Wall, 2021).
Several organizations, such as Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or SAMHSA, have implemented programs aimed at promoting safe school environments, healthy childhood development and mental health, and prevent substance abuse in the nation’s schools. SAMHSA also connects educators and support staff with training, collaboration, and program opportunities. These organizations are designed to address the development and mental health of students so that it doesn’t get to the point of crisis response. (SAMHSA).
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, one in five children and adolescents experience a mental health problem during their school years. Among the 3.8 million adolescents ages 12–17 who reported a major depressive episode in the past year, nearly 60% did not receive any treatment, according to a 2019 report by SAMHSA. Of the adolescents who do get help, nearly two thirds do so only in school.
I think we can all agree that the need for mental health support staff in schools exists, and although security measures should be in place in case a crisis arises, resources should be focused on the following areas:
1. Promoting early childhood social and emotional learning and development.
2. Promoting mental, emotional, and behavioral health.
3. Connecting youth, families, schools, and communities.
4. Preventing and reducing alcohol and drug use.
5. Preventing youth violence and bullying.
References
Yahnke, K. Ending school violence. i-Sight. Retrieved from https://www.i-sight.com/resources/ending-school-violence-8-steps-to-improved-safety/ (Links to an external site.)
Wall, P. (2021). Everyone is going to need support. How schools are racing to respond to a mental health crisis. Chalkbeat. Retrieved from https://newark.chalkbeat.org/2021/8/20/22634048/schools-reopening-mental-health (Links to an external site.)
School violence. SAMHSA. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/samhsa-school-violence-resources-national_0.pdf (Links to an external site.)
2021. Comprehensive school-based mental and behavioral health services and school psychologists. NASP. Retrieved from https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/mental-health/school-psychology-and-mental-health/comprehensive-school-based-mental-and-behavioral-health-services-and-school-psychologists
Responding to the Research Findings of Others
Respond to at least two other posts. Think about what additional information or analysis you might provide to expand on the information resources your classmate found. Are there other resources you could suggest for someone at your classmate’s stage of academic and professional development? Are there examples you’re aware of from your own experience that might illustrate a current trend your classmate found in the focus area of his or her critical inquiry question? Asking questions is another good way to generate discussion. The twelve categories of questions outlined in the following PowerPoint presentation from the Critical Thinking Institute can provide you with ideas for appropriate questions to further the discussion: Critical Questions to Stimulate Critical Thinking.
