Contributing to Solving a Social Problem

Project Instructions – Overview

will be submitted to turn it in (no AI usage)

Why take a course in social problems? The idea is not for you to feel despair about the myriad problems occurring in the world. The idea is for you to have a solid grasp on what is happening around us so that you can contribute to change! Why not start now? Throughout this semester, you will 1) do research on a social problem in which you are interested and come up with a list of ways that you can solve the problem, 2) choose one of those ways and write a clear plan of how you will get involved, 3) reflect on whether you felt like you made a difference or not and why or why not. You will be graded not on your success or failure to contribute to the solution, but rather on your understanding of the social aspects of the problem and the depth of your reflection on why your strategy was or was not effective.

Step One: Further Details

Write a 500-to 750-word executive summary of a social problem in which you are interested. This executive summary should include the following sections:

1. Background of the problem
2. Current efforts to solve the problem
3. Future outlook

You should use at least three reliable sources in your executive summary. Some tips for locating reliable sources are listed later in this document.

After finishing your executive summary, include a list of three to five possible contributions you could make toward the solution of this social problem. These need not be grandiose, involved actions. They could involve, for example, writing a letter to an elected official, volunteering with a local organization, attending a protest, collecting donations for a related charitable organization, etc. They should be actions you can either reasonably complete during the semester or at least get a significant enough start on to report back later, and they should be specific.

Too vague: I could collect sanitary napkins for girls in Africa. (How are you going to get them there?)

Better: I will collect donations for to help ensure that African girls have access to sanitary napkins.

Too vague: I could volunteer at a homeless shelter.

Better: I could volunteer to serve dinner at Camillus House in Miami.

Tips:

1. In addition to searching for problems, search for solutions. If you choose, for example, to write about police brutality, try such search times as how to end police brutality in the United States or strategies for policing that avoids police brutality or what can I do about the police brutality issue?
2. Consider thinking local. Your community is often the most accessible place to start solving problems. If you are interested in climate change, you might think about local policies that are contributing to climate change. Is your community reliant on fossil fuels for electricity? Are there enough electric vehicle charging stations? Are tax credits given to people who install solar panels? You might find it easier to contribute to a change in your own community as opposed to nationally or internationally.
3. Your book is an excellent source of information, and youve already paid for it! Look for your social problem in the index. Your textbook may contain some helpful information about the problem, and it may also lead you to other helpful sources.
4. See the in Module 3.

I recommend starting with the sites below when searching for online resources. However, you are also welcome to look elsewhere.

(Academic)

(Independent research)

(Journalistic)

Note: Please make sure your source has these three Rs: 1) Readability, 2) Research, and 3) Reliability. That is, your group will succeed in pulling together useful information for your final projects as long as: 1) You choose articles that are not too filled with jargon and, rather, express important matters related to your topic in clear, concise language that could be easily understood by any first year students (including ESL learners); 2) Your article features recent research (ideally from within the last 5 years) that highlights some key points of interest related to your topic; 3) Your article comes from a source that is widely recognized as reliable.

Rubric

Solving a Social Problem Rubric