Welcome to the MS Psychology Capstone, the final course in your journey toward completing your master’s degree. 

What is a Capstone Project? During this course, you will complete a formal research paper on a social problem related to your MS specialization area. The paper will be completed through the individual assignments each week.

This week, you will explore some of the skills needed to complete the Capstone research paper. You will reflect on the importance of critical thinking and review academic writing skills that will be needed, including APA format. 

Welcome to this final step in your journey.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze the importance of critical thinking and relate this to the Capstone paper process
• Identify and apply Writing Center information and tools to edit and improve academic writing

Critical Thinking: Evaluating Information

As you have noted throughout your master’s program, psychological knowledge stems mainly from research. Knowledge of the world, in addition to coming from direct experience and observation, comes from many sources, including journals, textbooks, experts, and various media resources (television, newspapers, and the Internet). An important question regarding these resources is, Are they all credible? How do you distinguish fact from fiction in evaluating research information, regardless of its source? This Discussion addresses the importance of critical thinking in evaluating information obtained through various sources, including psychological research. Critical thinking is an invaluable skill in life as well as for completing your Capstone Project.

For this Discussion, you will examine resources on critical thinking and the “Capstone Project Required Content Overview” to explain the importance of critical thinking and how you will apply this skill to completing the Capstone Project.

Resources

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.

Click the weekly resources link to access the resources. 

WEEKLY RESOURCES

To prepare:

• From the Learning Resources, review the “Capstone Project Required Content Overview” document.
• From the Learning Resources, review the “Critical Thinking Resources.”
• Review the course Syllabus.

By Day 4

Post an explanation of the importance of critical thinking and the implications of not questioning information. Based on this week’s Learning Resources, describe how you will use critical thinking to develop the Capstone paper. 

Read your colleagues’ postings

By Day 6

Respond to at least one of your colleagues’ postings and provide an additional explanation of the importance of critical thinking different from your colleagues’ posts. Be specific and provide an example.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources. Use proper APA format and citations.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any insights that you have gained as a result of your colleagues’ comments.

You Are the Editor

Throughout your master’s program, you have been required to learn and demonstrate academic writing skills. These skills need to be sharp to complete the Capstone Project. This Assignment has you revisit and apply the common writing tools available to support academic writing at Walden. These tools include SafeAssign, Grammarly, the APA Publication Manual, and various Writing Center resources.

For this Assignment, you will examine and apply the resources to your own Discussion question in order to improve the style and format.

Resources

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.

Click the weekly resources link to access the resources. 

WEEKLY RESOURCES

To prepare:

• Review and copy your Week 1 Discussion main post into a MS Word document.
• From the Learning Resources, review Chapters 6 and 7 of the APA Publication Manual resource and note the variety of formats covered.
• Review the Learning Resources related to the Walden University Writing Center and the Walden Academic Skills Center and consider the requirements for scholarly writing. 
• Review the “Academic Writing Resources” in the Learning Resources. 
• Follow the directions to set up your account in Grammarly, if you do not have an account already. Submit your assignment to Grammarly. Retain the feedback that you receive from Grammarly.
• Access the Turnitin Drafts link from the Start Here area and submit your Discussion assignment for an academic integrity check. Retain the report from Turnitin.

Assignment (1–2 pages)

• Identify the relevant sections of the APA Publication Manual chapters on citations and references, and the Walden University Writing Center resources on APA format, that relate to the types of citations and references used in your Discussion assignment.
• Make any necessary changes to grammar, academic writing, or format based on the Turnitin and Grammarly reports.
• Revise your Discussion assignment based on this information to reflect correct grammar, APA format, and correct academic writing style, and save your work. 
• Conclude with a paragraph about what you learned about your academic writing skills—strengths as well as areas needing improvement. Explain the resources you will rely on going forward with the assignments in this course. 
• Post your revised Discussion response and the concluding paragraph to the Assignment link.

By Day 7

Submit your Assignment by Day 7.

submission information

Before submitting your final assignment, you can check your draft for authenticity. To check your draft, access the Turnitin Drafts from the Start Here area. 

• To submit your completed assignment, save your Assignment as WK1Assgn_LastName_Firstinitial
• Then, click on Start Assignment near the top of the page.
• Next, click on Upload File and select Submit Assignment for review

Learning Resources

Required Readings

• Document: Capstone Project Required Content Overview (PDF)
• Document: Walden Capstone Research Exemplar “Intrinsic Extrinsic Motivational Factors in Early Adolescent Students” (PDF)

Credit Line: Lammers, S. (2022). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Factors in Early Adolescent Students. Used with permission of Sarah Lammers.

Note: This Capstone Research Exemplar provides a clear perspective as to the expectations of a Capstone Research Project.

Critical Thinking Resources

• Walden Academic Skills Center. (n.d.-b). ASC success strategies: Critical thinking. Retrieved November 21, 2019, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/ASCsuccess/critical

Library Research Skills Resources

• Walden University Library. (n.d.-a). Database search skills: Introduction. Retrieved November 21, 2019, from 

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/databasesearchskills

Academic Writing Resources

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
• Chapter 8, “Works Credited in the Text” (pp. 253–278)
• Chapter 9, “Reference List” (pp. 279–309)
• Chapter 10, “Reference Examples” (pp. 311–352)
• Walden University Writing Center. (2019). Improving your writing: Strategies for revising, proofreading, and using feedback. Retrieved from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/webinars/scholarlywriting#s-lg-box-2773866

Note: The approximate length of this media program is 60 minutes.

• Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.-a). Citations: Overview. Retrieved November 21, 2019, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations

As you review this page, include a review of the following videos:

• Methods to the Madness: Creating Citations From Reference Entries
• Using & Crediting Sources: Citing Paraphrases

Using & Crediting Sources: Citing Quotations

Note: The approximate combined length of these media programs is 7 minutes

• Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.-c). Reference list: Common reference list examples. Retrieved November 21, 2019, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/references/examples
• Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.-b). Master’s capstone writing: Home. Retrieved November 21, 2019, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/masters/capstone
• Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.). Grammarly: Overview. Retrieved from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammarly
• SafeAssign Student Tutorial

Note: This document can be found in the Course Information link in the Blackboard Classroom under the Academic Integrity section

Required Media

•  Walden University Writing Center. (2017). Demonstrating critical thinking in writing assignments. Retrieved from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/c.php?g=465763&p=3595931

Note: The approximate length of this media program is 60 minutes

• Walden University Library (Producer). (2019b). Research for literature review assignments [Video file]. Minneapolis, MN: Author. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/39ZdC8vg_F0

Note: The approximate length of this media program is 4 minutes.