POLS 240: Taylor, K. (Fall 2025): Start Here

Welcome, POLS 240 students, to your Library Research Guide!

"Clear Lightbulb Planter on Gray Rock" by Singkham on Pexels is in the Public Domain. 

This guide is intended to support your final project, "Policy Area Research Project Presentation"

In this guide you will find research resources, along with a few presentation resources.

Your final project instructions (available in your Canvas course):

• Instructions and learning strategies: Ideally, you will start with the module that covers the area you are researching and build from there. There will be an even distribution of students into each policy group so that students studying the same topics can collaborate, share resources and learn from each other during 3 class periods when the annotated bibliography and outline draft/final copy are due. During the Final Exam period, each small group will split up into a new small group with representatives from each policy area research collaboration group and present their findings. At the end of the presentations, students will have a larger classroom discussion about where policy “ought” to go using evidence from our class and research.

  To be more clear, start in the Canvas learning module(s) that your policy area is covered in and look for the resources in that module that apply. Then use the LibGuide to research more. Throughout the quarter, I recommend keeping up with political news related to your policy area. The LibGuide will also include sources and information about how to stay current on these developments. For our first class, I will assign your policy area and small group that you will collaborate with to make your presentation. The next 3 classes will be collaboration on the project for the purposes of creating individual presentations that each person will give to a different group of students. On the last day, students will split up into new groups with each policy area represented and give the presentation to each other in these small group formats.

• Research: History of a policy area is pretty easy to come by, getting up to date on the current/modern policies can be a little more challenging. Figuring out what the new administration can do or is proposing to do might be the trickiest part. The first 100 days of any presidential term are very active because a president is judged immediately on how effectively they can use the presidency to make the changes they were voted to make. There will be a lot happening, our focus is on the proposals related to the environment. In addition to my resources, you are also welcome to use your own but keep in mind that bias and misinformation are rampant right now because of the rise of citizen journalism and other trends. This is nothing new for environmental policy. If you feel suspicious of a source, you are free to run it by me or a librarian. It’s always a good idea to look at multiple sources to confirm. Fact checking is encouraged.

• Present your findings (recorded) using a PowerPoint or other presentation technique that shows and tells your audience about:

  • The history of the policy area, including the major and relevant federal and state laws passed and their features, as well as major issues/problems/statistics, events and actors. (20 points)

  • The current status of the laws that govern your policy area. What law(s) currently have authority over your policy area and what do they do? Are they working? Why or why not? (20 points)

  • Provide information about the proposals of the current government which is controlled by the Republican Party and is also known as the Grand Ole Party (GOP). You should include any proposals from President Trump that could impact these policies, including nominations and appointments, as well as Congressional efforts to pass legislation. What are the expected effects of these proposals and how likely are they to pass? This information will all be found in the news and news analysis that you read for this project (20 points)

  • Be prepared to share a reflection of what more you think should be done in the policy area you researched based on what you learned in the modules. (10 points) Please include this as a separate slide or document with your final presentation slides.

  • Please include your references on the final slide in APA citation format. 

  • Please note: up to 10 points can be deducted for excessive typos and/or issues with grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. Additionally, if your presentation slides are confusing, overloaded with text and/or not including enough information for your audience to follow you or if you fail to provide a proper references slide, up to 20 points may be deducted from your total score.