Enhanced Synthesis   Paper: Doctoral Identity

Synthesis is the act of creating something new from multiple existing entities. Synthesis of research, then, is creating a new idea from existing ideas. Synthesis of research is not a single innate skill. Rather, it is a process learned through time and practice. At the doctoral level, writing is a continual process of revision as learners improve skills and build subject matter expertise.
In Topic 5, you submitted a Synthesis Paper and received both feedback from your instructor and a grade for your work. In this assignment, you will expand upon your original paper with additional research from outside sources, incorporate feedback from your instructor, and provide a reflection section addressing your revision process.
General Requirements:
· Locate the Synthesis Paper you completed in Topic 5.
· Locate and download “Enhanced Synthesis Paper Template” from the Course Materials for this topic.
· Locate and download “Enhanced Synthesis Paper Resources” from the Course Materials for this topic.
· Review the articles by Baker and Pifer (2011), Gardner (2009), and Smith and Hatmaker (2014) located in the Course Materials for this topic.
· This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
· Doctoral learners are required to use APA style for their writing assignments. Review the GCU APA Style Guide for Writing located in the Student Success Center.
· You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
Directions:
Select and read two articles from the Enhanced Synthesis Paper Resources list located in the Course Materials for this topic.
Locate the Synthesis Paper you completed in Topic 5. Using the feedback provided by your instructor and information from the two additional articles you selected, write an Enhanced Synthesis Paper with Reflection (1,250-1,800 words). Include the following in your paper:
1. A Reflection (250-300 words) that discusses your revision process and how you incorporated your instructor’s feedback into the revised version. Similar to the format of an abstract, this section will receive its own page following the title page and preceding the Introduction.
2. An introduction that includes a brief description of each article and its purpose, identifies the three themes that emerged from your reading, describes how they will be discussed in the paper, and presents a clear thesis statement.
3. Support for your identified themes with evidence from each article. Provide analysis of these findings to strengthen your narrative.
4. A discussion of the conclusions that can be drawn when the articles are taken together as a single entity. What is the overall message of the group of articles?
  
Literature Review   Resources

Successful completion of a doctoral dissertation requires significant amounts of independent reading on the research topic. This allows the doctoral learner/researcher to become familiar with the scope of the topic and to identify gaps or tensions within the existing literature on the topic. These gaps and tensions become the source of the dissertation research. In this assignment, you will read and annotate potential sources in your dissertation field of interest. Those demonstrating the most merit to the best of your understanding of the topic at this time should be added to your RefWorks list for potential inclusion in the literature review section of your dissertation.
General Requirements:
Use the following information to ensure successful completion of the assignment:
· It is strongly recommended that you engage in this activity throughout the duration of your program. You will be adding to this document to begin building a runnnig literature review. You will have five sources in your list by the end of this assignment.
· Instructors will be scoring your submission based on the number of unique sources identified in the list submitted.
· Download the resource Literature Review Resources Tool and use it to complete the assignment.
· Doctoral learners are required to use APA style for their writing assignments. The APA Style Guide is located in the Student Success Center.
· Refer to the resource, “Preparing Annotated Bibliographies,” located in the Student Success Center, for additional guidance on completing this assignment in the appropriate style.
Directions:
Read at least five empirical articles in your general dissertation field.
In the “Literature Review Resources” document, provide the following for each source:
1. The APA formatted citation.
2. A brief annotation of the key points of the source.
3. An indication of whether the source has been added to (Y) or excluded from (N) your RefWorks list.