Blog 16:

1.  What is your EQ?
What is the best way to encourage youth voter participation in local government systems.

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
To resolve the issue of diminished voter participation, schools should more closely integrate their curriculum with active involvement in politics through classrooms.

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
To go along with the second point, legislation reducing the voting age from 18 to 17 in state or local elections would be another solution due to allowing young students the experience of voting at a tie when tehy should be politically involved

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
1. Research has indicated that a person who has voted before is more likely to be engaged with the system in the future, and

2.Expanding the voting age would create new voters and allow for classes to integrate participation in the political system with their classes

3.More active engagement with the political system has been proven to result in increased confidence in it which hs been noted as a significant factor in voting.

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

6.  What other source supports your answer?


The Dynamics of Political Participation
7.  Tie this together with a  concluding thought.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
     As detailed in my last independent component, my research had several flaws and methodological problems. To compensate for this, I intend to do much more research on the subject. My goal is to acquire 200 surveys minimum utilizing the newly revised survey I created that can be seen below. This amount should be a sufficient amount to account for an expected number of discrepancies and is 4x what I acquired last time. To go beyond what I did last time, I also intend to write several letters asking for professional opinions on my subject matter. The surveying should take up the most of my hours, and I also intend to do a more extensive writeup than last time.


Proposed Survey

Are you between the ages of 17-24?      Y/N

Do you consider yourself Politically involved? Y/N

Do you consider yourself Politically Informed? Y/N

Do you find yourself concerned with politics? Y/N

Have you attended any events that are political in nature? Y/N

Have You Voted in a Local, State, or National Election? Y/N

If Not, Please list why. Mark any and all that apply.

It doesn’t Matter

I Don’t Have the Time

It Hasn’t come Up

Other_____________________________________

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
     Much as before, documenting my hours will be accomplished by photographic evidence of y surveying materials linked to dates, and also the physical proof of my intended 200 surveys along with the research paper.

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.
    This component will more directly follow me to figure out why people don't participate in politics due to the revised survey.

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

    Will do. (Will Update when accomplished)

Blog 14: Independent Component

• LITERAL
  (a) Write: “I Roman Gutierrez affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 38 hours of work.”
• “I Roman Gutierrez affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 38 hours of work.” 
•  (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
• The primary sources that have helped me out in this endeavor would primarily be the following:
• 
  
• Wendel, Stephen. "The Dynamics of Political Participation: An Analysis 
  of the Dynamic Interaction between Individuals and their Political 
  Micro-Environment." Order No. 3517713 University of Maryland, College 
  Park, 2012. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 26 Sep. 2014.
  Nelson, Andrew B. "Young People and Political Engagement." Pew Research Center RSS. Pew Research Center, 16 July 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
   
  
  K., D. "Why Young People Don't Vote." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
  
  as they directly link to my essential Question and provided me with a strong model to follow in regards to actually accomplishing this project. I, of course, credit my mentor with setting me on this path, but it was mostly these sources and their methods that provided me with the path to follow.
• (c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.
•  I just accomplished this.
• (d) Explain what you completed.    
• This independent component is  a long term research project predicated around answering the question of why young people don't get involved in politics. To accomplish this, I surveyed people over a two week period to find the best answer to that question and determine the root of voter inaction. I compiled the results into a research paper that goes into depth on my subject while discussing the layout of my experiment. 

 

• INTERPRETIVE 
  Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
• My independent component is essential to my overall senior project as it involves me directly applying what I have learned to gather more information on a subject integral to my field of study. It also involved a great deal of involvement as I went to campus to talk to people about their involvement. The actual writing process was also involved as it took me greatly expanding n several key sections and summarizing the raw data in an easily palatable way. This also references how a real political scientist may go about their job and serves as good training for it.
• Evidence 
• The following is a huge amount of pictures I took regarding this process.

  

  This picture shows my workstation for the first days. While this location was convenient, I also realized that by situating myself in an area with three exits that everyone who entered was rushed and had little time for a survey. If you notice the little cue cards, they advertise free candy. This was added later, but I found that it was much less of a draw on a college campus. It wasn't until I later rebranded as a 30 second survey that I found much better success.

  
  
  
  

  

  This shows the workstation I eventually shifted too. While it was empty then, I realized tht the location still had a decent amount of traffic at a more relaxed pace. I placed my supplies here and advertised the survey. This was where I had the best results as documented in my hours.

  
  

  

  It can be hard to make out, but this paper features sections of what would later be my introduction. It is included  here to showcase that I have been thinking about this project in between classes. The genuine article is also available for review.

  
  

  

  In the same vein as the last photo, this shows how I began plotting the research article structure in the margins of other papers during my breaks. Also of note, it is easy to confirm that I tied my lesson 2 activity into my independent component because of the multiple people involved. Mrs. Yelverton can confirm if you ask, but other students in her advisory house can also confirm that I distributed a survey along with my activity. Sorry, I  didn't take a picture for that, but I forgot to take a picture  of my lesson.

  
  

  

  This is my works station again. i had this configuration for two days before realizing it was inefficient. I also set up my lap top in the chair directly next to the window which drove away testers in my opinion.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  This was a later form of my survey workspace. It actually was more convenient this way due to the wind scattering my other surveys when they were distributed in the above way.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 
• 
  
• Given that my essential question asks how to address voter non-participation, the survey results indicate that voter non-participation has multiple root sources further provides me with avenues for how to best respond. For instance, the current voting age is a huge impediment to fostering voter interest as civics and government courses often take place in senior year when most people are at the age of 17. This prohibits them from participating at a time in their life when they are potentially their most active politically. A lowered voting age could allow schools to tie in more lessons on how to participate in government systems effectively In addition, the roughly even split shows that focusing solely on apathy is a flawed approach as it ignores that many people have been disillusioned with the current system. While it is statistically likely that they will get involved when politics impacts their personal lives, overcoming this distaste for politics early would allow for more opportunity for participation in their communities.

January Monthly Extra Post

Monthly Report: This month I have been primarily focused on my independent component, lesson 2, and my own affairs. Currently, I have just completed my lesson 2 with the successful grade of an AE which fulfills one of my goals for this project. Having accomplished this objective, I am currently focused on completing the independent component with a similar grade. I also will hopefully be less distracted with college finances this week.

Independent Component: I am currently completing the last round of surveys and will be done with my write up of the report on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I will complete my graphs on the report to compile them into an overall lab report and update mentorship and independent component Hours

Future Goals: Write several letters to political figures for advice, investigate new link of voter inaction to citizen disillusionment, and continue with mentorship.

I will also try to diversify my mentorship with others.

Blog 13

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?


        I enjoyed my activity as it was easy to implement, yet had importance to the work as a whole. It also let me get some research for my independent component. The ease of accessibility allowed me to go into depth on my topic without worrying too much for time.

2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE

     b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.


            Under the Lesson 2 Component Contract, I fulfilled each and every requirement stipulated for a minimum P  grade, and the steps which I took to go beyond that should warrant a higher grade in an objective evaluation. My activity tied into both my topic and my best answer, I brought above the minimum number of sources that needed to be cited with a total of six in my works cited and around 25 non cited sources where I pulled graphs and other data from reliable sources such as Gallup, and I effectively integrated both mentorship interviews and my research to discuss a major problem in my overall subject. 

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
         The overall implementation of the lesson seemed to go well. The primary point of motivating participation in activities and surveys through the use of incentive (Candy) provided an excellent mirror to my best answer about utilizing the school system as a way to encourage better citizenship and involvement. In addition, combining this with my research for my independent component (The surveys on political involvement) worked exceedingly well as it provided me with a minor way of gauging audience reception to my presentations message. The results of this were very interesting as they seemed to indicate that people who don't consider themselves politically involved do so as a result of lack of confidence in their vote and a linked assurance to the corruption of the government. The other sizable contingent felt that since they were young, they had no concern for the sake of the government. The results of this survey will undoubteedly influence my next lesson just as the survey I conducted in my first lesson did.

 4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

The Hook activity was an absolute failure on almost all levels. It simultaneously wasted time while only minimally advancing my key point. The core issue with it was its structure as the primary point, participation motivated by incentive, was accomplished in the opening point and the rest of the activity quickly lost momentum. It was intended to segue into a discussion on participation, but when I realized that it didn't have the theorized effect I quickly transitioned into my presentation and essential question. From there the lesson proceeded at a quick pace, but with nearly 14 minutes of lecture content by my evaluation. In the future, I will probably take more care in structuring the intro activity and streamline the entire affair.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

Potentially, given the feedback on my surveys, I will push for a reduced voting age for state and local elections and for more emphasis on challenging the notions of the futility of voting rather than apathy. While I am unlikely to seriously change their minds, doing so is essential to hopefully others who aren't as ingrained in their viewpoint on avoiding voting.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 Hours

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

           I am doing my mentorship at the El Monte City Council.
2.   Who is your contact?
           My contact is El Monte City Council Member Victoria Martinez
3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?

While I asked my mentor to say 12 since I wasn't counting my summer hours, I think it is actually 23. Since the city council meetings are on school nights, I can't stay there too late and its usually around 4 hours.

 4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

My 10 hours of service largely consisted of me looking over a meeting and thinking on how that meeting was conducted. 

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

Content:

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?
This winter Break I completed the following tasks for my independent Component: 

Revised Survey Questions to Optimal Format for Mass Questioning

- Collected 5 Surveys

- Began Work on Template

- Began Work on Works Cited Page of Lab Report

- Gathered the References I needed for my work to gain minor credibility           by citing the findings of others and hw that relates to my chosen topic.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

- I learned the formatting for a political science paper dealing with a topic from may of my sources, but most particularly the “Dynamics of Political Participation” which served as a template for the type of paper that I want to write. Mimicking this structure is essential as it serves as a good prelude to the type of work I may do in the future which was a stated goal of mine. 

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

If the question of who to query in regards to my topic came up, then I would undoubtedly speak to the president as that is the highest department in my profession, and give everything even news organizations fail to land interviews with the head of the United States.  For a more practical urpose, I would like to get into contact with members of the state legislature in order to get their perspective and also form contacts with beyond the interview.