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Ohlone College – Department of Exercise Science, Wellness & Athletics
KIN 240 – Theory of Physical Education, Fitness and Sport
Curran – Fall 2014
LIBRARY RESEARCH PAPER (50 points)
DUE DATE – Oct 27 (1st Draft) / Nov 03 (Final Draft)
MLA Format!!
Each student will submit a 3-5 page research paper, with references, addressing a topic associated with
kinesiology, physical education, fitness or sport. You will utilize MLA format for your paper. Thus, you need to
make sure you consult appropriate websites or books that give you the necessities of writing in MLA format. A
very clear example of how to write in MLA format is to Google “MLA Sample Paper Daly”. Here, you’ll find a clear
example of everything from spacing, to citing, to Works Cited, to where your title goes, to your header placement,
etc.
Thesis Statement
Last sentence of opening paragraph.
Drug use has become an epidemic among high school students throughout the U.S. – drug use leads to
poor performance in school, breakdown of relationships, and sometimes even dangerous physical problems.
Available Topics
Any and all topics associated with physical education, fitness or sport – that provides you a very wide berth for
content which can be researched from scholarly sources (textbooks, journals, the internet, etc.). A few examples:
1) Steroids in sport?
2) Athletic training issues?
3) Rising salaries in the NBA, MLB, NFL?
4) Concussion issue in the NFL?
5) Should college athletes be paid?
6) What is the role of a coach?
7) Improving physical education curriculums?
8) Overuse injuries of high school athletes?
9) Nutrition for the athlete?
10) The role of administrators in HS and college sports?
11) Etc.?
Any and all of these would be fine. Sources must be REPUTABLE SOURCES (see martinlutherking.org). If you are
questioning the validity of your topic or one of your sources, confirm the appropriateness with the course
instructor.
Instructions
1. Your cover page must follow the correct guidelines of an MLA (google “MLA Sample Paper Daly” or
“Purdue OWL”) cover.
2. You are expected to produce thoughtful, original work. Students are often under the illusion that the goal
of their assignments is to collect the best information possible. While good research is critical, this
assignment intends to assess your ability to transform the information you find into an original written
document.
a. Your paper will be broken into five parts (Introduction, Research, Comments, Conclusion, Works
Cited).
b. You will have an introduction that introduces the topic, research that breaks down the topic, and
comments that provide your insight and intellectual thought about your topic. You will sum
everything up and provide a Works Cited page.
c. Resources are available via the internet (a great source is www.plagiarism.org) and the college
library regarding how to ensure that your work does not constitute plagiarism. Additional
learning resources have been placed in the file for this assignment on the course
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d.
Any student found to have commited an act of plagiarism will receive a score of 0/50 on this
assignment and the occurrence will be sent to the Office of Student Services secondary to the
violation of the Ohlone College Policy on Academic Dishonesty.
e. Remember, anything that is copied directly, paraphrased, or summarized MUST, MUST, MUST be
cited in MLA format.
3. At the end of the paper, include a separate works cited page with all of the sources you cited in your
paper. A minimum of 3 sources must be cited and 5 citations and all works cited must be less than 15
years old (a good rule of thumb is that your resources will be from the year 2000 and thereafter).
a. Resources are available via the internet and the college library (a great source is
www.plagiarism.org) regarding how to properly reference sources for your paper. For this
assignment, you will utilize the MLA style when listing works cited for your paper.
The library research paper is to be typed and double-spaced and must be 3-5 pages in length, not more and not
less. Margins are to be justified 1 inch from the top, bottom, left and right. Grammar, sentence structure and
spelling count. Utilize the tools available via your word processing software (spell check, etc.) to avoid any
unnecessary mistakes that will negatively impact your grade for this assignment.
Electronic copies (e-mail) will not be accepted. You may turn in your paper up to the normal DUE TIME (10:45
AM) up to 7 days after it is due – for half-credit.