Doctoral Identity

Annotations are descriptive and critical assessments of literature that help researchers to evaluate texts and determine relevancy in relation to a particular research project. Ultimately, they are a note-taking tool that fosters critical thinking, demonstrates understanding, and evaluates the source material for possible later use.  In this assignment, you will read and annotate three articles.
General Requirements:

Locate the articles by Baker and Pifer (2011), Gardner (2009), and Smith and Hatmaker (2014) 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. Note: A title page is required for this assignment, but a reference page is not required since the references are included with the annotations.
Refer to the resource, “Preparing Annotated Bibliographies” located in the Student Success Center, for additional guidance on completing this assignment in the appropriate style. Use “Sample APA Annotated Bibliography” example in this resource.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

Directions:
Read the articles by Baker & Pifer (2011), Gardner (2009), and Smith & Hatmaker (2014). These articles and the persistent links to them are located in the Course Materials for Topic 2.
Provide an annotated bibliography (750-900 words total, excluding the reference notes) of the articles. Including the following for each article:

A reference note formatted according to APA style guidelines. The reference note is not included in the total word count.
An annotation (250-300 words) of the article. Annotations are descriptive and critical assessments of peer reviewed articles. Annotations summarize the key concepts and evaluate the article for its strengths and weaknesses. Why was the study conducted? What was the population studied? What did the researcher(s) conclude? What other information about this study do you believe is unique or important to recall? Are there specific statements made by the author you wish to retain?