Overview:

Students will:

• Conduct research
• Develop a thesis statement
• Determine how their argument is situated within the body of existing knowledge and research
• Use credible sources to support their argument
• Organize their thoughts and research into a clear structure
• Engage in a critical review and feedback process designed to:
  1. hone students’ abilities to engage in constructive and professional criticism necessary in most workplace settings;
  2. help peers improve and polish their work prior to submitting to a public audience; and
  3. help students improve, revise, and polish their own work through the process of determining what they find well or poorly done in the work of others.

Step 1: Background Information

Your first step for this prewriting assignment is to conduct basic research on the two countries you will be comparing.

• International Students: You will compare the healthcare system of your country with the healthcare system of the United States.
• United States Students: You will compare the healthcare system of your country with the healthcare system of either England OR Germany.

You will research information about the countries you will be comparing, including population, economic health, relevant world rankings (e.g., education, energy, poverty, health costs, health rankings, etc.), and the type of healthcare system established in each country.

How this fits into your submission:

Your research findings for this part of the pre-writing assignment will go at the top of your submission. This section will be titled “General Information.” You will include:

• The name and population of your home country
• The type of healthcare system used in your home country
• A brief description of the general statistics and relevant world rankings of your home country
• The name and population of Country 2
• The type of healthcare system Country 2 uses
• A brief description of the general stability and relevant world rankings of Country 2

Step 2: Determine your topic focus

Next, you will determine your focus. You may end up deciding to change your focus, which is perfectly fine. However, you need to begin researching and gathering information, and having a focus will help you do that. Whether you want to start off looking into all of the topics listed is up to you. However, by the time you submit this prewriting assignment, you must have narrowed your focus down to a single topic, and you will provide research and a thesis statement that is focused on that topic.

Topics:

• Maternal Health
• Pediatric Health
• Geriatric Health

How this fits into your submission:

This section will be titled “Topic Focus,” and you will include whichever topic you ultimately choose.

Step 3: Research and Thesis Development

Now that you have collected background information and have determined a topic, you will dive into researching the healthcare systems of each of your countries, and how each system serves (or fails to serve) the population you have chosen to focus on (maternal, pediatric, or geriatric populations). You will develop a thesis statement based on your research.

You must use a minimum of 6 sources in your blog in order to earn full credit for this part of the rubric. The 6 required sources must be drawn from the resource list provided to you through Canvas (“Resources: Approved Sources for Health Care Systems Professional Blog”). Additionally, a minimum of 4 of your required 6 sources must be drawn from List 1 and List 2.

For the purposes of this prewriting assignment, you will include 6 sources, 4 of which will be annotated.

How this fits into your submission:

1. Thesis Statement

As you research you will begin to develop perspective, understanding, and background that will allow you to develop an informed and authoritative argument. From this foundation of research, you will utilize the thesis resources you have been provided with, and others available through the Communication for Engineers website, to develop your thesis statement. Starting with a strong, well-informed thesis statement will help you with the overall organization and clarity of your professional blog.

Your direction and argument may end up changing as you write your blog, which means that you may need to revise your thesis statement after you have finished writing to fit what you have created. This is normal and even expected. Thus, while developing a strong, clear, concise thesis statement now is essential to helping guide you through the process of organizing your work and getting your ideas onto paper, you are not beholden to your original thesis statement, and should feel confident enough in your autonomy as a writer to allow yourself to make useful, necessary, and justifiable changes.

You will include your thesis statement toward the top of your pre-writing submission. This section will be titled “Thesis Statement” and will be located just after the “Countries” section.

2. Annotated Bibliography

As you research, you will begin to collect sources that fit well within the framework of your paper. These sources should both inform and support your thesis statement and arguments.

You are required to list 6 sources you plan to use (as outlined in the first three bullets below), and provide annotations for at least 4 of those sources (the last bullet point). Each annotated entry must include the following, and should be structured in the same order as listed below:

• Name of author(s); date published; the title of work; the organization that published the work (e.g., newspaper name, government organization, journal name, etc.)
• Type of source (e.g., news article, academic article, government or organizational report, etc.)
• Full APA source citation (provide a complete APA style citation that is consistent with the source type and APA guidelines for that particular source type; utilize the resources suggested to you to properly complete this step)
• Bibliographic annotation (100-150 words, required for 4 sources).
  1. Summarize the central idea (argument/thesis) of the source
  2. Briefly explain the qualifications of the source (author(s), organization, etc.) to speak as an authority on the topic
  3. Describe what the resource is (e.g., if the resource is the CIA World Factbook, describe what that is, how/why it exists, what it is used for, etc.; if the resource is a report, explain what the report covers, why it was made, what audience it is intended for, etc.) and how the resource is useful to your work

SAMPLE

Pre-writing Assignment: A Tale of Two Healthcare Systems

Country 1: Tampania

Population: 3,091,399

Health Care System: Varies depending on class: Out of pocket; Single-payer; Employer subsidized

Overview: Tampania, which includes the territories of Saint Petraburgsia and Aguaclara, is a stable and growing country with a steady economy, a strong job market, and strong investment in infrastructure. The unemployment rate of Tampania was 3% as of November 2018 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019). Its job availability, robust arts scene, diverse population, varied food options, and preservation of historic districts, helped make Tampania the 75^th out of 125 best places to live (US News, 2018). Unfortunately, the Tampania area is also home to some of the lowest-ranked schools internationally (especially in the southern portion of the Saint Petraburgsia territory). Despite a seemingly low unemployment rate, poverty is more pervasive throughout Tampania and its territories than the surrounding average, with 26% of children (Tampa Bay Times, 2016) and 20% of the total population living below the poverty level (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). A similarly large section of the population is food insecure, with over 25% of children (more than 250,000) and 14% of adults (more than 700,000) suffering from hunger (WMNF, 2017).

Country 2: Saint Madeupedness

Population: 382,492,552

Health Care System: Single-payer

Overview: Saint Madeupedness is a stable country with a robust economy, low cost of living, a 1.7% unemployment rate, and, with a 100% green public transit system, 97% solar energy, and 92% of car owners owing electric cars (Green Energy International, 2018), boasts the lowest fossil fuel dependence in the world. The near-universal integration of green energy throughout the country has positively correlated with a significant increase in public health, with rates of respiratory disease, cancer prevalence, cognitive decline, birth defects, and skin conditions dropping drastically over the past decade (World Health Organization, 2018). Saint Madeupedness has topped the lists of “Best Places to Live,” “Happiest Country on Earth,” and “Healthiest Cities in the World” for the past 6 years straight.

Topic Focus: Maternal health

Thesis Statement:

While both Tampania and Saint Madeupedness have a lot to offer their citizens, Saint Madeupedness’s universal healthcare system offers superior access to and quality of maternal health services to all classes of citizens, which directly correlates to significantly lower rates of complications and related maternal and infant mortality. Additionally, while environmental health is not currently considered a health system metric, I argue that Saint Madeupedness’ dedication to providing a cleaner and healthier environment to all citizens enhances public health and may factor into the country’s outstanding maternal health outcomes.

Annotated Bibliography: (Sample for organization/structure purposes only)

Source 1 (with annotation):

• Philip Landrigan, Richard Ruller, Nereus Acosta, Olusoji Adeyi, Robert Arnold, Niladri Basu, et al.; October 2017; The Lancet Commission on pollution and health; The Lancet
• Academic journal article
• Landrigan, P., Richard, R., Nereus, A., Olusoii, A., Arnold, A., Basu, N., et al. (2017). The Lancet Commission on pollution and health. The Lancet,391(10119), 462-512, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32345-0
• Annotation: [Annotation must summarize the central theme of the source, what authority the source has on the topic, and offer a description of what the source is, and how it provides support for your argument. 100-150 words.]

Source 2 (no annotation):

• Zoe Sullivan; August 26, 2019; The Real Reason the Amazon is on Fire; TIME
• News article
• Sullivan, Z. (August 26, 2019). The real reason the Amazon is on fire. TIME.Retrieved from https://time.com/5661162/why-the-amazon-is-on-fire/