tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post6995942545194820209..comments2024-01-28T03:35:51.182-05:00Comments on Reassigned Time: On Guiding Students Through the Research ProcessDr. Crazyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12457967076373916629noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-4162634087510679162008-10-22T22:31:00.000-04:002008-10-22T22:31:00.000-04:00memo to good enough woman: What you learned is als...memo to good enough woman: <BR/><BR/>What you learned is also what I learned from Dr. Crazy about my CC physics students. She works on critical reading in junior classes, and I work on it in my sophomore classes. I'm sure our composition teachers work on it also. <BR/><BR/>My strategy, which you might find useful, is to emphasize the "you will do this again" aspect of the subject. It helps double if you save any e-mails you get from former students about how learning X made it easier to write paper Y in a later class. Investments are seen as valuable when they are guaranteed to pay off in reduced effort in the future.Doctor Pionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12513786840852469648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-69841364347881709572008-10-22T22:28:00.000-04:002008-10-22T22:28:00.000-04:00I'm with lesboprof on the Derrida comment. My hat...I'm with lesboprof on the Derrida comment. My hat is off to you if you actually said that to him. I'll also suggest "That is so Twentieth Century". <BR/><BR/>Wish I had time to write on the subject of the research process. I learned much of what you write about as a senior in HS from a teacher who did pretty much what you describe as your current approach. The key thing for me to learn was starting early to block out the Big Picture. <BR/><BR/>My students are lower on the food chain, but I use a mix of modeling and guidance. They probably need more modeling on the task of writing a lab report, but I only have so much time. <BR/><BR/>What I will close with is that the best of them have the most trouble with being succinct. They can write pages and pages, but struggle with a short abstract or precis of the main results. That is, of course, a really hard thing to do well - but that aspect of memo writing and pitch making is crucial in many areas of post-academic endeavor.Doctor Pionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12513786840852469648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-7954523208865486332008-10-21T09:29:00.000-04:002008-10-21T09:29:00.000-04:00I learned a lot of my writing and research strateg...I learned a lot of my writing and research strategies through being intimidated and terrified at the start of my MA, particularly when one of my profs called me into her office about my paper and told me she'd just gone through my file to find out how I got into grad school in the first place! <BR/><BR/>I'm doing phd coursework right now and have been annoyed by the details students are given about how to write a research paper (because, like duh, I already know) but I also think it is really important that someone explain the process of research and writing, even at the graduate level, so that students don't have to learn the backwards way (by learning through mistakes only, and no direction; kind of like the hot-cold game). It really is another language to learn, this academic-speak.Christinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14240966209931481157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-57668964122409366332008-10-20T14:02:00.000-04:002008-10-20T14:02:00.000-04:00This is so interesting (and enlightening) for me. ...This is so interesting (and enlightening) for me. I teach English at a community college, and I teach literature classes as well as class that includes a research paper (a.k.a. The Research Paper). I've been doing it for ten years, so I've developed some strategies, and most of them involve a lot of baby steps and a lot of individual attention to their topic, inquiry process, and especially their ability (or lack thereof) to imagine the opposing arguments. I've also started teaching my comp classes with some kind of theme, so that by the time they write their paper, they've got some context for the "conversation" that they are entering.<BR/><BR/>But what's really great (or sad, not sure which) about your post is that your upper-level students struggle with the same problems as mine. This is great because it really helps me clarify my expectations and it reinforces some of what I've been doing and encourages me to take those strategies even further.<BR/><BR/>The Derrida line is great. I've said similar things (although not so well delivered) to students who either a) try to make their writing complicated in order to make it sound better, or b) try to write like Victorians.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the post, Dr. Crazy!Good Enough Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16531793545583712309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-82198068042828693572008-10-20T00:04:00.000-04:002008-10-20T00:04:00.000-04:00There's an art to teaching the research paper, isn...There's an art to teaching the research paper, isn't there? The longer I do it, the more I realize that it has to be broken down into tiny steps.<BR/><BR/>I spend a full day explaining the paper in class: how to use reference materials, how to find a topic, how to research topics, <BR/><BR/>We start with the topic proposal. They have to give me a working title, a thesis sentence, and a short paragraph. I also require an annotated bibliography of a minimum of 5 sources.<BR/><BR/>I read them all, make comments, approve or not, and suggest other sources. <BR/><BR/>Once students have written their paper, they MUST take it to an English prof or English major in the writing center, get suggestions, and rewrite. (Most of our students need this step badly, even though they will have taken 4 semesters of English already before this point.) <BR/><BR/>Next step: students turn in their paper. I review and meet with them.<BR/><BR/>Final step: students revise (yes, again) and resubmit. I give points for each step (10 for the proposal, 5 for a "how to cite rather than plagiarize" assignment, 10 for the writing center, 25 for the paper, and 50 for the rewrite.) <BR/><BR/>It's a lot of work for me and for them. But I keep seeing improvements, so I'll keep doing it.<BR/><BR/>The biggest struggle I found this year was that students would tell me there was "nothing on my topic" because they couldn't find a BOOK in the library on that specific item. I think they're looking for the "exact same" title so they can condense a single book into a 5-page paper. It's driven me crazy.Terminal Degreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16523014953046778630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-3856481791801122302008-10-19T23:12:00.000-04:002008-10-19T23:12:00.000-04:00If you're interested in an oldie-but-goodie short ...If you're interested in an oldie-but-goodie short article that discusses the differences between novice and expert researchers (undergrads and professors), this article does a nice job: <BR/><BR/>Leckie, Gloria J. (1996) “Desperately seeking citations: uncovering faculty assumptions <BR/>about the undergraduate research process.” Journal of Academic Librarianship <BR/>May 201-208. <BR/><BR/>I will admit that I also like the Madonna movie reference in the title. It should be in Academic Search Elite, but if you'd like a copy I have a pdf of it.k8https://www.blogger.com/profile/07547334819703279971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-12007795331111015042008-10-19T23:03:00.000-04:002008-10-19T23:03:00.000-04:00I'm glad to hear that you guide students through t...I'm glad to hear that you guide students through the research process (not that it is static - just like in writing, there are many processes). I have an MLS and one of my concentration areas for that degree was information literacy instruction, so integrating info literacy and writing instruction (from my comp/rhet perspective) always feels natural to me. <BR/><BR/>Just like with anything else, students need to practice researching and asking research questions. I think a lot of instructors either forget this or don't consider it. I'm glad that you take this part of instruction seriously. This is one of those areas where I really do see a lot of similarities between research instruction and writing instruction in terms of student uptake (and instructor understanding of that uptake). <BR/><BR/>As for getting students to think about constructing research questions: I often go really old-school and teach a simplified version of Aristotle's Topics. Teaching students the types of questions to ask about a subject really opens up the ways they can approach it. It also tends to help them construct search strategies in both primary and secondary sources. <BR/><BR/>Yeah, I gotta pull the hard-core rhetoric into the research process. <BR/><BR/>btw, I laughed at the Derrida comment too.k8https://www.blogger.com/profile/07547334819703279971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20099192.post-63775761261134468192008-10-19T22:07:00.000-04:002008-10-19T22:07:00.000-04:00"Because it's not 1982, and you're not Derrida."I ..."Because it's not 1982, and you're not Derrida."<BR/><BR/>I am LMAO right now. Very nice.Lesboprofhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09249806181782620274noreply@blogger.com