Research Paper Guidelines

[Patrick Higgins]

I had sent this out via twitter last week, but this looks like a more captive and focused audience for the topic.

What should our high school research process look like? In looking at our guideline, and the rules we teach students, there seems to be little that reflects the tools and the media our students have access to. Is it practical to require that they all use notecards (source cards and bib cards)? Do we require that they learn the correct way to write out MLA or APA for their works cited page?

We are looking at our process in my district right now, and it's hard to see value in some of the things we continue to teach. To try and gain some perspective, we just sent out a survey to our graduates from a year ago who would be out in the world, in the military, or about to begin their sophomore year of college. We asked them a series of questions about the habits they learned during the research process and whether or not it applied to their college studies. But I would like to hear from those of you in this network about your processes and your thoughts on what skills our students need to be taught during their research projects. Thanks!

[Angela Stockman]

I work with a lot of hs teachers who really like the Big 6 Research model, and their kids use Noodle Tools. I've also used the I-Search process with great success with seniors--that's Ken Macrorie's work. Asking them to incorporate the use of web tools might lend some authenticity and real publishing opportunity to their work....I like Students 2.0....not exactly a traditional research model, but you can definitely see the potential use of it with research in HS.

[Dana Huff]

I don't think they need to memorize MLA or APA rules, but they should use a documentation system.

As to the note cards -- they're going to take away all my tech cred for this, but I use them. Until I wrote a paper using them myself, I was absolutely unconvinced of their usefulness. However, a few years ago, I did a paper along with my students, and I saw how having one fact, quote, or note per card really enabled me to move text around in a way that was easier for me than doing it using a technology tool.

One thing I didn't do when I wrote my own research paper in high school that I do have my own students do is a work plan. They estimate the number of cards they will need for each topic, and it's a nice way for them to keep on track.

[Lisa Huff]

I'd love to see the results of the survey. These are valid questions. In a workshop today, we talked about how we as teachers have to step back to assess the BIG picture of curriculum and ask ourselves what skills, strategies, content we will teach in the few encounters we have with students--what are the essential skills and knowledge of our course. All the focus on 21st century skills and learning seem to underpin some basics about essential research skills:

• understand how to search for information
• evaluate the sources of information for reliability and validity
• formulate research questions before beginning and throughout research process to sustain and focus productive search for information
• synthesize information from multiple sources
• attribute sources
• The way we attribute sources, as you said, is changing. I think it's more important to have this discussion with students, to make them aware that there are multiple ways to attribute sources: the most appropriate may depend on the genre and context. For example, are there times when hyperlinked sources (throughout a published piece or at the end) are more appropriate than a formal MLA or APA works cited page? As for bib cards and note cards, I think, again, our focus should be on helping our students understand the process and available strategies for identifying important information from sources and selecting an organizational strategy to synthesize that information. If we show them multiple strategies and tools--underlining, highlighting, note cards, Furl, Digg, del.icio.us, online bib makers--I think we come closer to preparing them for the real information literacy demands they'll face in their futures.
  
  I'm interested in hearing what others think.

[cupcake]

I'm very intrigued by this topic because my juniors will write a research paper next year in preparation for their senior graduation project. I haven't had to teach research paper writing yet, because when I taught sophomores, the emphasis was on definition and cause-effect essays, because those were the two types of essays presented on the 10th grade writing assessment. I've spent the past month or so creating a PowerPoint to explain what a research paper is and how to go about writing one. It's a work in progress, because I'm struggling with how best to teach them the process.

[Nick Senger]

Ditto to what Lisa Huff said, with a huge emphasis on evaluating sources.

Here is an exercise I did with my eighth graders last year, but I will let you in on the secret I didn't tell them until the end: each of the following websites are fake. It was an extremely enlightening lesson. They got into groups of about three to evaluate the reliability of the sites, and not one group realized that their site was a fraud.

------------------------

Choose one site from and answer the following questions:

1. Date Information: Does the page have a copyright date? Is the information up to date? How can you tell? When was the page last updated?

2. Presentation: Are there spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes? Does the page look professional?

3. Authority: Who wrote the web page? Is it signed by an author or a major organization? If it is signed by an author, can you find out his or her credentials? What makes the author qualified to speak about this content?

4. Bias: Does the page present both sides of an issue or is it one-sided? Does the author have an agenda; that is, is the page interested in spreading a particular point of view or opinion? Is the author selling something?

5. Your Judgment: On a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being completely unreliable and 10 being extremely reliable, how would you rate the site? Why?

• http://www.thedogisland.com/

• http://www.d-b.net/dti/

• http://www.dhmo.org/

[Angela Stockman]

THAT is a fantastic approach and a great idea.

Nick Senger said:

Ditto to what Lisa Huff said, with a huge emphasis on evaluating sources.

Here is an exercise I did with my eighth graders last year, but I will let you in on the secret I didn't tell them until the end: each of the following websites are fake. It was an extremely enlightening lesson. They got into groups of about three to evaluate the reliability of the sites, and not one group realized that their site was a fraud.

------------------------

Choose one site from and answer the following questions:

1. Date Information: Does the page have a copyright date? Is the information up to date? How can you tell? When was the page last updated?

2. Presentation: Are there spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes? Does the page look professional?

3. Authority: Who wrote the web page? Is it signed by an author or a major organization? If it is signed by an author, can you find out his or her credentials? What makes the author qualified to speak about this content?

4. Bias: Does the page present both sides of an issue or is it one-sided? Does the author have an agenda; that is, is the page interested in spreading a particular point of view or opinion? Is the author selling something?

5. Your Judgment: On a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being completely unreliable and 10 being extremely reliable, how would you rate the site? Why?

• http://www.thedogisland.com/

• http://www.d-b.net/dti/

• http://www.dhmo.org/

[Jami Miksiewicz]

I think teaching notetaking skills is important to avoid plagiarism - I usually tell my students about Doris Kearns Goodwin. I've used notecards myself in college and with my students. Even though the students initially complained, they did see the value of them. Writing the first draft of the paper is so easy. Just "deal the cards" according to the outline. I can't think of a better way.

[Tammy Gillmore]

I require note cards, then annotation/color-coding according to an outline...then I let the students choose which method they like the best. I always have some choose to create note cards for all their research (must say this amazes me!). I know that since high school (and maybe once in college) that I have never been required to use them (nor have I used them, although I understand the beauty of the system and if I had the time, I would use it!), but I have had students come back and say they had to use them in college, so it is a valuable lesson to teach.

We also alternate formatting according to grade. Grades 7, 9, 11 use MLA; grades 8, 10, 12 use APA. We need to evalutate this in a department meeting and discuss the effectiveness of this. I agree with Dana..it's not important that they memorize all the differences...just that the students realize there are differences.

Last year, I required a multi-genre research paper in English 11: we researched, created outlines and an annotated bibliography and hyperlinked within the genres to the sources utilized. It was fun! Got some very interesting projects. I also learned a lot! For one, I need to start the research process much earlier.

With my Pre-AP English 10 (in preparation for Lisa Huff's AP Lang class during which they blog), they posted excerpts from their research papers to a blog we set up and were expected to comment to at least four posts. That was fun for them also. Makes them more responsible writers...they have a "real" audience!

This year, I want to go across the curriculum with US History and use the National History Day topic (The Individual in History) and begin the research the first week with the students posting comments about the individuals they are researching to blogs. Actually, Lisa and I are discussing (okay, she's talking and I'm listening! She knows so much more about all this than I do!) about using a Ning...we have some concerns...as I'm sure you'll hear about!

We are interested in other schools who partipate in National History Day collaborating with us in giving our students other blogs/comments to read and respond to.

[Lisa Hoganson]

I integrate the process over time by requiring parenthetical documentation within timed essays. I provide students with the essay question and secondary source materials one day in advance. The prewriting assignment requires the student to compose a thesis statement and identify six direct quotations. Three must be from the primary source and three from the secondary sources that I have provided. The thesis statement and identified quotations count as a homework assignment and may be used to complete the in class essay which counts as a test grade. Over time students become comfortable with the process of documentation. We build to the formal paper. I am most concerned with teaching literary analysis and giving students an opportunity to write about and support their thoughts about the literature. I have found that many students focus upon the guidelines and prescribed spacing of the style guide and thinking and writing about the literature often becomes an after thought. Teaching the research paper is always challenging.

[Patrick Higgins]

Thanks for all of the insight and examples. Lisa's ideas are pretty spot on with what I have been batting around: the format doesn't matter nearly as much as the process and skill-set do.

There is a similar conversation going on at blog post I wrote about this topic at http://chalkdust101.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/questioning-the-research/.

The assignment that Nick outlined illustrates what is dearly lacking in our schools at the moment: the ability to interrogate sources and to understand the basics of web literacy. Since he shared it here, I am going to pass it along to the teachers at our middle and high school.

[Deb K]

For those people who are struggling with how to teach the research process, you may want to check out the Research Project Calculator, which was created by two library media specialists and modeled after the Assignment Calculator at the University of Minnesota. The RPC has a teacher resources section which includes exercises, tips, and other support materials.


cupcake said:

I'm very intrigued by this topic because my juniors will write a research paper next year in preparation for their senior graduation project. I haven't had to teach research paper writing yet, because when I taught sophomores, the emphasis was on definition and cause-effect essays, because those were the two types of essays presented on the 10th grade writing assessment. I've spent the past month or so creating a PowerPoint to explain what a research paper is and how to go about writing one. It's a work in progress, because I'm struggling with how best to teach them the process.

[cupcake]

Deb K said:

For those people who are struggling with how to teach the research process, you may want to check out the Research Project Calculator, which was created by two library media specialists and modeled after the Assignment Calculator at the University of Minnesota. The RPC has a teacher resources section which includes exercises, tips, and other support materials.

The clouds have parted and angels in heaven are singing.

Thank you for the link. There is some good stuff in there that I can use with my precious cherubs. Most of my students are low level learners, so we need to move s-l-o-w-l-y as we go through the research process. Thank you!