I am writing this on the day my students’ Research Papers are due and I’ve got to tell you, I’m excited. Yes, it’ll take some time to grade them, but I’ve been storing up energy the last few weeks while they’ve been expending it working on their papers. And I’m looking forward to it for three reasons: 1) it signals that the end of the semester is in sight, 2) I’m excited to see the progress my students have made over the course of the semester, and 3) I fully expect to learn a lot from my students’ papers.
The reason I expect to learn things is because my students write their papers on relatively unique topics, in attempts to answer questions they are genuinely interested in. I steer them towards these sorts of questions to make the process more meaningful for them, but I benefit too because their papers are better written and more interesting (and therefore easier to grade).
So, if you’re a writing teacher and want to know how to look forward to the day your students submit their papers for the same reasons I am, let me explain my process….
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Before my students choose a research topic, we brainstorm together. I’ll start us off with a general topic based on what we’ve read already (this changes, some semesters we read about social media, other times the formation of the self, others how the individual self and society interact with each other). I’ll share my list of possible research topics (50 or so) with the class and then have them add to it (10 or more) and share their new possible topics. This takes one class or less and after this, no matter what you want your students to focus on, they should have lots of possible interesting topics/ideas to choose from.
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The next thing I’ll do is have my students read sample Research Papers from previous semesters. I like to do this after they have begun to think about their own topics because as they read these papers, on some level, they will also be thinking about their own. The topics for these sample papers don’t matter. My goal is to show them examples of the type of paper they will be writing.
We also go over the Research Paper Rubric at this point and I have them fill out rubrics for these sample papers (sometimes individually, sometimes in groups if we have time to do this as an in-class activity). Because the rubric is the same one that will be used for peer review and grading the paper, they are simultaneously getting a better understanding of the assignment requirements and looking closely at papers that (typically) succeed at meeting those requirements. If there’s time, we’ll read some bad papers too—so they can see what not to do.
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The next thing they need to do is move from a general topic to a Research Question. I tell my students they are going to write an Inquiry-based Research Paper (which means starting with a question and following whatever leads they can find to help answer it). Many students come in to the class thinking that a research paper is a “report” and the focus should be finding information on a topic and presenting that. I tell them that while that may have been enough in the past, and may be true for some other subjects, that is not enough for the paper they will write for my class. Instead, they need to think about the paper as a sort of “conversation” about their chosen topic. However, I also tell them they can’t just present an aimless conversation, they need to answer their research question in the form of an argument, with their voice being the strongest, using the sources they find to help them answer the question, a question they can only “find” the answer to through a combination of reading, thinking, writing, et cetera.
Now I have found that even after I have directed them to go beyond the obvious with responses and shorter papers throughout the semester, too many of them initially think they need to write their “research papers” on tired, worn-out (boring) topics like the death penalty, if college athletes should get paid, steroids in baseball, or the genetic modification of foods. No, no, no, I say. Their research topic is the one they will spend the most time on during the semester, which means it is the most important one, through which they can learn the most. So I only let them choose topics that require critical thinking and will lead to some kind of discovery.
For example, if a student is interested in animals, questions I would direct them to are:
Do animals have a self?
Why do people like to go to zoos?
Why do people like to have pets?
These sorts of question allow them to write about the topic in a way they haven’t before. I have found that “Why?” questions are usually the best for getting students to think and consider multiple perspectives, especially when there are lots of possible answers. Recently, one student wrote a very interesting paper not only explaining some of the reasons why people have pets but arguing that for some it served as a social crutch, cutting them off from genuine human interaction.
Once they’ve got a question, I have them to share them with the class. Beforehand, I tell them to pay close attention to their classmates because it might help them discover more interesting questions for themselves and/or refine their questions. I even tell them they can steal another student’s question because even if they began with the same question as another writer, they will end up writing very different papers.
Another reason this sharing is valuable is because often as students try to explain their topics, they will see the flaws in them. For example, if someone’s research question begins as: “What are the arguments for and against human cloning?”I can say that’s a good topic but a bad question, because it could be answered in a simple report, with none of the writer’s own ideas. I’ll ask the class to suggest a better question and we’ll eventually (with my help if necessary) arrive at something like: “Is human cloning ethical?” This is better starting point because now the student needs to define and discuss ethics and take a stand on the issue, do everything that the original question asked, but also say something beyond just what the sources say.
I would expect a question like this to get more specific as the process unfolds, as the student finds sources from writers who have thought about the topic in greater depth. Most students’ questions/topics get more specific and narrowly focused during the process and this is good–I tell my students the most interesting papers (to read and to write) are those that focus very narrowly on part of a topic, then go as in-depth as possible once inside the topic.
Some of the questions students are exploring this semester are: Can money buy happiness? Why are people attracted to nature and natural beauty? Is experiencing sadness necessary for one to experience happiness? Does attending a Christian high school adequately prepare one for the “real world?” How does social media use affect adolescent girls? How has technology in the classroom affected student learning, creativity, and social development?
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The next step is to write a Research Proposal. This is five simple questions:
What is your research question?
Why are you interested in this topic?
What knowledge do you have on the topic already and how do you plan to engage with the sources in the “conversation” about the topic?
Why will your readers be interested in this topic?
How much (if any) research have you done? What sources do you have so far?)
I don’t want them to go too far at this point, just begin to conceptualize how the paper might turn out. And at this point, their questions are still evolving so I don’t want them to work too far ahead on a paper that’s not going to work for the assignment.
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Once their question is set, the next step is doing research/finding sources. I’ve had a librarian come in the past to instruct them on this process but lately I’ve been doing it myself, the new technology making it pretty easy to find sources. I tell my students the best papers are usually those that bring in ideas from a lot of different places—sociology, psychology, popular culture, et cetera.
Some students find their topics change as they do research. I tell them this is okay and that often it’s best to let the research guide them for a while. So if they find a related topic that seems more interesting, they can pursue that instead.
Sometimes they don’t find enough material to answer their question. For example, one student this semester wanted to try to answer the question, “Why do people stay in relationships even if they know it’s not going to last?” First of all, that’s a great question. The fact that he was willing to write about his own experiences made me feel like he felt comfortable revealing parts of himself in the paper. However, he was having a hard time finding sources than went far enough so he modified his question to be: “Why do some relationships last, while most don’t?” Now I know this is not an altogether new topic, but getting an answer to that question from a writer who is: a freshman in college, from the south side of Chicago, who plays football for the college team, who is re-taking the class (because he said last semester he couldn’t stay awake during class and eventually just stopped attending), means this is going to be a new answer to the question, one I’m interested in.
(Somewhat related, another student this semester is writing about how the misrepresentation of epilepsy in popular culture hurts not only those with the disease (which she has been recently diagnosed with) but others as well, and society as a whole. Again, I felt good that she felt comfortable enough to want to share this about herself with me and the rest of the class. I also expect to learn quite a bit from this paper).
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Once, they’ve got their sources, I have them write a Pre-Writing Outline for the paper, answering these questions:
What is your Research Question? (I have them keep sending me this because it usually keeps evolving)
What are the key concepts/topics you will be discussing in your paper?
What background information on your topic do you need to provide for your reader?
For each source, provide the author, title, and the main point of this work.
Describe the relationship between the main points of the sources you’ve listed. If 2 are very similar, explain why you need both of them. If they are in opposition, explain how they disagree. If they are not clearly related, explain the connections between them.
How will you engage with the information and ideas from sources? What can you add to what you’ve found?
Finally, prepare an outline indicating the order in which you plan to present topics and ideas.
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I make notes and suggestions on their outlines and then send them off to write the rough draft of the paper (typically a week or so after the outline is due). They bring copies to class for Peer Review. While they are reviewing and responding to each other’s papers, I look them over quickly, write a little of my own feedback on each, and make notes of issues I notice are being repeated in more than one paper. Before I give them back them back their papers at the end of peer review, I’ll go over my notes with the class and then provide a list of “Tips for revising your papers” via email later that day or the next.
One thing I really focus my students’ attention on at this stage are thesis statements (essentially their arguments/well-developed answers to their research questions). I tell them that once they’ve got a strong thesis statement, writing and revising the paper becomes much easier.
Sample papers I’ve showed them earlier typically include strong thesis statements. For example:
“Cliques are capable of preventing the discovery of the individual self and postponing success in adult life. Adolescents need good role models in their immediate families and solid moral foundations to combat the negative effects from pseudomature behaviors and conformity encouraged by their peers in cliques.”
“Gender stereotypes, whether or not they are intentional, are very prevalent in comic books, and these stereotypes, in addition to marginalizing and under representing women, are detrimental to female readers as they decrease egalitarian gender role beliefs and lower body esteem.”
These are both examples from former students of mine who entered (and were selected as winners) at our school’s annual Research Paper Contest (which is another good way to motivate your strongest students to keep revising and improving)
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After Peer Review, I instruct them to continue to work on their papers based on the peer feedback and my tips and bring one copy to the next class, where I’ll have them write a Sentence Outline (also called a Reverse Outline). For this assignment, for each paragraph, they need to write a complete sentence that presents the main point of that paragraph. Along the way, I’ve been directing their attention to organization and topic sentences, so if they’ve got those in the paper, writing this outline is a breeze. If they don’t, at the end of writing the outline, they’ll have a good topic sentence for each paragraph, which I tell them makes it easier not only the reader but makes it easier for them as writers. And of course, if they find paragraphs that don’t say anything, or paragraphs that say too much, or go off-topic, writing this outline will help them identify those problems.
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Finally, they revise the paper again as needed and submit it for grading, which is where we are today. If you haven’t noticed, while my students have been working hard throughout this process, I have not had to do a lot of work to do. Instead I’ve been guiding and directing them to do the work. I’ve been active in the classroom, but haven’t had to do much outside of it. And this is important because I’ll be relying on this energy I’ve stored up to get through the grading process, which will be, though rewarding and beneficial in the ways I’ve described, a lot of work.
After I finish grading the papers, I’ll meet with my students for a last set of conferences, during which I’ll thank them for writing their papers and helping me learn new things, and of course we’ll discuss how I’ve graded them, my comments, scores on the rubrics, and I’ll give suggestions for one last revision, if they are interested.
So, that’s the process that has brought me to today and I believe it is working well. I know my student have invested a lot of time and energy on these papers which makes it easier for me to invest my own time and energy now. So off I go to grade. See you on the other side. Thanks for reading!
If you to read more about my teaching, check out my other blog posts or my new book Teaching The Way: Using the Principles of The Art of War to Teach Composition: https://amzn.to/3mwbz3y
Teaching The Way 