Writing a Research Paper

Yesterday and today I'm reviewing some research papers that have been resubmitted by students attempting to earn additional points from their initial score.  With that in mind, I thought I would focus today's blog entry on the RESEARCH PAPER.  (All caps to emphasize the apparent tension and strife that embraces students by the mere mention of the words.)

Here's the deal with research papers; they aren't that big of deal.  Because I teach English III, I teach a required course for our students.  Required means that the students I work with range from enjoying English and excelling at language arts skills to despising English and genuinely struggling with one or more language arts skills.  So the course I teach needs to attempt to challenge and push the skilled "extra milers" while being "attainable" by "the haters".

Some folks may attempt to argue that not all students need to complete research papers in high school, but I disagree with that view.  I believe understanding the research process and understanding the documentation of other author's work is an important skill to be understood and performed by all students.  While not all high school juniors will grow to write fifty-page dissertations, all students need to be faced with tasks that require specific directions be followed, attentiveness to detail, and appreciation of intellectual property. 

All of those skills are challenging for teens; I'm sure they were for me - I just am too old to remember back then.  That last skill, though, the appreciation of intellectual property, is a bit more challenging for this generation that past generations.  The "copy-and-paste" feature that has surfaced as a result of our information age has changed the way students often complete work.  Rather than finding answers to their questions and formulating their responses in their own words, the faster and easier method is "copy-and-paste".  This revolution of completing work is honestly a bit scary, and it's an ever present challenge to teachers. 

Many teachers think they can find lesson plans and activities on the internet; however, their students quickly search and find those very items, which often include the answers.  Or some student from some other state has either figured out a way to make money by offering answers or simply offers the information up for free.

The thoughtful teacher now must try to develop relationships with students that motivate students to resist the urge to copy-and-paste and simply think for themselves.  Yes, thinking takes time and effort, which is often something teenagers strive to work around, but working those brains in high school will lead to bigger and better thinking after high school.  And relationships and motivation can only go so far; teachers need to also find fresh activities and assignments that aren't readily available on the web, which means teachers need to take time and make effort towards unique coursework.

I admit that I slim down the size of the research paper to 3-4 pages to emphasize to students the process of research and documentation - in my case in the English classroom calling for MLA style.  This size of project limits the amount of time necessary to complete the task and also limits the time it takes me to score the papers and get them returned for consideration of revision.

With this approach, the big bad RESEARCH PAPER is comfortably doable and is beneficial.  Admittedly, though, I will likely be changing possible prompts next year, as I fear that efforts from previous years are getting recycled - dang Google Docs!  Included below is a link to this year's research paper scoring guidelines if you are interested.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W784xbb5fS4EzqlEhQD-b2JqiL9K7ijUf_hVLQhUrV0/edit