C11. Teach It: Academic Research
Genres
A.
Chapter Objectives
The purpose
of this chapter is to provide
you with teaching materials to guide students toward
the ultimate goal of writing a research
paper, the chapter project
featured in Chapter
11 of How Writing Works.
We have included
in-class discussion questions, activities, and writing exercises that will scaffold
students’ progress toward
the final project, while also reinforcing the key concepts
introduced in Part 1 and in Chapter 11.
You can also use these materials to create lesson
plans. Start by choosing one or two discussion questions from C. Talk About It: Discussion Questions, an activity from D. Try It Out: In-Class
Exercises, and a writing
activity from E. Write About It: Writing Prompts. Then, you can layer in additional activities if you still have time. You can also assign the activities in part E for homework.
B. Genre Toolkit Table
Genre
|
What is it?
|
Who reads it?
|
What’s it for?
|
Abstract
|
A short document, usually a single
paragraph, that accompanies a research article or student research paper
|
Prospective readers
of a research paper
|
To summarize
the main research questions and findings of a research paper
|
Annotated bibliography
|
A list of many sources, cited properly for
the style of the field, with short summaries
of each source
|
Other researchers or the author (who wrote
the bibliography in preparation for further research)
|
Annotations may evaluate each source—how credible
or sound a source
is or how relevant it may be for a specific project
|
214
C11. Teach It: Academic Research Genres 215
Literature review
|
A summary of previous research in essay form
that interprets the previous research’s significance in a given field
|
Other researchers in the particular field of study
|
To help an audience find out what research has been done in a field and, often, to help them evaluate that research
|
Research paper
|
A written report on original research conducted by the author;
may include
a literature review and abstract; includes
a bibliography
|
Anyone interested in the topic
of research
|
To help an audience learn more
about the topic of research
|
C. Talk About It: Discussion
Questions
Here you will find questions that you can use to prompt discussion about this chapter
in class. Keep in mind that you do not need to use all of
these questions; you can choose the ones that reflect your teaching objectives and style. For a balanced
lesson plan, be sure to leave time in each class session
to move on to the in-class exercises and writing exercises included
here.
We’ve started with student-centered questions, which help you to get students’ attention
by connecting the topic to students’ own interests and experiences. Then, we’ve provided concept-
and text- oriented questions that help you to direct
students’ attention toward the concepts and texts featured
in the chapter.
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Teach It: Academic Research Genres
Student-Centered Questions
1.
Students’ reading experiences: Have you read a research article recently? Why did you read it? Did you find it easy to read or difficult?
The purpose of this question
is to guide students to think about themselves as audiences for research
articles. Note students’ answers on the board,
and then ask students to identify themselves as the audience for the research
article. When discussing the reading
difficulty of the articles, students
might say that they found the articles
difficult to read. Ask them to be specific
as to why. Vocabulary choices? Organization?
The content of the research
itself?
2.
Students’ writing experiences: Have you ever written a research paper? Did these research
papers resemble the samples
in the textbook? Have you ever shared your research paper with an audience beyond
a teacher or professor?
Many students have written
what they might
call research papers
before. The goal here is to get students to start thinking about
the genres they have written in the past and how they might differ
from the research paper genre that researchers write for research
audiences,
such as journals or conferences.
Concept-Centered Questions
1. Genre: What are the different academic genres in this chapter?
If you compare these genres, what do they have in common,
and how do they differ?
Write down the four genres featured in this chapter
on the board, then ask students
to list similarities and differences among them. Students should notice that all of the genres relate to one another; they even work together.
Authors write bibliographies to prepare
to write a literature review; they write literature reviews
as part of research articles. Then they write abstracts as part of their articles
(they often appear at the beginnings of articles
in journals) or to pitch articles to conferences.
C11. Teach It: Academic Research Genres 217
D.
Try It Out: In-Class
Exercises
1.
Genre: Have each member of your group read and bring in to share one example
of a research paper published in a scholarly
journal, ideally
a journal of undergraduate or graduate student
research. Now that you have more examples of the genre of a research paper, use the three Genre Toolkit
questions to examine
the genre more carefully.
Note: The goal here is to get students
to apply their critical tools
(the Genre Toolkit)
to a new set of documents, to help them prepare to write this genre.
2.
Peer workshop: (When students
are at the draft
stage, have them bring in two copies
of their draft, one for themselves and one to share
with their partners.) First, read your research article
out loud to your partner, while
your partner reads along on the extra
copy. Ask your partner
to put an asterisk
down on the page anytime she or he is confused or needs more information. Then, look back over the
draft together and talk about the places she or he marked and how to improve them. Make a list of at least four changes you will make to your draft when you revise. Then, repeat
the process for the other partner.
Note: While students
are working on this activity,
you can circulate
around the class and eavesdrop
on their conversations. Try to resist the urge to intervene, but take notes about what you hear, either promising and effective
comments or common concerns
of confusion you observe. When students have finished this activity, you can wrap up by praising them for effective peer workshop techniques (giving examples) and then by addressing any points of confusion
that have arisen.
E.
Write About It: Writing Prompts
Here we have provided
ideas for writing
prompts that you can assign in class, for homework, or as online
exercises. These are writing activities that can serve as prewriting for the chapter
project or as stages in writing the chapter
project.
Ideally, students should
practice doing some writing for every class session
(either in class or as homework), but you do not need to assign all three types of writing
for every session.
218 C11. Teach It: Academic Research Genres
Depending
on your approach
to grading, you may or may not assign a grade to these kinds of assignments. Some prefer to award points that go toward
class participation and attendance; others consider these materials as part of the grade for the final project; still others will set aside a certain percentage of the course grade for in-class activities and homework.
In general, though,
you should award points for completing these kinds of assignments but do not need to assign
a letter
grade or give extensive comments.
In Class
1. Freewrite: Good research usually
starts by examining an ongoing conversation in a particular field and responding to that. Thus, before you can select a research topic, you must start by doing research in the general area that interests you. Do a freewrite about a particular area of study that interests you. Then, freewrite ideas that you have about contemporary controversies in that area of study. Next,
stop writing, and research
one of those areas. Were you right? Is there a research
controversy? Or are most researchers in agreement? Do you need to narrow or broaden
your topic? See
Chapters 15 and 23 for more help on choosing
a topic and identifying a “gap” that you can fill with your research.
2. Outline: Once you have come up with your research topic using the exercise
above, conduct some preliminary research on your topic so that you can begin to write an outline.
Outlining and research should go hand in hand as the outline
can help show you where you need to do more research.
See Chapter 20 for more on using outlines while you write.
Take Home
1.
Rough draft: Write a rough draft (Chapter 17) for your research paper.
You can indicate where you still need to add material
from your research. If you get stuck, look at the examples in the textbook for inspiration. Be sure to bring your draft to class next time for in- class peer workshop activities.
C11. Teach It: Academic Research Genres 219
2.
Revision: Revise one section of your draft (completed in step 1, above), such as the introduction or a series
of body paragraphs. Then, write a list of the changes you made. Bring
your revised section and your list to class
to share with your group.
Online
1.
Discussion board or forum: Write a brief forum or discussion board post in which you describe three possible choices for your topic. Your goal is to get input from your classmates on which topic seems most feasible for you to write about. Pay particular attention to the scope of your topic: whether
it can be adequately covered in the space and time allotted
for this assignment. (See Chapter 15 for how to narrow
a topic.) If you have questions, you can ask them here. Then,
reply to at least two of your classmates’ posts,
giving your opinion
on what topic they should
choose and why.
Note: Assign
this activity early in the unit, when students are still deciding on a topic for their research article. You can follow up in class by asking a few students to share what topic they have settled on and why.
2.
Online workshop: Post one section of your draft to the course management system (Discussion Board, Forum, etc.).
Write at least two questions about the section
(e.g., How can I draw the reader in? Are my voice and tone appropriate? Does this organization make sense?). Then, comment on at least two other students’
posts, answering
the questions they have posed about their draft.
Note: Assign this activity at the midpoint
of the unit, when students have at least a partial
draft. You can repeat this activity
several times during the unit or mix this activity
with an in-class
workshop so that students get many chances
to revise their work based on peer feedback.
3.
Blog post: Write a short blog post in which you reflect on the process of writing a research
paper. What did you find most challenging about this assignment? What do you think you did well in this assignment? What elements of the writing
process (Part 3) did you use, and how well did they work for you? If you were going to tell a future
student in this course how to write
a good research article, what advice
would you give him or her?
220 C11.
Teach It: Academic Research Genres
Note:
Assign this activity
at the end of the unit as a way for students to reflect on the assignment and what they have learned in this unit.
F.
Media Suggestions
Here, we suggest that you lead your students
on a tutorial through
online research
databases available through your school library. You can also teach your students how to use Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) as a way to locate article
citations (and sometimes full-text
articles) that might be of use to them.
G.
Intercultural Teaching Tips
Academic research genres will be new to most of your students—at least as they are presented
here, as college-level assignments. Some students may be familiar
with reports or research papers
that simply present existing knowledge
on a topic,
but they have seldom
been encouraged to pose a research
question and to generate new knowledge, interpretations, or explanations about an issue. Thus, all of your students will benefit
from careful study
of the genres in this chapter.
However,
some students may find these assignments particularly challenging. For instance, sometimes students with less experience with research or from other
academic cultures (such
as some international students) may have a differing understanding of plagiarism rules when it comes to conducting research. To help avoid this kind of confusion—and to help all students understand plagiarism better—we strongly suggest that you lead your students through Chapter
27 in the textbook, “Avoiding Plagiarism,” in a friendly and nonconfrontational fashion.
Emphasize to students
that the point of citation
is to provide guidance to readers and to give credit
to others; create an environment that is less about policing plagiarism and more about meeting
the conventions of the research paper genre—which requires
proper citation. That way, students will be more likely
to approach with questions and less afraid
of getting on your radar as a possible plagiarist.
C11. Teach It: Academic Research Genres 221
H. Class Handouts
Handout: Peer Review Worksheet
Note: You can use this worksheet when students have a complete
draft to workshop.
Have students write comments in the third column
to address
the questions and then complete
the task in the fourth column by marking
up the writer’s draft. Ask all peer reviewers to include their own names, the writer’s name, and the date in the last row; and then give it back to the writer. You should leave time for writers
and reviewers
to go over the worksheet and explain their comments.
After the workshop, students should include a revision plan, a list of items that they plan to address
in their next revision. There is a space for the revision
plan toward the bottom
of the worksheet.
Ask the writer to include the worksheet he or she received from the reviewer when handing in the final project. That way, you can assess how well both students (the writer and the reviewer) participated in the draft workshop: how well the reviewer contributed feedback and how well the writer
addressed that feedback
in revisions.
222 C11.
Teach It: Academic Research Genres
Peer Review Worksheet: Research Paper
|
|||||
Questions
|
Comments
|
Tasks
|
|||
Genre, audience, and purpose
|
Does the document suit the genre
of a research paper?
Does it
suit the audience?
Does it meet the purpose of a research paper?
|
With an asterisk (*), mark one place on the draft where
the writer could address
the audience more
effectively.
|
|||
Rhetorical situation
|
Is the document
suitable for the rhetorical situation?
Has the author
taken on the appropriate role
(writer for a
research journal
or conference?)
Does it meet the author’s purpose?
Does the article meet the audience’s
needs and interests?
|
Underline at
least one place on the draft
where the writer
seems to be slipping
into the role of “student” rather
than “writer for a research journal or conference.”
|
|||
Design, organization, content, and style
|
Is the document
designed like a
research paper?
How is the document organized, and is that organization
effective?
How interesting and detailed is the content?
Is the style appropriate for a research
paper?
Has the writer proofread the article carefully for grammar and
mechanics?
|
Circle at least three parts
in the article where the writer’s
style seems
less suitable for a research article—for example, where the writer seems
to be taking
on the tone of a college essay.
|
|||
C11. Teach It: Academic Research Genres 223
Revision plan:
|
For the writer: What four things will you do when
you revise this draft? 1)
2)
3)
4)
|
||||
Reviewer’s name:
|
Writer’s name:
|
Date of workshop:
|
|||
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Teach It: Academic Research Genres
Rubric: Research
Article
You can introduce this rubric to your students
early in the unit, shortly after you introduce the unit project. To get students
to focus on using the rubric, you can ask them to develop it with you in class. As you familiarize students with the genre, ask them to fill in the criteria
for a fair, a good, and an excellent assignment. Then,
ask students to use the rubric in their draft workshops
to comment on each other’s papers.
Finally, use the same rubric to provide feedback
on their drafts
and evaluate
their work. You can highlight on the rubric those elements students need to address and add notes on the rubric or on their papers.
C11. Teach It: Academic Research Genres 225
Rubric: Research Paper
|
|||||
Fair
|
Good
|
Excellent
|
|||
Genre,
audience, and purpose
|
The document does not fully suit
the genre of a research
article, does not address the target audience effectively, or does
not fulfill the purpose of a research article. For instance,
it may read more like a
five-paragraph essay, or it may lack details and adequate research support.
|
The
document generally addresses the genre, audience, and purpose of a research article but may not always do so effectively.
For example,
it may need more
concrete details to support the writer’s arguments, or it may sometimes
veer into the “essay” genre.
|
The document suits the genre, audience, and purpose
of a research article. It comes close to the
examples in the textbook in terms of level of detail and professionalism.
|
||
Rhetorical situation
|
The document is not suitable for the rhetorical situation.
For example, it may not address the interests and needs of readers
of a research journal.
|
The
document generally addresses the rhetorical situation but may miss opportunities
to make the
research article relevant to the situation. For
example, the writer may
not fully take on the
role of “writer for a
research journal” and seem
stuck in the role of “student.”
|
The
document is appropriate for the rhetorical situation. It meets
the needs of readers
of a research journal and fulfills the
author’s purpose of presenting
current research in a professional way.
|
||
Design, organization, content, and style
|
The document may be organized
more like an essay,
with a series
of points, than a
research article. The content may be
inadequate, or the style
may not be appropriate for a research article (too informal, for example).
|
The document generally suits the design, organization, content, and
style of a
research article but may occasionally drift into the
five-paragraph essay or
some other genre. The document meets the
goals of the assignment
but still could
be improved in terms of design, organization, content, or style.
|
The document reflects the design, organization, content, and style suitable for a research article. The document
keeps the reader focused throughout with
interesting content, an engaging writing style, a logical organization scheme, and well- supported arguments.
|
||
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Teach It: Academic Research Genres
Grammar and mechanics
|
The writer has not proofread carefully; there are a
distracting number
of grammatical, mechanical,
and citation errors.
|
The writing is generally free of grammatical, mechanical, and citation errors
but may be awkward or unclear at times.
|
The writing is not only free of grammatical, mechanical,
and citation errors but fluent, polished, even eloquent.
|
||
Process
|
The student has not provided evidence of a writing process or participation in draft workshops. Drafts, comments,
and revisions are
missing.
|
The student has provided some evidence of a
writing process and participation in draft workshops but could show
more engagement (i.e., more
detailed comments in workshops or
more substantive revisions).
|
The student has provided excellent
evidence of a sound writing process and has
contributed effectively to peer
workshops.
|
