The Schedule
(note revision to weeks 6-8)
(sign up if you didn't do so in class, or check your appointment)
(sign up if you didn't do so in class, or check your appointment)
(sign up if you didn't do so in class, or check your appointment)
Individual Conference #4 (Mar 24-27)
(sign up if you have not already met with me at least twice, or if you would like to meet me again)
Week 1
Jan. 29 (Tue): Welcome. Discussion of the class, goals, assignments, and expectations. Brief writing about research and expectations for the class
The art and craft of library research 1: selecting a topic with an audience and purpose. Broad topics, specific topics, audience, and purpose.
Homework: Write a list of at least five topics you could imagine writing about in this class. Identify an audience that might be interested in the topic and tell me why you think that—why would this topic matter to your selected audience? Due in class Thursday.
Jan 31. (Thur): The art and craft of library research 2: selecting a topic and developing research questions. Introduction to the ePortfolio and the k:drive (and the importance of backing up one’s work). Working with the list of topics, audiences, and purpose we will discuss research questions and think about how you might shape research. Students will generate a list of possible research questions for each topic they are seriously interested in exploring. Introduction to the research proposal.
Homework: Write one proposal for each of the topics you are seriously considering (no more than three). Due in class Tuesday and saved in the k:drive before class. [For guidelines on the generic college-level research proposal, see: users.drew.edu/sjamieso/research_proposal.html]. NOTE: DO NOT SAVE DIRECTLY INTO THE K:DRIVE. SEE INSTRUCTIONS.
I'd like to get a better sense of who you are and what each of you needs me to focus on this semeser. That way I can develop an individual learning program for each of you and make sure my feedback helps you learn exactly what you want to learn. So, please write a brief paper (a page is fine) that
1) describes your experience as a research-writer. If you already took a writing class at Drew (such as ENGL 4), or at another college, please briefly describe the experience and what you gained from the class. If you took a class in highschool that was research-heavy, please do the same thing. If this is your first serious research-writing class, tell me so. Either way, tell me what you feel about research writing--negative or positive, or both.
2) Finally, please describe two aspects of your writing that you consider to be your strengths, and two that you would like to have strengthened by the end of this semester. Please send them to me via email by Monday night (sjamieso@drew.edu)
Week 2
Feb. 5 (Tue): MEET IN BC 18 & Bring your computer!! Working research proposal(s) due.
The art and craft of library research 3: Reference librarian Jody Caldwell will introduce students to some of the sophisticated library research skills appropriate for college students.
Homework: Develop a working bibliography for one of the topics you’d like to investigate. At least ten sources due in class Thursday. NOTE: you do not have to read these sources by Thursday; just select things that you think might possibly be useful. Save in the K:drive and bring a copy to class.
Feb. 7 (Thur): MEET IN BC 18 & Bring your computer!! Working bibliography due (10 possible sources).
The art and craft of library research 4: Reference librarian Jody Caldwell will introduce students to even more sophisticated library research skills appropriate for college students.
Homework: Review the sources on your list and begin work on an annotated bibliography. Here’s what you need to have in that bibliography by Tuesday 12th:
1) two sources from public websites—they can be serious and useful or weird and useless, just find two on your topic and write an annotation for each.
2) two professional sources—these will obviously be serious, and we hope they will be useful! If possible, include one source written before 1990 and one source written after 1990. Annotated
Don’t worry about format at this point, but make sure you provide a full citation for each source, using your handbook to make sure you include everything you need to include. NOTE: for websites this includes the date you looked at the site. [For guidelines on the annotated bibliographies, see: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_annotatedbib.html]. Due Tues. in class and the K:drive.
Keep looking for more sources and adding to the working bibliography. Add ten more potential sources before Tuesday (you don’t need to read them yet, just find sources that look as if they might be useful based on their title, subject, and any abstracts or notations you find.
Week 3
Feb. 12 (Tue): Bring your computer again—you’ll need to do so for every class from now on (make sure your batteries are charged and bring your internet cable if you can--or buy a new one). First four annotations due.
The art and craft of library research 5: Evaluating sources and using them responsibly. We will discuss the annotated bibliography and the comparison paper that you will draft for Thursday. Introduction to Moodle and the ePortfolio project.
SIGN UP FOR INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS TO DISCUSS YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT
Homework: Write a draft of a paper in which you compare the 4 sources you found. Which might be useful? Which might not? Why? What major differences do you notice? What does that reveal? [For guidelines on college-level comparison see: www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/resources/Comparison.html
Feb. 14 (Thur): Bring your computer from now on. Draft of comparison paper due.
The art and craft of Research writing 1: audience. Discussion of draft comparison paper. What did people find? Write two sentences summarizing your findings in the comparison.
Think more specifically about audience: For Tuesday you have two assignments. You need to write four more annotations, but this time you need to find the experts in the field--the ones everyone cites--and you need to read and annotate them. By now you should realize that there are a few people who are experts in your topic area and they seem to be talking to and citing each other. You want to join that conversation and move from audience member (reader, reporter, summarizer) to participant in the conversation (albeit a newbie still). Sit down qwith these experts and listen to their ideas, then talk with them; ask questions, consider how they might answer, offer your opinion. The first step is those annotations.
Once you have completed the annotations, you are becoming more of an expert on your topic. You should definately not have a thesis yet, but you should be able to describe your topic and begin to focus on one aspect of it. So, your next assignment is to explain your topic--with a twist. Your assignment is to write three paragraphs that you could imagine as entries in different encyclopedia on the topic you are researching. The challenge is to make them audience-specific. That is, to change your explanation to suit the needs of the intended audience. Include a works cited list and suggestions for further reading based on your research -- and make them audience appropriate as well.
Entry 1: for The Middle School Student’s Encyclopedia of All Things Relevant to Life: A Hip Guide to Stuff. Think about the audience (middle school students) and the title of the book, and then write a one paragraph entry on your topic appropriate to that audience in style, tone, and content.
Entry 2: for A Brief On-Line Encyclopedia. Again, think about your audience (people who look on line for a quick definition, maybe using google) and their purpose (why might they consult this source?) and write an entry on your topic appropriate to that audience in style, tone, and content.
Entry 3: for an encylcopedia of student research aimed at university professors. Imagine this as a paragraph that is gathered with all the other paragraphs in the class to showcase the research. Your purpose is (1) to show your professor how much you have learned about the topic, and (2) to tell your peers a bit about it and make them interested in what you will find as you continue to research (hint: questions can be asked in this kind of prose).
Homework: Work on those paragraphs, due Tuesday. CONTINUE RESEARCHING. Annotations of four more sources due on Tuesday. This time select sources you might want to use in your paper. Pay attention to sources that everyone seems to be citing because you’ll need to cite them as well to show you have done your research! [See “Assignments” for more details on this assignment]
Feb. 12-15: INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS WITH THE PROFESSOR (Check the sign-up list if you forget your time!)
Week 4
Feb. 19 (Tue): Three paragraphs of definition due. Four more annotations due.
The art and craft of Research writing 2: purpose: Brief conversation about your progress on your research. Discussion of the use of focused research questions. Students will generate at least five focused research questions for their topic; answering those questions is your purpose for writing the paper. Start by answering any of the questions that you can already answer. We will discuss turning the answers into a thesis and how your perspectives on your topic can help you to develop a thesis that positions your response within those you have found. We will also discuss potential problems and frustrations you are experiencing.
Homework: Think about how your research questions and the provisional answers you have found could lead to a thesis, and write a possible thesis for Thursday (post the thesis to the K:drive and send it to me via email before the beginning of class on Thursday). CONTINUE RESEARCHING. Annotations of four more sources due on Thursday. Again, look at the scholars and specific sources everyone else is citing and make sure you have read those sources as well.
Feb. 21 (Thur): Possible thesis due in the K:drive folder named “thesis” (save with your name as the title) Four more annotations due.
The art and craft of Research writing 3: focus and developing a thesis. The key is the thesis! We will discuss your theses for the research papers focusing on the theses you turned in. We will analyze what makes a thesis appropriate for an extended research paper, and explore how a thesis can help to shape a draft. We will discuss how a fabulous thesis inevitably creates an even better paper. Write one paragraph explaining your perspective on your topic, and then write a revised thesis below it that positions your response within those you have found. Revise your paragraph to include your thesis. Students begin to make an outline/plan/diagram /roadmap of the paper.
SIGN UP FOR INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS TO DISCUSS YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT
Homework: Continue working on your annotated bibliography for your research paper. Annotate all other sources that seem useful (at least ten, total; aim for fifteen). CONTINUE RESEARCHING. Complete annotated bibliography due Tuesday. Revised research proposal due Tuesday. Begin to draft, outline, plan, or brainstorm for your paper. Try listing the topics you will cover and then organizing them into a working plan.
Week 5
Feb. 26 (Tue): No class. Individual meetings with me later in the week to discuss your paper. Final annotated bibliography due (10-15 sources). Revised research proposal due. Possible working plan/outline/skeleton for the paper due. In th k:drive by 5PM
The art and craft of research writing 4: the plan (a.k.a. organization). The working outline, the formal outline, note cards, “stickies.” Overcoming writers block! Practice at least one method as you develop your research paper. As you work on turning your plan into a draft, remember that the first draft is written for you, so you can work out what you think and want to say; then you translate it for others so they can understand you. DO NOT worry about surface-level error in drafts!!!
Homework: Continue developing your paper. A very rough draft of which is due next Tuesday—but you should have something done by the time you meet with me.
Feb. 28 (Thur): Working with sources. Bring ONE of the sources you annotated to class with you This ca be electronic--on your computer--or a print source. We will talk about patchwriting and the art of the perfect summary. You will also work on the ePortfolio.
Homework: Continue developing your paper. A very rough draft of which is due on Tuesday (this does not need to be perfect—but it does need to cite sources carefully).
Feb 26-29: INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS WITH THE PROFESSOR (Check the sign-up list if you forget when you are supposed to come!)
Feb. 27. (Wed): last day to drop this class with a W (I hope you won’t—please talk to me if you are worried!!)
Week 6
Mar. 4 (Tue): Very rough draft of research paper due (this doesn’t need to be perfect—but it MUST cite sources carefully).
The art and craft of Research writing 4: rules and conventions (a.k.a. avoiding plagiarism!). Students read over their drafts and check source use before handing them in. Refocusing the paper for another audience. Identify audience and purpose and think about how to deliver the information most effectively. Discuss the final project of the course: the refocused paper. Students work on their papers or on their refocused projects in class.
Homework: Continue developing your paper. A very good draft of which is due on Thursday (it is still a draft. You need to translate the content for an academic audience, but do not fret about editing yet.)
Mar. 6 (Thur) Very good draft of paper due (translated for an academic audience).
Evaluations of the class and final discussion of final portfolio, the ePortfolio, and the meta-analytic essay.
The art and craft of Style 4: Revision and editing. Introduction to ten essential steps.
[See: users.drew.edu/sjamieso/12stepediting.htm].
Schedule appointments with me as necessary.
Week 7: Mar. 8-16: Spring break—use this time wisely!
Week 8
Mar. 17-21: INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS WITH THE PROFESSOR IF YOU NEED THEM (Check the sign-up list if you forget when you signed up to come!)
Mar. 20 (Thur) LAST CLASS. Very good draft of paper due (translated for an academic audience).
The final portfolio, the ePortfolio, and the meta-analytic essay.
The project: questions, suggestions, and topics. Everyone wil describe their final project to the class and explain how it uses their research.
[See: users.drew.edu/sjamieso/12stepediting.htm].
Schedule appointments with me as necessary.
Week 9
Monday Mar 24 5:00PM (or earlier): Final paper with annotated bibliography; Description of project (the revision for alternative audience); Meta-analytical preface; and EVERYTHING ELSE YOU HAVE WRITTEN IN THIS COURSE THIS SEMESTER due in a folder outside my office by 5:00PM. Electronic version in ePortfolio and saved in your k:drive final portfolio folder. (See guidelines for portfolio production!)
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE WORK AND HOW TO HAND IT IN:
ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE COURSE (incuding a description of the work to be in the portfolio)
FINAL PORTFOLIOS (the content)
Don't forget to come see me as you work on your final papers!
Good luck!
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