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English

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Most college professors assume students entering higher education come with research and writing skills; because of the current educational focus on content acquisition over skill development, however, that is not the case. Skills I Wish I Learned in School: Building a Research Paper was written in direct response to the need new college students have for specific skills left out by current high school teaching standards, especially in the area of social studies.

Written in an easy to follow, step-by-step manner, Skills I Wish I Learned in School: Building a Research Paper is a fantastic resource for new college students who need a frame of reference for how to research and write a college-level paper. Differentiation is provided for different learning styles; an appendix of reproducible handouts offers students an additional layer of support. If that was not enough, references for where to find additional information in areas such as writing and citations are also included.

This all-inclusive handbook helps students break down the daunting task of research in ways that feel doable, and then moves them forward through a comforting structure that gets them to their end goal successfully.

Skills I Wish I Learned in School: Building a Research Paper is a valuable tool for educators who want to give their high school students a chance to develop these skills before they graduate; more so, Skills I Wish I Learned in School: Building a Research Paper is a must have for any student entering college.

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Publié par	eBookIt.com
Date de parution	21 février 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781456607555
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Skills I Wish I Learned in School
Building a Research Paper
Everything You Need to Know
To Research and Write your Paper

First Edition

Alameda, California

Copyright 2012 Nicole Lusiani,
All rights reserved.

Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0755-5

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright act of 1976, with the exception of the Appendix, no part of this publication may be reproduced or disturbed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Praise for Skills I Wish I Learned in School: Building a Research Paper
“I’ve always struggled when it comes to research papers. This guide gave me step-by-step instructions to develop top-notch papers. It’s a must have.”
Devonte Jackson
B.A. Candidate University of California, Berkeley

“Most professors today assume that since you are in college you know how to research, but many of us don’t. This guide is easy to follow and contains all the steps necessary. It makes life easier.”
Jazmin Marquez
B.A. Candidate, University of California, San Diego

“It is obvious that Nicole has years of experience teaching real students. Steps for research and writing are laid out clearly and logically with examples and handouts. My 40 years of experience tell me this guide leads to success.”
Pam Wilson
Student Teacher Supervisor, Mills College

"Nicole gives a gift to both teachers and students with this handbook. The fact this master teacher has let us into her 'toolkit' is not to be taken lightly."
Tovi Scruggs, M.Ed.
Educational Leader and Consultant, ASA Educational Services, Inc.

“This is a strong piece and a great tool.”
Mark Jaime, M.A.
Director of the Dominican MESA Program, Dominican College

"I plan to use this handbook as a guide for my students to follow throughout the semester. It is an invaluable learning tool for college students as they strengthen their research, writing, and critical thinking skills. “
John R. Mosby, Ph.D.
Dean, Skyline College

About t he Author
Nicole Lusiani is an accomplished teaching veteran who first heard the call to teach in the second grade. She feels deeply grateful for the opportunities her education afforded her and the exceptional people who helped her along the way. She continues to be inspired by them as she shows those coming after her the same kind of devotion.

Forthcoming Books in the Series
Skills I Wish I Learned in School

Managing My Money
Navigating My Personal and Professional Relationships

For my students, past and present,
Who make this crazy job absolutely worth the effort.

Welcome!

You have purchased this handbook because you are in need of some guidance in the research paper process. What makes this “how-to” different is that it is clear and concise, with step-by-step processes that detail what to do, how to do it, and in what order. I’ve also taught this process to over one thousand students. You need help? I’m the one to teach you.

Anytime you want to find information about something you are conducting a form of research. Let’s say you are looking for something to do; an the Internet search for “activities” is going to get you thousands of options and almost all of them will be irrelevant. What do you most want to do, eat? What do you want to eat? How far are you willing to travel? Is the restaurant you chose any good? Go to the restaurant’s site and they say they’re great, but are they really? Your restaurant search is strikingly similar to the academic research process. This handbook will show you how to choose, focus, and organize your research so you can write a strong paper.

We call this “building” a research paper because that’s exactly what you’ll be doing: putting it together step by step. There are many styles of academic research; the one provided in this handbook is designed to give you a foundation for your skills. Once you are an expert researcher you will be able to stretch and find your own style, for now, let’s focus on the basics.

The skills in this handbook can work for any curricular discipline because the skills of research and persuasive writing come up in all content areas. However, there are some ideas that might not match up exactly. For example, where I use the word “thesis,” others might use the word “claim,” where I use the word “claim” others might use the word “argument,” and so on. Be careful not to get hung up on the particular vocabulary and focus, instead, on building your research skills. As I said before, this book gives you the basics; I trust you will continue to build toward your specific needs and interests as you move forward.

One more point: topic choice is critical. When conducting academic research you may struggle at times with the required steps. The only way to make this bearable is to have an interesting topic about which you want to know more. Take your time with all the steps provided in this handbook, most especially topic choice.

Thank you for choosing this handbook as your guide toward building a research paper. Have confidence in your ability to make this thing happen. You have everything you need to build toward your own success.

Sincerely,
Nicole

Finding My Topic
This is the most important decision of the entire process. You will spend a lot of time with this topic; as such, it needs to be something that interests you.

Narrow
• Consider the parameters and/or requirements provided by your instructor. Within them, consider the best and most interesting possible topic options for you.
• Once you have some topics under consideration, think about what makes you curious. Curiosity is a great motivator, so explore what you want to know, what questions you have, what you'd ask if you could. Once your potential topics and questions are listed on paper, proceed.

Choose
• Make a list of your top options. Bring the list to your instructor for feedback.
• If you still have multiple options on your list, do a quick search on the Internet. There should be enough information for you to research, but not so much that you will end up repeating what has already been said. This paper is NOT a book report, it's a research paper; that's an important difference. This will be further clarified at a later point.

Conduct
• Using the Internet, your textbook, family, and friends, conduct a background check on your topic and/or questions. What do they know about it? When did it happen? How did it affect people? See Appendix A if you need a list of suggested questions.
• The purpose of this background check is two-fold: one, you want to make sure you are going to enjoy researching this topic, and two, you are gathering information you may end up using in your introduction and/or conclusion.

See Appendix A for a sample background check handout.

Where Do I Start?
Compiling research and writing a paper can begin one of two ways. Read through each option and then decide which you want to pursue.

Preview of Research Option 1: Backward Mapping
Backward Mapping means starting with the end goal and planning backward. Choose this option if you want to prove a particular point and/or have a clear destination for your paper already in mind.
1. Establish Your Thesis. A thesis is the point you will prove with your research.

2. Breakdown Claims. Claims are like subtopics. They break the thesis down into more manageable parts.

3. Find Sources. Find trustworthy sources.

4. Note Evidence. Collect accurate facts that support your position.

5. Pause. Find your research gaps figure out and how you need to proceed.

6. Revise . If your research doesn’t seem to fit your overall thesis and/or one or more claims, you must revise accordingly.

7. Collect Last Evidence . Keep at it!

8. Final Outline . Order your evidence in a way that best tells the story.

9. Draft . Write, edit, revise, edit, complete.

Specific directions begin in next chapter .

Preview of Research Option 2: Frontward Mapping
Frontward Mapping means starting with step one and moving forward. Choose this option if you are clear about your general topic but open as to the point you want to prove and/or your end destination.
1. Breakdown Ideas. 2-4 parts that, together, will be your overall topic.

2. Find Sources. Find trustworthy sources.

3. Note Evidence. Collect accurate facts that support your topic.

4. Develop Thesis. A thesis is the point you will prove with your research.

5. Breakdown Claims. Claims are like subtopics. They break the thesis down into more manageable parts.

6. Collect Further Evidence . Keep at it!

7. Pause . Find your research gaps and figure out how you need to proceed

8. Collect Further Evidence . Keep at it!

9. Pause. Make sure your thesis and claims are working with your evidence and identify any remaining gaps in your research.

10. Collect Last Evidence. You’re almost done!

11. Final Outline. Order your evidence in a way that best tells the story.

12. Drafts . Write, edit, revise, edit, complete.

Specific directions in later chapter.

Option 1: Backward Mapping
If you have chosen this option, you have a clear position on an interesting topic and are ready to begin. The following steps provide direction and examples for each part of the process.

All the following steps use the example topic, “Dropping the Atom Bomb to end WWII.” This will give you a sense of how your topic should come together. See the Appendix for handouts that may be helpful to you as you complete each step.

Take a deep breath and trust yourself; if you were smart enough to get help from this handbook you are going to rock that research!