Day 13: Writing a Problem Solution Paper

Objectives:
* We will take a look at what we are doing the next few weeks.
* We will discuss the importance of research and the writing of a research paper
* We will be able to list the steps in the process for writing a research paper.


I. Warm-up: Let's watch a short video on what Sponge Bob thinks about writing research papers.
Sponge Bob video
How difficult is it for you to write a paper?
We need to understand what research is and understand the process to follow so that we don't end up like Sponge Bob.

II. What is ahead...

Interview with Professor Janelle Scott
Watch this video of a professor talking about her research.

• What is the topic of her research?
  
• How does she define her research interests?
  
• What does she hope her research will do?

III. Research Paper Overview
A. In pairs, open up the RESEARCH PAPER OVERVIEW (ORDERING ACTIVITY). Rearrange the steps into the order that you feel is correct. Add 1-2 sentences for each step as to what it means, why it is important, or how you should complete it.

B. Whole Class Application
What did everyone put for their first step? Second?... Any discrepancies? Do you think that more than one ordering is possible?
Now you will be given a RESEARCH PAPER OVERVIEW (HANDOUT). Compare the list here with what you have done yourselves--any major differences?

Can we apply all these steps to the topic of child obesity?

Example:

• Choosing a topic: I heard about this problem form a commercial and on the news. I wonder if anything is being done about this?

• Pre-search: I look it up on CQ Researcher and I listed a bunch different ideas related to it--food in schools, false advertisements, high prices on healthy foods, fitness programs, an organization advocating for healthier school lunches, etc.
  

• Develop a research question: Hmm, I am definitely more interested in the school lunch advocate groups because I always remember having bad food in school and I never liked eating it. I wonder what different policies have been proposed for healthier lunches? So maybe my research question is: How can a school make healthier lunches available to their students and will this really affect child obesity?
  

• Formal Source Search: On the library database, I do a lot of searching related to school lunch programs and find some helpful, reliable sources. Now I am ready to take notes. OR I don't really find anything I am interested in but while I was searching I found a lot of neat things related to fitness programs. So I am going to revise my research questions to evaluate the effectiveness of child fitness programs instead of school lunches.
  

• Note-taking: I print out the articles, start highlighting, etc. and making notes in the margins about what I might be able to use. With the help of my instructor, I will write an annotated bibliography to organize my information.

• Outline: Now I can synthesize all my notes and start building an outline with a thesis, supporting point, and illustrations from which I will write.

• Presentation: I put together a PowerPoint presentation with m y sources, thesis, and key pints and p resent them to the class.

• Writing: draft after draft after draft and with APA style, I will actually write my paper as the last step!

Homework:
Think about topics you are interested in. In the next class we will decide on the topic we will use to develop our Guided Research Paper. For Monday, you will decide on the topic of your Individual Research Paper.