"Good Research" and Stage III Discussions

Today in class, we'll be finishing up our discussion of the Kantz article, which should give us a more realistic view as to how "good research" looks in a college context.

In your groups today, brainstorm a list of strategies or pieces of advice that you could give to a beginning college freshman who HASN'T read Kantz. How would you instruct them to do "good research?" We'll be recording these responses here to revisit as you're conducting your own research.

Here's the advice you all came up with:

1. Question the readings -- the author's intentions, where the source gets the information from
2. Look for proven facts (claims supported by facts and peer reviewed sources)
3. Analyze the text to make an original argument about it
4. Look for credibility -- look for a works cited page, not driven by opinions, not wikipedia)
5. Wikipedia is a good starting point, but it's not a scholarly source, and shouldn't be used in your actual paper
6. Think about who the intended audience of the source is and consider why it was written that way
7. Look for more recent research
8. Gather multiple resources for more accurate information and compare them
9. Know the difference between facts and claims: facts are what support claims.
10. Use claims in your writing; use the facts to support them.
11. Use rhetorical reading (Kinnevey's triangle)




Studio Work:

In your peer review groups, discuss your Stage III drafts. What concerns do you have about the assignment? We'll use this class period to offer advice and help each other get through this somewhat difficult assignment.

Before you leave, please turn in:

A list of 3 SPECIFIC suggestions you received from your group members (or me) about your Stage III draft
A list of 3 SPECIFIC suggestions you gave to your group members about their stage IIIs.
A brief explanation as to how you plan to revise/revisit your Stage III, based off of your peer's advice.

The suggestions can be about the research question, suggesting secondary sources, help with primary research, ideas for audience, purpose, or form. As long as your suggestions are specific, you will be in good shape.

Homework for the weekend:
Revise your stage III assignment! Due to me on MONDAY.