Module 4: Developing a Research Project Recommended Readings

About this page

These recommended readings offer an opportunity to deepen students’ engagement with the module through coherent, topical essays. The essays are all Creative Commons licensed, which means they can be downloaded and presented directly in the LMS. (Note: The assumption is that not all of these readings would be assigned. The instructor could pick one to assign to the class, or students could be given a choice if the class format allows.)

The readings listed here pair well with the material in the module “Developing a Research Project”

Introducing a Writing Assignment

  • Reading: So You’ve Got A Writing Assignment. Now What?
  • Author: Corrine E. Hinton
  • Source: Writing Spaces
  • License: CC BY NC
  • Short Summary: Helpful guidance for students on how to approach a college-level assignment. Uses a top-ten list of advice for analyzing writing assignments from the perspective of students.
  • Discussions and Approaches: There are discussion questions listed at the end of this chapter. Consider asking students to summarize the essay’s ten guidelines in their own words. Ask students to address other points about writing assignments that they have learned from other courses.

Getting Started

  • Reading: Reinventing Invention: Discovery and Investment in Writing
  • Author: Michelle D. Trim & Megan Lynn Isaac
  • Source: Writing Spaces
  • License: CC BY-NC-ND
  • Short Summary:  Introduces several group activities to teach students about discovering ideas for their writing projects. Uses APA citation
  • Discussions and Approaches: There are discussion questions at the end of the chapter. You may also want to break the students into groups to complete the three activities. Have them share to the class what was helpful about each activity.

Ethics and Ethos

  • Reading: Constructing Scholarly Ethos in the Writing Classroom
  • Author: Kathleen J. Ryan
  • Source: Writing Spaces
  • License: CC BY-NC-ND
  • Short Summary: Ryan advises writers to establish their ethos by claiming their identitity and being ethical. She advocates that narrowing gaps between the writer and the audience.
  • Discussions and Approaches: There are discussion questions at the end of the chapter. You might ask students to create a vocabulary list of terms that are new to them and write definitions of the terms in their own words.

Audience

  • Reading: Why Good People Turn Bad Online
  • Author: Gaia Vince
  • Source: 88 Essays
  • License: CC BY
  • Short Summary: Vince provides a sweeping analysis of online behaviors in 2018. Focuses on gamers, social media, and Twitter.
  • Discussions and Approaches: Have students brainstorm about who they think is the target audience for this essay. Ask them to describe the “attitude” of the writer using examples from the essay.