Fall Quarter 2006
NOTE: Readings for a specific week’s class are assigned the week we will be discussing them. Be sure to read the materials the week they are assigned so that you will be prepared for the class.
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TEXT: Booth, Colomb and Williams, The Craft of Research, 2nd Ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003
Other Readings:
Tey, Josephine. Daughter of Time, New York, Simon & Schuster,1995
Sayers, Dorothy. Gaudy Night, N.Y.: HarperTorch; Reissue edition (April 1995)
Bazerman, Charles. Shaping Written Knowledge, Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988 (available at: http://wac.colostate.edu/books/bazerman_shaping/)
Week 1 : Defining Research and Meeting Your Potential Research Partners.
Read: Part I Chapters 1 & 2 in The Craft of Research (Including the Preface), Part II Chapters 3 & 4 in The Craft of Research and Chapters 1-3 of Tey’s Daughter of Time
Writing Assignment : 2 one to two page papers :
- First : Short essay on the significance to our topic of Meyers’ Basho and the Fox
- Second : Describe a mundane/routine research activity you have undertaken during the past week
Class Activity :
- Introductions & Expectations
- Basho and the Fox
- Describe yourself and why you are here
- Our learning agreement (covenant)
- Learning Resource Center Tour
- Computer Center Tour (7:45 p.m.)
- Library Tour
- WebX introduction and e-mail address exchanges
Suggested Activity : Watch the movie Erin Brockovitch (on reserve)
Week 2 : Determining a Research Topic.
Read : Part II Chapters 5 in The Craft of Research and Complete Daughter of Time.
Class Activity :
- Seminar on Readings and first week writing assignments
- Brainstorming session - Confirming and sharing your interests
- Create research partnerships
Writing Assignment : Answer (to the best of your ability) the three questions posed in the section on how to develop a working research problem (page 49-52 in Craft of Research) . There is no page limit on this assignment. It is to your advantage to think these questions through thoroughly and write extensively so that you have an understanding of what you are interested in and how you perceive your interest can be made to be interesting to others.
Week 3 : Where are the Research Resources?
Read : Chapter 6 in The Craft of Research and Bazerman Chapters on Writing and Disciplines
Part One: Writing Matters
Chapter 1: The Problem of Writing Knowledge (79K)
Chapter 2: What Written Knowledge Does: Three Examples of Academic Discourse (522K)Class Activity :
Suggested Activity : Watch the movie Party Girl (available at local video rentals. Form a party with some (or all) of your classmates).
Week 4 : Using Digital and/or Traditional Resources.
Read : Part III Chapters 7-9 in The Craft of Research
Class Activity :
Week 5 : Evidence + Reasons + Claims = Arguments. Creating meaning from data.
Read : Part III Chapters 10-11 in The Craft of Research
Class Activity:
Written Assignment: 2-3 page paper on the relationship between elements of a research project
Week 6 : Qualifying your Arguments.
Read : Part IV Chapters 12, and 15 in The Craft of Research
Class Activity :
- Seminar on Readings
- Workshop on Resources Quality
- The Devil’s Advocate Workshop
Week7 : Drafting and related exercises
Read :
- Part IV Chapters 13 & 16 The Craft of Research.
- Elbow, Peter . Articles on getting started writing found on-line
Class Activity :
- Presentation on the Academic Life - Helena Meyer-Knapp
- Presentation on Writing Manuals
Written Assignment: Draft description of your project
Week 8 : Revising
Read : Part V of The Craft of Research and Sayers’ Gaudy Night
Class Activity:
- Workshop on Web resources and types of Search Engines and databases
- Free research time
Week 9 : Research and Writing Ethics
Writing Assignment : Finalizing your presentations
Class Activity :
Week 10 : Project/Proposed Paper Presentations