RESEARCH PROJECT AGENDA Wednesday 3/2/11
• 8:50-9:45 Individual Conferences with your Advisor and Topic Narrowing Exercise with Worksheet
• 9:45-9:50 Short Stretching Break• 9:50-10:30 Mini Lessons: Paraphrasing +
APA Citation Style + Wikispaces• 10:30-11:30 Independent Research and
Notecard Building
WELCOME to your Research Project
• Your hosts, Ms. Hartman and Ms. Woodward are here to support your research endeavors in every way possible.
• Today our objective is for students to be able to complete three to five (3-5) research notecards independently using APA citation style.
• So Sit back, relax, and enjoy the research ride!
8:50-9:45 Independent Conferences and Topic Narrowing Exercise
• During the next hour or so you should meet with your advisor for about five minutes to discuss your project, your ideas, and how you may begin narrowing your research.
• Please complete the Topic Narrowing Worksheet, it is designed to assist your research.
• Work independently using a laptop to continue searching for valuable resources that will help you create a strong research-based topic.
Five (5) Minute Stretch Break
• Stand up, move around the room, stretch, talk to your classmates and your teachers.
• It’s important for your brain and body to stretch periodically during long periods of academic focus.
• Do not leave the room without written permission.
Mini Lesson: What is paraphrasing?
How do I paraphrase?(Get ready to
take down a few notes!!!!)
Paraphrasing is:
• your own version of ideas that have been stated by someone else.
• a valid way to borrow an idea from a source (when accompanied by a citation).
• a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses on a single main idea.
• a systematic way of creating notecards that will help you organize the body of your research paper
About Paraphrasing:
• It’s better than directly quoting information from a passage.
• It helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• The mental processing required for successful paraphrasing helps you to internalize the full meaning of the original idea.
• For many people (students and teachers alike), paraphrasing is one of the most difficult parts or writing a good paper.
Paraphrasing and Notecards
• Every time you find a piece of information you want to include in your research paper – a paragraph or page from a website, journal, magazine, or book – you will paraphrase that information.
• Every time you paraphrase the information you will create a notecard.
• You will use the notecards to build the body of your research paper.
Here’s How it Works…
• You find something you think may be useful in writing your research paper…
• You need to create a notecard to document the information.
• So you have to paraphrase the information – put it in your own words – to create a notecard.
Let’s get started!
Paraphrasing in Six Steps:• REREAD the original passage until you understand its full meaning.• Set the original aside, and WRITE YOUR OWN VERSION of the passage
on a note card.• Jot down a few words above your paraphrase to remind you later how
you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to IDENTIFY THE MAIN IDEA of your paraphrase.
• CHECK your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
• USE QUOTATION MARKS to identify any unique term you have borrowed word for word from the source.
• RECORD THE SOURCE (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.
Preview the Following Excerpt from a Text Book:
• Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final paper. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
Remember the Six Steps:
• REREAD • WRITE YOUR OWN VERSION• IDENTIFY THE MAIN IDEA• CHECK YOUR RENDITION• USE QUOTATION MARKS• RECORD THE SOURCE (including the page)
Now Put the Excerpt in Your Own Words:
• Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
Here are two examples of
Paraphrasing that excerpt…
Subject: Excessive Quoting• In research papers students often quote
excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).
Another Acceptable Paraphrase:
Subject: Best Practices in ParaphrasingStudents should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).
Now that you’ve got the hang of
paraphrasing…
Explain How this statementis an example of
Plagiarizing:
• Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.
Congratulations - Great Job Paraphrasing!
Now let’s get started with Citations
APA Style is a method of formatting papers and documenting sources in academic writing. It is commonly used by scholars in social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, social work, education, and nursing. The handout is a guide that describes how to follow the APA guidelines for citation.
Expectations:
• Students are expected to adhere to APA style citations.
• Whenever you use a website, book, magazine or journal you must reference the source!
• See your handout to determine the proper method for citing a source.
Getting Started today…
• When you want to reference a website that you’ve found useful in today’s independent research time you will need to create a citation. Turn to page four (4) of your APA style handout.
