Unit 4: Article 1 Response

This article describes a way of teaching research methods in ways that are both beneficial and exciting for students.  Students have to learn about different genres of writing, how to cite sources, and where to find research material.  They then take the information and put it into a “paper”.  I think this is a great way to get students engaged and truly interested in a particular topic.  I definitely agree that high school writing is “unoriginal” and to put it bluntly…it stinks.  You would not believe the papers I get with “lol”, “bff”, “cuz”, etc. in them. It is completely ridiculous.  I have found that students will only write exactly what they have to in order to get by.  They put no effort, thought, or creativity into their writing samples at all.  This project approach to writing research sounds fun and I could see students really being able to get immersed in it.

In reading the article several questions arose.  One question I couldn’t help but wonder about is “Can students handle the freedom given with these papers?” To me, it seems that these papers are very loosely structured and some students would have huge problems with it.  I find that my students, even though they will not admit it, are very needy and like for me to tell them exactly what to do.  They want to know every single aspect of each assignment and how to do it.  I think this is to keep them from having to do too much work.  Very few of my students would be able to take these instructions and roll with them to make a great project/paper.  Another question is “Do I have the time and resources available to spend on this multigenre paper?”  It sounds like this is a pretty in depth and lengthy project to take on, not only for the students but for the teacher as well.  I am not sure that with all of the test material to cover that I would have the time to devote to this.  It also seems that you would have to have continued access to computers and unfortunately at my school I do not.  Most of my students do not have computers at home either so they have to do what work they can at school.  The final question I had was “Since this paper sounds like such a great idea, what good does a traditional research paper really do for the student?”  It just seems to me that when compared to the multigenre paper the traditional research paper idea stinks.  Although you will have students who would choose to stick to traditional assignments, students who choose to venture out will ultimately learn more and will enjoy doing it.  I also feel that these sorts of projects will allow students to explore creativity and will prepare them for the competitive job market.  They will learn to be more creative with their work and will be able to use that to their advantage when applying for jobs, interviewing, or making presentations.  They can individualize their work as well.

 

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