Thursday, February 9, 2012

Research Process

Hopefully everyone can take something from the research process you learned during the course of completing your 5-6 page history paper--and it will help you on future writing assignments.  What is the most important thing you learned during this process about writing a paper?  Would you change anything about the way the process was presented to you?

55 comments:

Molly E. said...

The most important thing i took away from this experience is that when doing the paper, you really need to understand the topic you are writing about, and make sure that your supporting details agree with your topic. I also learned when you are researching you need to read the article carefully and and have an idea of what is the information you need for your paper. I would not change anything about the process, this paper helped me become a much better researcher and writer.

anna said...

The most important thing i learned from this experience is that when you are coming up withthe fourth or imaginary effect, you need to have a firm understanding of your topic in order for you to be able to surmise what the effect could have been and what could have happened. I think that with all of the corrections and editions, this research process has helped me to become a better and more analytical writer.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing i learned over the whole time was how to write an research essay and how to find the information out of the articles, by carefully looking through the text to find the most important points. I also learned that you have to expand on the details that you find. The process was good and i became a better essay writer.

Mac said...

I feel the most important and necessary process to take time and care with is your formal outline. This is a key component because it involves plenty of research and the structure of your paper. If you mess this up your paper won't be as successful. The only aspect of this paper process that I would change would be that the process was elongated. Too much time, in between due dates, which could have been shorten. However, it was helpful to have the extra time to make sure the paper was perfect.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing i learned is that you need to know your topic better than everyone else so that you can answer any question or participate in a discussion about the topic. This paper helped me become a better writer and increased my knowledge on the atomic bombs.

Idalis Figueroa said...

The most important factor of doing the research project was probably organization. I learned to be more organized with my work and especially my time. In doing the project over a 7 week time period, I had many deadlines and as a student i learned not to procrastinate and make sure all my work was done. Also, I developed many good researching skills especially concerning notes. I will be able to take these useful skills and use them for projects and papers for a long time. Overall, It was a good experience and learning process for me.

Idalis Figueroa said...

The most important factor of doing the research project was probably organization. I learned to be more organized with my work and especially my time. In doing the project over a 7 week time period, I had many deadlines and as a student i learned not to procrastinate and make sure all my work was done. Also, I developed many good researching skills especially concerning notes. I will be able to take these useful skills and use them for projects and papers for a long time. Overall, It was a good experience and learning process for me.

Idalis Figueroa said...

The most important factor of doing the research project was probably organization. I learned to be more organized with my work and especially my time. In doing the project over a 7 week time period, I had many deadlines and as a student i learned not to procrastinate and make sure all my work was done. Also, I developed many good researching skills especially concerning notes. I will be able to take these useful skills and use them for projects and papers for a long time. Overall, It was a good experience and learning process for me.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing that I learned from this research paper is how to make your thought concise and not ramble on. Having a limit on how long the paper was suppose to be made it difficult to write all of my ideas in the space allowed. Even though it made it more difficult I think overall it made my paper overall a lot better. I wouldn't change one thing about this process because it helped me as a writer and as a researcher.

mvalenti said...

The most important thing i learned from this project is how much organization and focus it takes to be able to make sure you have the right information about your topic. You also have to make sure you incorporate most of your information into your project and you need to be sure you site everything correctly.

Jack B. said...

The most important thing that I dealt with during this project was the in-text citations. In my career, I have never had to work with in-text citations so it was a challenge to figure out how to do this. We had a good lesson with Mary Beth Lemoine. However, I forgot most of what she said and when I went to put in the citations,and I wound up doing them completely wrong. When I went back to do them over, I had difficulty finding a source that explained what I had to do. Maybe a sheet that has this information would be a useful tool for years to come. If I was to have a sheet that contained this information, I would be able to highlight and/or take notes. It is also helpful for me to have hard copies of information because I can see the directions rather than having to rely on memory.

Anonymous said...

I found that research is a very important part of writing a history paper, because if you don't have any research you won't have a history paper, and you r paper will have no flow at all because you won't know enough information to fill up 5 to 6 pages of a history paper.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing I took away from this process is that I learned that before you can start the paper you need to understand your topic like the back of your hand. You need to know enough to explain it to someone else. Besides this I learned that the outline is a key thing in writing a paper like this. Without an outline you may have many ideas in your head but you wont be able to put them on paper because it will be a jumbled mess. How I would change the way the project was presented is to not give the project out so early so it is that people don't have time to procrastinate.

mlopatynsky said...

The most important thing that I learned was that when writing a paper that is to the extent of the paper that I wrote, 6 pages, you need to plan things ahead and outline. Don't leave things till the last minuet because then rushing will get you no where. Also if i were to re-do this process of writing my paper again, then I would definitely have to write a better outline and write more information on the outline because then when writing your actual paper, then it will be easier and a faster process to finish the 5 - 6 page essay.

Anonymous said...

What I found most important about writing my 5 to 6 page history paper, was that you have to do a lot of background information and really understand you topic. Also I think that it is essential to make the notecards because once you have the notecards done, it is easy to put the information on paper. The one thing i would change would be not to announce the project before the Christmas break because it made me stress over my vacation.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing i learned from this experience was before anything you need to understand your topic. Also you need to really appreciate the time you get to work on it in class. When you get the packet for the project it would be helpful to plan ahead and know when you will be completing each assignment. If i could do anything different then i would prepare more in the beginning and really take the time to understand my topic fully.

Daniel Berger said...

The most important thing that I learned from this paper was to manage your time wisely. Another important thing I learned was to spend much more time on reviewing and self-editing than I did. Some changes could be to make sure everyone is up to par by the due dates at hand. Other than that, this paper was a great experience and a good taste of what we will be doing in the future.

Anonymous said...

I think the most important thing I learned was proofreading. Usually after I get my paper back from my teacher I just want to edit it and then be done with it. However, this paper really taught me to look over an revise it even after it was corrected. This extra diligence led to a much better paper then I had before. Although, if I could change one thing about my paper, I would try and describe my fourth effects much clearer. They were great ideas, but weren't as clear as I would like them to be

Anonymous said...

The most important think i learned about my research paper is the process of organizing my time and paper.Since at that time there were many long term project due i learned how to do them step by step. Instead of focusing on one project at a time i did a little of each every week. This balanced out my work load. Something else I learned about this research paper is that the outline sets up the entire structure. If you do not have a strong detailed outline the paper falls apart. Having the outline and the notecards to guide me as i wrote the paper helped a lot. This process helped me become a better writer.

Jack C said...

What I think the most important thing was in writing this paper was having a really good understanding of your topic.. If you did nit have a good understanding then you would not do well on the paper and that you would not be learning anything. Another thing i though that was important was the reasearching. You had to use good websites and you had to understand what they were talking about and make sure you can write about what they were saying... I also thought it was very helpful to have so much time to do this paper.

Anonymous said...

I learned many things during the course of writing the research paper including how important it is to manage your time throughout the process. Doing research is a very time consuming process that entails reading through a lot of material in order to find the specific facts you need to support your hypothesis. You can not procrastinate on this step or your research will suffer. If I could change anything about this process, I would add in a step for peer editing and review. This way, we could have practiced editing but also have gotten the change to read someone else's paper and learn about another topic.

Dylan Wit said...

The most important thing I learned during this writing experience would have to be organization. I learned that the way you can be more organized is to start your paper as soon as it is assigned, so you can have more time to edit and add on information. The one thing I would change about the way this project was presented would be our topic. I think that it would be a little bit more helpful if our topic was a little bit more clear. All and all, I enjoyed writing this paper.

Sabrina said...

I learned many things in the process of writing my paper. One of the things that I learned was that writing a long, formal outline was very helpful. If you write your outline then you will be able to connect your sentences for each paragraph. In the end, I liked the way the project was presented to me so I would not change anything.

Liam G said...

The most important thing that i took away from this essay was to really stay on topic not to suddenly change it without making the change clear. I would change the process by having less time learning how to find websites during class and just focus on finishing the notes and the paper.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing I learned about the research paper process is to make sure you completly understand your topic. I also think organization was key because if you had your 75 note cards and outlines everything was so much easier. This paper helped me learn a lot about my topic and it made me become a better writer. There isn't really anything I would change about the process.

Connor Howe said...

The most important thing that i learned from my history research paper was that in order to write a strong, and good paper you must understand every little aspect of your topic. I also learned that you cannot just memorize everything that you have learned to write your paper you really have to think about your topic. There is not really anything major that I would change about the writing process that was presented to us when we were assigned the paper. It really helped me with my writing process and kept me from stressing over how to organize my paper. I think that this paper will hep me with my future writing assignments throughout the rest of middle school and high school.

Jana O'Donnell said...

The most important thing I learned about writing a research paper is that you absolutely must document your works, and it will help a lot if you do that while you are researching, so you do not have to go back and look for the facts again. The only thing that I would change about the entire process is the 75 note cards. I do understand that it is important to write down the facts you collect, but i think that giving a set amount would only make it harder to research, knowing that you have to have this much. Because if you don't already have enough, it will be one more thing to worry about when you are writing.

tyler said...

The most important piece of information i took away from this experience is that the key to writing a succesfull paper is to be organized. This skill can be especially important when writing the final outline and putting the facts into it. Also, i learned that organization will come in handy when meeting the several deadlines that are required to be meet. In addition, organization is a useful skill that can be used in papers that are over long periods of time and that involves a lot of information. Lastly this skill can be transfered into all papers in all subjects.

Katie said...

The most important thing that I learned when I was doing my paper is that you really need to stay on top of things. It is definitely not something that you can do in a few days. It takes a long time to do it good and right. You need to understand the topic in and out. You need to find good information to back up your arguments in the paper and make it all flow together. Then, you edit it and finally you have a very good paper. This helped me become a better writer and student.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing I learned while writing this paper was giving yourself enough time to write. If you wait until the last minute, you probably won't get a very good grade.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing i learned during the process of writing my research paper was to have plenty of information to help you understand your topic. Also to keep your writing organized and on topic. The only thing i would change about the process was the notecards. I found them hard to keep organized and they were really confusing when i started using the information from them. I also had trouble with where my information came from when i was sourcing.

Natalie said...

The most important thing I learned from this paper is getting all of your information put together in order. This helped me write my paper and have all the facts in a correct sequence. If I could change anything I would want to have Mr. Lewis have a few more checkpoints. This will make sure that everyone stays on task and gets the paper done on time.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing I learned from writing this paper, is how to distinguish your unimportant information from the information that is vital to your paper. I also learned that you have to eliminate the information that does not pertain to your topic. The one thing that I would change about the process of writing my paper, was the way I researched. I think I over-reserched for my paper. and that caused problems for me later.

Brad Kaptinski said...

The most important thing I learned from writing this paper is that you have to have a good understanding of the topic. If you do not have a firm understanding, then often you will not have enough information to support your thesis and the paper revolves around the thesis. While I was was writing I often went to different websites to find more information because i did not have enough. This is the most important thing i learned while writing this paper.

Anonymous said...

I learned that the key to the success of my paper was the formal outline. The outline gave me a layout of the paper so that as soon as I started writing I was basically just plugging in what was on the outline. That made it a lot easier then I thought it would be. Not only did I learn more about the Little Rock Nine but this project also helped me become a much better writer. The overall project process was presented fine. The due dates gave me enough time to get what I needed done. In conclusion, this project will definitely help me in the near future.

Charlie Wheeler said...

I think the most important process of the whole research paper was time management. I learned that you cannot procrastinate especially when their are due dates. I also believe that i learned how important research was. If you don't find good research information then your paper won't be as successful. If I could change one thing about the process it would be shorter due dates. Although, the long amount of time still helped in editing and strengthening my paper. In conclusion, I thought it was a great learning process and it helped my writing a lot.

EricK said...

The most important thing I learned during the course of completing my history research paper is that I should document all information (page numbers, dates accessed, etc.) needed for citing my sources ahead of time. If I do find all the needed information for citing when I am presently researching, then I won't find myself worrying when I need to put a work sited page together.

If there was anything I would change regarding the guidelines of the project, it would be eliminating the requirement of a least two needed book sources. Though I think using a variety of resources is important; reserving books and retrieving them required took 3-5 days of the process. Eliminating the book requirement would allow more time to focus on other parts of the project or complete the project ahead of time. I do understand that the use of books allows for a more detailed analysis of the subject, however, I found myself a bit challenged on time.

Matt Ch said...

The most important things that I learned from this project were how to make a good outline, how to use proper citations, and how to make a proper bibliography. I think that it would have been easier to stay on track if we either had more due dates, or had our due dates be closer together.

Gregory Lopatynsky said...

I feel that the most important part of the Essay would have to be the the amount of research you have to do in order to fill a 5-6 page essay. The research took a great amount of time but finally paid off in the long run as I was able to write the paper swiftly and without stress of too little research.The one things I would change about the process is shorten the time between due dates because many students tend to procrastinate when there are long time periods in between due dates.

Molly McQuilkin said...

The most important thing for me in this project was really understanding your topic. Not just in the simplest form but in a different perspective too. Because every one has their own opinions on each topic, and you should see the topic in every ones eyes. If I had to choose one thing to change it would be being more tough on us about deadlines.

Tyler Holtz said...

I think that when writing your paper one of the most important things is time management. If there are deadlines to be met but you have ample time to finish, you have to take advantage of it rather than just wait until the last minute.

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Anonymous said...

The most important thing i learned while writing this research paper was how to mange your time. I felt that time management was key in order to succeed in this paper. I usual wait the last minute to finish anything in school but, i learned that you need to do things in advance. This project really made me change my approach on how to mange my time better in school and in life. If i could change one thing about this project i would of maybe expanded on my paragraphs but otherwise i thought this process was a good experience.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing I took away from writing the research paper is that you need to manage your time well. You can't just wait till the last minute to do everything. If I could change one thing about my paper it would probably be putting more detail into my writing. That way the reader would fully understand the topic as much as I do.

Lauren Gimpel said...

To me, I think the most important thing that I learned during this process is organization and time management. If you do not have your facts and research organized in a manner that it easy to access it, it is almost impossible to know what information you even have. Additionally, if you cannot cite where you got your information from, then it is a major problem, and you technically cannot complete your paper. Also, you have to manage your time wisely so that you can get your work done appropriately without rushing or feeling stressed, or making critical errors, such as forgetting to put in citations. I think this process will help me to become a stronger and more diligent writer in the future.

Conrad Lindenberg said...

The most important thing I learned during the process of writing my research paper is that you need to do lots of research before you even start to write your paper. In order to write a good research paper you need to include lots of information. Not only should you include basic facts, but you should dig deeper to make a more complex essay. The challenge was finding information that was directly relevant to the thesis statement. In the future, I will better utilize resources such as my local library and King's library media center.

Alana said...

What I found to be the most vital part of the research process was not only finding information, but finding information that you are capable of comprehending. In order to write a research paper, you have to know your topic better than anyone reading it, and have a thorough understanding of what you're talking about. You also have to have a distinct and firm opinion on what happened, as well as what could have happened, and what should have happened. Overall, it was a good learning experience that helped me to become a better essay writer.

Anonymous said...

I think one of the most important part of the paper was researching. When researching you need to find good sites and plan ahead. Another thing that I learned was how important it is to plan ahead. If you don't plan ahead then you end up doing everything in one day and it is a mess.

Haley said...

The most valuable thing I have learned from writing my paper is that planning is key. In planning I mean, spacing your work out and taking your time. If you rush to get it done you most likely will feel overwhelmed and stressed and you won't do as good of a job as you could have done.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing I took away from this expierience is that as soon as you get the asignment you should start researching.

Anonymous said...

The most important thing I learned during this writing process is you have to understand the topic you are writing about because what's the point of writing a paper if you are not going to learn anything. As for the process' sucess I would not change a thing because it gave you plenty of time to construct the paper and it gave certain smaller deadlines as apposed to one big deadline.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

The one part of this research paper that I found the most important was understanding your topic really well. If you do not understand what you are writing about then how are you supposed to write a 5 to 6 page paper about it. You should know your topic so well that you could explain to another person that nows nothing about the it. I think the process was perfect I would not change a single thing. I was able to learn a lot about my topic that I did not know before creating my thesis statement.

Eva Johnson said...

The most important thing i learned when i was writing my history paper was how to research. Before, when i wrote papers, i would just read articles about the topic but i learned that taking notes is useful because you can not remember everything you read. Also when you are writing the paper its easier to look over your notes and see what you missed.

Anonymous said...

I learned how important time management is to the completion of the paper. It is important to have all your sources read carefully and important aspects of it notecards. This help keep the process orderly, the paper in proper sequence, and gave me a more logical paper in the end.