Module 4.1 Finding a Topic
You have a writing assignment. Now what? Identifying the type of assignment is important to understand what your objectives are, but the first thing students focus on, and what trips them up the most, is the question of what to write about. Its OK. Use your imagination. Believe it or not, your professor gets tired of reading the same old biographies of George Washington. Try something that interests you. Oh, and watch this video for some specific tips.
See also:
Module 4.2 Research Questions
Research questions help writers focus their research by providing a path through the research and writing process. The specificity of a well-developed research question helps writers avoid the generic paper and work toward supporting a specific, arguable thesis. In this video, we will look at how to create a research question that will guide you through the research paper process.
See also:
Module 4.3 Discovering Keywords for Searches
No matter what you are searching for, you are going to need a carefully developed list of keywords. Make them too broad and you get millions of hits. Too narrow and there is nothing. Today we are going to look at how to hit that sweet spot of just what you need.
See also:
Finding keywords Catalan example
Where to search Conducting research
Module 4.4 Mining Wikipedia
Everyone knows that Wikipedia cannot be used as a source for your college assignments. So why is there a video about using Wikipedia? Because, in spite of its ability to be edited by anyone, there is a lot of great stuff to be found on any given page. It can be used for getting background and keywords. If you mine the references, you can confirm the accuracy of what you have learned and very often find sources you can use in your papers. Wikipedia can be a great tool in your toolbox. Just don’t let it be the only tool.
See also:
Finding keywords Catalan example