Friday, November 4, 2011

Choosing a Topic for a College Research Paper

Three weeks ago I began teaching an information-literacy course.  This one-credit course runs for eight weeks and is called ACAD 1199: Information Research.  In week two we talked about choosing a topic, brainstorming, and narrowing down a topic to a manageable size for a 5-6 page college paper. 

For one of these classes, I created a PowerPoint presentation, outlining some of my ideas and those of Mary W. George, as written in her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know.  Quite simply, this presentation is titled "Choosing a Topic."  Take a look at it, and let me know what yo think.  Still, sometimes it is a challenge to know how to help students narrow down a topic to one that interests them but still avoids trying to do too much.

What do you tell students when they need to narrow a topic?

If you are a student currently, what research projects have carried off successfully?  What made it work so well?

"Narrow City."  by Nick Peligno.
This photo seemed appropriate with the topic of narrowing down a topic as it appears that this street gradually gets narrower.  I like the colors, shapes, and lines.  Seems like a fun photo.  Thank you for sharing this Flickr.com, Nick Peligno.

No comments: