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Suggestions for Assignments
It isn't necessary to assign a full-fledged research paper to give students experience with finding sources and putting them to use. This chart lays out some alternatives to the standard research paper as well as the concepts and the skills they address.
Interpretive Assignments
Letters or diaries: have students examine texts written by a figure discussed in class, generate questions from those primary sources, and prepare an annotated version of the text that answers or provides speculation on aspects of the text that are unclear. This could be a group project, with a set of letters or diary entries distributed among the class.
Synthesis Assignments
Have the class develop a collaborative lecture: rather than present material in lecture form, have students gather information and during class compile it. (Works best with topics that have a natural organizing principle such as chronology in order to process the information brought to class.)
Exploring Discourses
Have the class prepare an interview-either one to be actually carried out or one that they can't because the subject is long dead or otherwise unavailable. To generate useful questions they would have to become familiar with the person's life and work and understand its significance. They could either writeup results of a real interview or writetheir own imaginary responses based on available evidence.
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It isn't necessary to assign a full-fledged research paper to give students experience with finding sources and putting them to use. This chart lays out some alternatives to the standard research paper as well as the concepts and the skills they address.
Interpretive Assignments
Letters or diaries: have students examine texts written by a figure discussed in class, generate questions from those primary sources, and prepare an annotated version of the text that answers or provides speculation on aspects of the text that are unclear. This could be a group project, with a set of letters or diary entries distributed among the class.
Synthesis Assignments
Have the class develop a collaborative lecture: rather than present material in lecture form, have students gather information and during class compile it. (Works best with topics that have a natural organizing principle such as chronology in order to process the information brought to class.)
Exploring Discourses
Have the class prepare an interview-either one to be actually carried out or one that they can't because the subject is long dead or otherwise unavailable. To generate useful questions they would have to become familiar with the person's life and work and understand its significance. They could either writeup results of a real interview or writetheir own imaginary responses based on available evidence.
View source