Original post:
I am collaborating with a history teacher on a research paper for a
Contemporary American History class comprised of 10-12th graders (mostly
12th). This is the first time he has taught this class, so we could
both use some ideas on how to do this. How many sources, what kind, how
long should the paper be, topic ideas, etc? Any ideas you can throw my
way would be appreciated. Thanks.
I have helped 11 and 12th graders with research papers. The length for
eleventh grade was 4 to 6 pages. The length for 12 was 6 to 8 pages.
This was for English class. I would suggest 4 to 5 pages then a title
and bib page. 3 sources from internet, 2 from magazines,(ebsco included)
and 1 or 2 from books. This will help them compare the recent
information with the earlier info. Topic ideas: there is probably a list
on the internet somewhere, but I think 1)international
relations---choose one country and the US check political climate with
that country---2) abortion is old but ,3) presidental races --primaries,
political parties, popular voting vs electoral college...
A lot of this will depend on the topic,the product and how much time he
wants to spend on it.We always require at least 3 sources no matter what
the product. These sources can't be all websites. Usually, it is a
print source, an electronic database and a third source which can be
anything. A website has to have an evaluation form turned in with the
works cited. If it is a paper longer than five pages, most teachers
require at least 5-7 sources. The more in depth the product; the more
sources required.
Our social studies teachers generally have a time period (progressive
era, decades, etc.) or a broad topic (WWII homefront, McCarthyism,etc.).
Either way, the students have to choose a more narrow topic to research.
The amount of research required depends on how much instruction we
do(evaluation of websites, citations, how to use the databases, etc.)
and how extensive the product. Our AP US history teacher uses the video
series 45/85 I htink it is for the basis of his research assignment that
is collaborative with their 11th Eng teachers. Any sub subject of
events or currents or famous movements or people from that
period---which they study in their text and with films for about amonth
or more---so they are a little familiar with it; then they come to
library and do a paper on it and end up with a slide show on it.
Don't forget the primary resources in Annals of American History from
Britannica as well as study guides, activities, and exercise for 20th
Century subject under Social Studies Learning Materials
http://school.eb.com/browse/learning?subject=Social%20Studies Gale also
has some materials and timelines for Black History, Hispanic Heritage,
Poet's Corner and Women's History
http://gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/
<http://lh.k12.ar.us/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://gale.cengage.com/f
ree_resources/bhm/> EBSCO also has some special resources at History
It's Happening
http://www.ebscohost.com/flashPromo/historyhappenings/index.html
Look at topic search in EBSCO and look at Gale Discovering. I also
purchased Opposing Viewpoints from Gale and they have very current info
for that area - among others. EB online has a wealth of info for
teachers. Link to other databases and look at Annals of America. Link
to th elast volumes to find prinmary sources of info. We are posting
Pathfinders on our wiki - http://southsidefslibrary.pbwiki.com
<http://lh.k12.ar.us/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://southsidefslibrary
.pbwiki.com> to help the students and teachers. If you just search
Iraq in Gale you will find basically a timeline of info from the 1990s
forward besides an overview of historical info about the country. If he
has a textbook look at the themes in the text and have him draw
questions to use as starting points. How did __________ affect ______?
Did _________ hurt or help relations with __________{country}? Social
issues - broad range - How is govt. helping/hurting?
My only advice would be to guide the teacher's topic choices by what
resources you have. I would walk the teacher through my library,
literally, and show him my reference, non-fiction and database
resources. Then plan enough time to do some search strategy, media
literacy or database instruction with the class.
I would hope the teacher comes up with a managable "critical thinking"
exercise, such as groups or 4 that explore and report on topics relevant
to their life and then present back to the group. I would stay away from
a formal paper. He could choose the topics ahead of time within the
framework of his own curriculum. (Elections? Environment? Economy?) I
think David Loertscher has some great learning models in his 2nd Ban
Those Bird Units book. I recently used his Matrix & Trends model to have
a class research the development and ethics of new social technologies
and they really loved it. They were so invested in it and happily did
the research and reporting back to the class. They made highlight
brochures to share with other classes as their 'hand-in.' They were
graded on research notes (in draft form), presentation, and their
practical "solution" to the problem society faces with whichever topic
they chose. It took 2 periods of research and a week later we had the
two period presentations and "big think." Outside of class they had a
week to work with their group on presentation.
I taught high school and college English in a past life, so my takes
would be:
1. Sources: This is an excellent opportunity to teach about good,
reliable sources. Different types of papers may need different numbers
and types of sources, but the students need to learn about good versus
poor ones, primary sources (talking with a
parent/grandparent/great-grandparent about an era that interests them)
versus secondary sources. Also, this is an excellent time to teach about
citing sources and plagiarism.
2. Length: If the students must write a paper as such, and not another
means of demonstrating what they've learned (See here "I Search, You
Search, We All Learn to Research), about five to ten double-spaced pages
seems to me to be an appropriate length at this level. But why not a
5-10 minute presentation of some kind or some other means of showing
what they've learned?
3. Topic ideas: Let the students have some free rein here, so that
they will be working with something they are interested in, and thus
come up with a more interesting result. (Again, see "I Search, ....")
You and the teacher will have to help them fine-tune to keep within an
appropriate length range, but let the students get things rolling on
their own.
This is a great class for a wide variety of topics, which is nice for
the kids who can focus on something they really care about, and
especially nice for the teacher who doesn't have to read the same thing
over and over. (And it spreads out the needs of the kids so it doesn't
have all the kids needing that same sources.) We have an 8th grade that
gets to choose "any phenomenon" in American History to research. That
would also work for 12s. Seniors should be able to put together a 12
page paper with primary as well as secondary sources and a bibliography.
The teacher may consider requiring an annotated working bibliography as
an intermediate checkpoint. If the focus is contempory, then the teacher
could set the date parameters, and then let the kids do anything they
want that has value, and rather than just a report, one requirement
might be describing how it has made their lives different from their
parent's (or grandparents) at the same age. Civil Rights, Pop culture,
rise in computers in everything from their study space to their
refrigerators and cell phones, entertainment, sports, "hazards" of
teenagery, political activism, global awareness, industry, fashion . .
.the list is endless. The teacher should OK the topics to make sure they
are narrow enought for whatever size paper is required. This has a lot
of potential--have fun!
Are comfortable are the students with the process? You mention mostly
12th grade. Is this something like a culminating experience for those
students? I would expect something like 5-10 sources (book, periodical
and Internet.) I coorelate length to the source material. If you
require something between 5 and 10 sources then your length might be
equivalent, up to 10 or 12 pages. I do hope they get to use electronic
citation sites to create their bibs. I think those things are the best
invention since the calculator!!
Now, the best part would be the topics. I would try a brainstorming
session. Ask the students what they are curious about regarding this
broad idea - Contemporary Am Hist. You would be able to use these ideas
to check your resource options and then further discuss the development
of a research topic. Selection of topic is critical because if it's too
broad the students bog down in too much info, but if it is too
idiosyncratic they struggle to find any info at all.
I received your request from our High School librarian. I have assigned
11th & 12th graders 5-6 page research papers. I did this because,
several of the students had never had a paper over 3 pages and it was
for English. History and English papers are different so I did not want
to overwhelm them with a larger number of pages. I wanted the focus to
be on the research and how to cite sources correctly. As far as how many
sources - I think it would depend on what you are doing. I usually have
my students use at least two primary sources and three secondary
sources. (Again it depends on time frame and what kind of research you
want them to do.) Since it is a history paper, I would required them to
use Turabian citations, because that is what they will use in most
college/university settings. Topic ideas vary. Since it is contemporary
American history there is a wealth of topics. I like to do comparisons
of people. For example: (not all of these are contemporary, but just
examples of what I've done) U.S. Grant compared to Robert E. Lee,
Malcolm X and Frederick Douglas, A. Mitchell Palmer and Joseph McCarthy,
Theodore Roosevelt & Harry Truman, etc. The students have to research
and then see how they were alike or different. I also ask them to
included if they think the two would get along with each, if they had
been in the same time frame - tricky question. The kids seem to enjoy
most of the people picked. It is different than just researching the
Memphis Sanitation Workers strike. It involves more than just fact
finding. I hope these ideas will be helpful.
This is our "traditional" junior paper.
Ours require 5 sources from databases or reference books. They are
required to use note cards in MLA format. This is a persuasive paper
where the students have to choose a side.
Topics include The US should/should not be involved in world
peacekeeping missions; The Rosenbergs were/were not guilty of war
crimes; Kennedy was/was not a good president.
Many deal with foreign policies of presidents, imperialism, women in
WWII, etc. The topics are difficult and require a lot of thinking to
break down. Another topic is the Federalist papers, how did writers of
the 20's differ from the writers of the 30's...
We use Issues and Controversies in American History (persuasive
database). This is from Facts on File. When they were creating it, they
asked for submissions, and we submitted our topics. This is an excellent
source. We also use Ebsco and Sirs Researcher/Sirs Government for these
topics as well. Sirs is a great source for the contributions of women in
WWII.
Reference books include: History in Dispute, Opposing Viewpoints in
American History, Annals of America, Decades from Gale, etc.
Depending upon the topic at least 1 book with 4 electronic. Some of them
are 3-4 books and 1-2 electronic. We help them research, and then we
sign the Assessment of Sources instrument that we use to ensure that
they got the best research. If not, we help them find alternatives. They
spend 5 days with us, then go back to the classroom to write.
With it being contemporary, I would think magazines and web sources
would be the logical ones. Having two degrees in English, I have been
down this road. Things to consider:
1. Establish formatting, Times New Roman or Arial 12 as font choices.
(They spend more time looking for bigger font than writing the paper!)
2. Double space
3. Use a standard style sheet like MLA if your school doesn't already
have that established.
4. Make sure web sources are edu or gov--only com if teacher approved.
5. I would think 5 content pages would suffice to present a topic.
6. I would have them do thesis statement as well as an outline BEFORE
they start writing. (They always want to write the paper then do the
outline--cart before the horse.) Emphasize that it is a working outline
to organize the subject once they have begun to gather information.
As for topics...what about starting with newspapers for inspiration???
My English teacher requires five sources. Two sources have to be from
books (nonfiction and reference), the other three from online sources.
We try to use the data bases the state provides.....or sites that end
with .edu or .org or .gov. We teach that just using google or yahoo may
net results that are NOT authentic. We also use the MLA style of
writing. There are other pluses to using the data bases that the state
provides: It will show you how to site your work cited page: it will
give you other places to search for articles or journals, and it can
give you other websites for that particular topic.
In another time and place I collaborated with an American History
teacher who compiled a list of contemporary topics in Am. Hist. and then
had students do a paper comparing the contemp. issues to earlier times
and issues. e.g. gangs today with the mafia of the 20's and 30's; music
in contemp. Am. (rap) with music in earlier day (rock & roll);
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