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Online Guide to Writing and Research

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• Online Guide to Writing

The Research Assignment Introduction

When tasked with writing a research paper, you are able to “dig in” to a topic, idea, theme, or question in greater detail.  In your academic career, you will be assigned several assignments that require you to “research” something and then write about it. Sometimes you can choose a topic and sometimes a topic is assigned to you.  

Either way, look at this assignment as an opportunity to learn more about something and to add your voice to the discourse community about said topic. Your professor is assigning you the task to give you a chance to learn more about something and then share that newfound knowledge with the professor and your academic peers.  In this way, you contribute meaningfully to the existing scholarship in that subject area. You are then creating a research space for yourself and for other researchers who may follow you.  

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Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing?

What Is College Writing?

Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Doing Exploratory Research

Getting from Notes to Your Draft

Introduction

Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition

Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience

Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started

Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment

Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic

Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy

Rewriting: Getting Feedback

Rewriting: The Final Draft

Techniques to Get Started - Outlining

Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques

Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas

Writing: Outlining What You Will Write

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction

Critical Strategies and Writing

Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis

Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation

Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion

Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis

Developing a Paper Using Strategies

Kinds of Assignments You Will Write

Patterns for Presenting Information

Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques

Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data

Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts

Supporting with Research and Examples

Writing Essay Examinations

Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete

Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing

Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources

Research Resources: What Are Research Resources?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources

Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure

Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure

The Nature of Research

The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated?

The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed?

The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?

Chapter 5: Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Giving Credit to Sources

Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws

Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation

Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides

Integrating Sources

Practicing Academic Integrity

Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources

Types of Documentation

Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists

Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style

Types of Documentation: Note Citations

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Finding Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

How Is Writing Graded?

How Is Writing Graded?: A General Assessment Tool

The Draft Stage

The Draft Stage: The First Draft

The Draft Stage: The Revision Process and the Final Draft

The Draft Stage: Using Feedback

The Research Stage

Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers

Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure

Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument

Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion

Writing Arguments: Types of Argument

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Dictionaries

General Style Manuals

Researching on the Internet

Special Style Manuals

Writing Handbooks

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project

Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report

Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve

Collaborative Writing: Methodology

Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation

Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members

Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan

General Introduction

Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Working with Your Instructor’s Comments and Grades

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

Devising a Writing Project Plan and Schedule

Reviewing Your Plan with Others

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

The goal of a research proposal is twofold: to present and justify the need to study a research problem and to present the practical ways in which the proposed study should be conducted. The design elements and procedures for conducting research are governed by standards of the predominant discipline in which the problem resides, therefore, the guidelines for research proposals are more exacting and less formal than a general project proposal. Research proposals contain extensive literature reviews. They must provide persuasive evidence that a need exists for the proposed study. In addition to providing a rationale, a proposal describes detailed methodology for conducting the research consistent with requirements of the professional or academic field and a statement on anticipated outcomes and benefits derived from the study's completion.

Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005.

How to Approach Writing a Research Proposal

Your professor may assign the task of writing a research proposal for the following reasons:

• Develop your skills in thinking about and designing a comprehensive research study;
• Learn how to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature to determine that the research problem has not been adequately addressed or has been answered ineffectively and, in so doing, become better at locating pertinent scholarship related to your topic;
• Improve your general research and writing skills;
• Practice identifying the logical steps that must be taken to accomplish one's research goals;
• Critically review, examine, and consider the use of different methods for gathering and analyzing data related to the research problem; and,
• Nurture a sense of inquisitiveness within yourself and to help see yourself as an active participant in the process of conducting scholarly research.

A proposal should contain all the key elements involved in designing a completed research study, with sufficient information that allows readers to assess the validity and usefulness of your proposed study. The only elements missing from a research proposal are the findings of the study and your analysis of those findings. Finally, an effective proposal is judged on the quality of your writing and, therefore, it is important that your proposal is coherent, clear, and compelling.

Regardless of the research problem you are investigating and the methodology you choose, all research proposals must address the following questions:

• What do you plan to accomplish? Be clear and succinct in defining the research problem and what it is you are proposing to investigate.
• Why do you want to do the research? In addition to detailing your research design, you also must conduct a thorough review of the literature and provide convincing evidence that it is a topic worthy of in-depth study. A successful research proposal must answer the "So What?" question.
• How are you going to conduct the research? Be sure that what you propose is doable. If you're having difficulty formulating a research problem to propose investigating, go here for strategies in developing a problem to study.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Failure to be concise . A research proposal must be focused and not be "all over the map" or diverge into unrelated tangents without a clear sense of purpose.
• Failure to cite landmark works in your literature review . Proposals should be grounded in foundational research that lays a foundation for understanding the development and scope of the the topic and its relevance.
• Failure to delimit the contextual scope of your research [e.g., time, place, people, etc.]. As with any research paper, your proposed study must inform the reader how and in what ways the study will frame the problem.
• Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research . This is critical. In many workplace settings, the research proposal is a formal document intended to argue for why a study should be funded.
• Sloppy or imprecise writing, or poor grammar . Although a research proposal does not represent a completed research study, there is still an expectation that it is well-written and follows the style and rules of good academic writing.
• Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues . Your proposal should focus on only a few key research questions in order to support the argument that the research needs to be conducted. Minor issues, even if valid, can be mentioned but they should not dominate the overall narrative.

Procter, Margaret. The Academic Proposal.  The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Sanford, Keith. Information for Students: Writing a Research Proposal. Baylor University; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal. International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University; Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences, Articles, and Books. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing a Research Proposal. University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Structure and Writing Style

Beginning the Proposal Process

As with writing most college-level academic papers, research proposals are generally organized the same way throughout most social science disciplines. The text of proposals generally vary in length between ten and thirty-five pages, followed by the list of references. However, before you begin, read the assignment carefully and, if anything seems unclear, ask your professor whether there are any specific requirements for organizing and writing the proposal.

A good place to begin is to ask yourself a series of questions:

• What do I want to study?
• Why is the topic important?
• How is it significant within the subject areas covered in my class?
• What problems will it help solve?
• How does it build upon [and hopefully go beyond] research already conducted on the topic?
• What exactly should I plan to do, and can I get it done in the time available?

In general, a compelling research proposal should document your knowledge of the topic and demonstrate your enthusiasm for conducting the study. Approach it with the intention of leaving your readers feeling like, "Wow, that's an exciting idea and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!"

Most proposals should include the following sections:

I.  Introduction

In the real world of higher education, a research proposal is most often written by scholars seeking grant funding for a research project or it's the first step in getting approval to write a doctoral dissertation. Even if this is just a course assignment, treat your introduction as the initial pitch of an idea based on a thorough examination of the significance of a research problem. After reading the introduction, your readers should not only have an understanding of what you want to do, but they should also be able to gain a sense of your passion for the topic and to be excited about the study's possible outcomes. Note that most proposals do not include an abstract [summary] before the introduction.

Think about your introduction as a narrative written in two to four paragraphs that succinctly answers the following four questions :

• What is the central research problem?
• What is the topic of study related to that research problem?
• What methods should be used to analyze the research problem?
• Answer the "So What?" question by explaining why this is important research, what is its significance, and why should someone reading the proposal care about the outcomes of the proposed study?

II.  Background and Significance

This is where you explain the scope and context of your proposal and describe in detail why it's important. It can be melded into your introduction or you can create a separate section to help with the organization and narrative flow of your proposal. Approach writing this section with the thought that you can’t assume your readers will know as much about the research problem as you do. Note that this section is not an essay going over everything you have learned about the topic; instead, you must choose what is most relevant in explaining the aims of your research.

To that end, while there are no prescribed rules for establishing the significance of your proposed study, you should attempt to address some or all of the following:

• State the research problem and give a more detailed explanation about the purpose of the study than what you stated in the introduction. This is particularly important if the problem is complex or multifaceted .
• Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing; be sure to answer the "So What? question [i.e., why should anyone care?].
• Describe the major issues or problems examined by your research. This can be in the form of questions to be addressed. Be sure to note how your proposed study builds on previous assumptions about the research problem.
• Explain the methods you plan to use for conducting your research. Clearly identify the key sources you intend to use and explain how they will contribute to your analysis of the topic.
• Describe the boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a clear focus. Where appropriate, state not only what you plan to study, but what aspects of the research problem will be excluded from the study.
• If necessary, provide definitions of key concepts, theories, or terms.

III.  Literature Review

Connected to the background and significance of your study is a section of your proposal devoted to a more deliberate review and synthesis of prior studies related to the research problem under investigation . The purpose here is to place your project within the larger whole of what is currently being explored, while at the same time, demonstrating to your readers that your work is original and innovative. Think about what questions other researchers have asked, what methodological approaches they have used, and what is your understanding of their findings and, when stated, their recommendations. Also pay attention to any suggestions for further research.

Since a literature review is information dense, it is crucial that this section is intelligently structured to enable a reader to grasp the key arguments underpinning your proposed study in relation to the arguments put forth by other researchers. A good strategy is to break the literature into "conceptual categories" [themes] rather than systematically or chronologically describing groups of materials one at a time. Note that conceptual categories generally reveal themselves after you have read most of the pertinent literature on your topic so adding new categories is an on-going process of discovery as you review more studies. How do you know you've covered the key conceptual categories underlying the research literature? Generally, you can have confidence that all of the significant conceptual categories have been identified if you start to see repetition in the conclusions or recommendations that are being made.

NOTE: Do not shy away from challenging the conclusions made in prior research as a basis for supporting the need for your proposal. Assess what you believe is missing and state how previous research has failed to adequately examine the issue that your study addresses. Highlighting the problematic conclusions strengthens your proposal. For more information on writing literature reviews, GO HERE .

To help frame your proposal's review of prior research, consider the "five C’s" of writing a literature review:

• Cite , so as to keep the primary focus on the literature pertinent to your research problem.
• Compare the various arguments, theories, methodologies, and findings expressed in the literature: what do the authors agree on? Who applies similar approaches to analyzing the research problem?
• Contrast the various arguments, themes, methodologies, approaches, and controversies expressed in the literature: describe what are the major areas of disagreement, controversy, or debate among scholars?
• Critique the literature: Which arguments are more persuasive, and why? Which approaches, findings, and methodologies seem most reliable, valid, or appropriate, and why? Pay attention to the verbs you use to describe what an author says/does [e.g., asserts, demonstrates, argues, etc.].
• Connect the literature to your own area of research and investigation: how does your own work draw upon, depart from, synthesize, or add a new perspective to what has been said in the literature?

IV.  Research Design and Methods

This section must be well-written and logically organized because you are not actually doing the research, yet, your reader must have confidence that you have a plan worth pursuing . The reader will never have a study outcome from which to evaluate whether your methodological choices were the correct ones. Thus, the objective here is to convince the reader that your overall research design and proposed methods of analysis will correctly address the problem and that the methods will provide the means to effectively interpret the potential results. Your design and methods should be unmistakably tied to the specific aims of your study.

Describe the overall research design by building upon and drawing examples from your review of the literature. Consider not only methods that other researchers have used, but methods of data gathering that have not been used but perhaps could be. Be specific about the methodological approaches you plan to undertake to obtain information, the techniques you would use to analyze the data, and the tests of external validity to which you commit yourself [i.e., the trustworthiness by which you can generalize from your study to other people, places, events, and/or periods of time].

When describing the methods you will use, be sure to cover the following:

• Specify the research process you will undertake and the way you will interpret the results obtained in relation to the research problem. Don't just describe what you intend to achieve from applying the methods you choose, but state how you will spend your time while applying these methods [e.g., coding text from interviews to find statements about the need to change school curriculum; running a regression to determine if there is a relationship between campaign advertising on social media sites and election outcomes in Europe ].
• Keep in mind that the methodology is not just a list of tasks; it is a deliberate argument as to why techniques for gathering information add up to the best way to investigate the research problem. This is an important point because the mere listing of tasks to be performed does not demonstrate that, collectively, they effectively address the research problem. Be sure you clearly explain this.
• Anticipate and acknowledge any potential barriers and pitfalls in carrying out your research design and explain how you plan to address them. No method applied to research in the social and behavioral sciences is perfect, so you need to describe where you believe challenges may exist in obtaining data or accessing information. It's always better to acknowledge this than to have it brought up by your professor!

V.  Preliminary Suppositions and Implications

Just because you don't have to actually conduct the study and analyze the results, doesn't mean you can skip talking about the analytical process and potential implications . The purpose of this section is to argue how and in what ways you believe your research will refine, revise, or extend existing knowledge in the subject area under investigation. Depending on the aims and objectives of your study, describe how the anticipated results will impact future scholarly research, theory, practice, forms of interventions, or policy making. Note that such discussions may have either substantive [a potential new policy], theoretical [a potential new understanding], or methodological [a potential new way of analyzing] significance.   When thinking about the potential implications of your study, ask the following questions:

• What might the results mean in regards to challenging the theoretical framework and underlying assumptions that support the study?
• What suggestions for subsequent research could arise from the potential outcomes of the study?
• What will the results mean to practitioners in the natural settings of their workplace, organization, or community?
• Will the results influence programs, methods, and/or forms of intervention?
• How might the results contribute to the solution of social, economic, or other types of problems?
• Will the results influence policy decisions?
• In what way do individuals or groups benefit should your study be pursued?
• What will be improved or changed as a result of the proposed research?
• How will the results of the study be implemented and what innovations or transformative insights could emerge from the process of implementation?

NOTE:   This section should not delve into idle speculation, opinion, or be formulated on the basis of unclear evidence . The purpose is to reflect upon gaps or understudied areas of the current literature and describe how your proposed research contributes to a new understanding of the research problem should the study be implemented as designed.

ANOTHER NOTE : This section is also where you describe any potential limitations to your proposed study. While it is impossible to highlight all potential limitations because the study has yet to be conducted, you still must tell the reader where and in what form impediments may arise and how you plan to address them.

VI.  Conclusion

The conclusion reiterates the importance or significance of your proposal and provides a brief summary of the entire study . This section should be only one or two paragraphs long, emphasizing why the research problem is worth investigating, why your research study is unique, and how it should advance existing knowledge.

Someone reading this section should come away with an understanding of:

• Why the study should be done;
• The specific purpose of the study and the research questions it attempts to answer;
• The decision for why the research design and methods used where chosen over other options;
• The potential implications emerging from your proposed study of the research problem; and
• A sense of how your study fits within the broader scholarship about the research problem.

VII.  Citations

As with any scholarly research paper, you must cite the sources you used . In a standard research proposal, this section can take two forms, so consult with your professor about which one is preferred.

• References -- a list of only the sources you actually used in creating your proposal.
• Bibliography -- a list of everything you used in creating your proposal, along with additional citations to any key sources relevant to understanding the research problem.

In either case, this section should testify to the fact that you did enough preparatory work to ensure the project will complement and not just duplicate the efforts of other researchers. It demonstrates to the reader that you have a thorough understanding of prior research on the topic.

Most proposal formats have you start a new page and use the heading "References" or "Bibliography" centered at the top of the page. Cited works should always use a standard format that follows the writing style advised by the discipline of your course [e.g., education=APA; history=Chicago] or that is preferred by your professor. This section normally does not count towards the total page length of your research proposal.

Develop a Research Proposal: Writing the Proposal. Office of Library Information Services. Baltimore County Public Schools; Heath, M. Teresa Pereira and Caroline Tynan. “Crafting a Research Proposal.” The Marketing Review 10 (Summer 2010): 147-168; Jones, Mark. “Writing a Research Proposal.” In MasterClass in Geography Education: Transforming Teaching and Learning . Graham Butt, editor. (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), pp. 113-127; Juni, Muhamad Hanafiah. “Writing a Research Proposal.” International Journal of Public Health and Clinical Sciences 1 (September/October 2014): 229-240; Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005; Procter, Margaret. The Academic Proposal. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Punch, Keith and Wayne McGowan. "Developing and Writing a Research Proposal." In From Postgraduate to Social Scientist: A Guide to Key Skills . Nigel Gilbert, ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006), 59-81; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal. International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University; Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences , Articles, and Books. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing a Research Proposal. University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Research Assignment Design: Overview

• Student Learning Outcomes
• Evaluating Student Work
• Generative AI

Prioritize your learning outcomes

Students can't do it all. Pick what to focus on. For the beginning researcher, research can be a complicated process with many steps to master effectively. Your assignment might want to prioritize some of those over others.

Students experience a greater cognitive load when researching because they lack domain knowledge. You can help students focus their energies by ensuring your assignment matches your priorities.

For example, to prioritize synthesizing arguments, design an assignment around reading and writing with sources, and limit the need for finding sources. To prioritize identifying the scope of research on a topic, require searching for sources.

How do I do this?

• Determine and prioritize  learning goals specific to the research process . 
• Imagine a student working through the assignment. Are there parts of it that demand a lot of work, but that don't match your priorities? If so, rethink the assignment.

Focus on the research and writing process

Prompts should address both the steps along the way (picking a topic, collecting data, synthesizing sources) and the completed assignment. When instructions focus only on the final product, students will view them as a checklist to complete.

For example, requiring a certain number of sources for a paper directs students' attention to the end product. Students will pick the first sources they find, rather than understanding the process of finding many possible sources, then selecting the best ones.

• Give clear and concise directions, with explanations and examples, about why you want something a certain way.
• Make learning objectives explicit, and provide feedback for each step of the research experience.
• Provide opportunities for students to reflect on their learning.
• Allow students time to explore and reframe as they research.
• Discuss how students will know they've found enough information.

Scaffold learning

Break down and explicitly teach the different aptitudes students need to be successful. Research can overwhelm students, especially those new to the process or discipline.

• Break your assignment down into smaller tasks to ensure that students reach learning objectives successively and successfully. 
• Approach this as an opportunity to help students develop research skills. Don't assume students already know how to do research. Learning is iterative, so even if they've had a library research session, a review is useful.
• Recognize the emotional toll of research and give students the time they need to experience the full spectrum of feelings, as part of the instructional design.
• Provide worksheets, handouts, or activities that help students navigate specific aspects of the research process. 
• Assist students over common stumbling blocks. What will get them past bottlenecks to learning in your discipline?

Create an authentic learning experience

Make your assignment relevant to real life experiences and skills. Students learn best and successfully transfer what they're learning when they connect with the assignment, feel the excitement of discovery, or solve challenges. Through disciplinary and experiential learning, students develop different perspectives from which to view the world.

• Encourage curiosity. Give students the chance to experience some of the messiness of research, while limiting how far off track they can get through periodic check-ins.
• Show students how to practice reading, research, and writing in your discipline. All these require interrelated, separate skills.
• Address how students can transfer knowledge and skills.
• Consider problem-based learning, have students examine real-world issues.

Need More Help?

Ways librarians can help.

• Discuss your learning objectives and options for assignments with you
• "Test-drive" your assignment to ensure students will be successful
• Identify why students struggle and how to help them
• Ensure appropriate resources are available
• Identify library instructional resources to link in Canvas
• Provide research instruction for your class
• Research Assignment Stipend Support for your collaboration with a librarian on a new assignment.
• How to Write an Effective Assignment Harvard University Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

See Example Assignments

• Introductory Research Paper Prompt
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Effective research assignments: home, communicate your expectations.

• Assess the quality of the sources your students cite as part of their overall grades, and explain clearly in your rubric how that evaluation will be made.
• Spell out your expectations regarding sources. Instead of asking for scholarly sources, for example, you could ask your students to "cite at least two peer-reviewed journal articles and two primary sources".
• Explain terminology and provide background regarding scholarly publishing. What’s peer-review? What are some differences between scholarly books and journal articles? When should one consult popular news sources? What’s a primary source?
• Clearly communicate which style manual is required.
• Include a policy on plagiarism in the assignment and discuss the purposes of proper attribution. Discuss examples: does paraphrasing another author’s ideas require a citation?
• Provide examples of topics that are appropriate in scope for the assignment at hand, and provide feedback to individual students as they begin to develop and refine their topics.

Design and test your assignment An effective research assignment targets specific skills, for example, the ability to trace a scholarly argument through the literature or the ability to organize consulted resources into a bibliography.

• Test the assignment yourself. Can you find the kinds of sources required? Are you required to evaluate the sources you find?
• Ask students for feedback on the assignment. Are they having problems finding relevant materials? Do they understand your expectations?
• If the assignment is particularly demanding, consider dividing a single research project into multiple assignments (outline, draft, final draft), each one focusing on a different aspect of the research process.

Ideas for alternative research assignments

• Assign an annotated bibliography in which students identify primary and secondary sources, popular and scholarly publications, and detect and comment on forms of bias.
• Ask for students to document the search tools they use (library catalog, article databases, Google, etc.) for a research paper and to reflect on the kinds of information they find in each.
• Provide a resource list or a single source from which students’ research should begin. Discuss the utility of known sources for identifying keywords, key concepts, and other citations to inform further searching.
• Assign students to prepare a guide for introducing their classmates to the essential literature on a given topic.
• Have students compile a glossary of important terms specific to a given topic in your discipline.
• Require students to edit an anthology of important scholarship on a specific topic and write an introduction explaining the development of the field over time.

Avoid these common mistakes

• Since many scholarly sources are available online, it can be confusing for students when “Internet” or “Web” sources are forbidden. It’s helpful to describe why certain sources (such as Wikipedia) may not be allowed.
• Make sure the resources required by the assignment are available to your students in the library or in library databases. You can also place hard-to-find required sources on  course reserve .
• Last Updated: May 4, 2022 10:41 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/effective-research-assignments

Articles & Media

Books & eBooks

Your Research Assignment

Your assignment is where it all starts, pick your topic, can't think of a topic, tips for your assignments.

• Next Previous Guide

Research Tutorial Links

1. Research Tutorial Your introduction to college level research.

2. College Level Research College level research, scholarly & peer reviewed articles and more.

3. Your Research Assignment Understanding your research assignment and picking a topic.

4. Find Your Sources Find college level books, eBooks, articles and media for your research assignments.

5. Evaluate Your Sources Evaluating your sources and spotting fake sites, fake news and media bias.

6. Cite Your Sources Citation, plagiarism, copyright and fair use.

Understanding your assignment is key. You should read your assignment as soon as you get it just so you have time to ask your instructor about anything that you’re not sure of.

Having the assignment with you when you search can help ensure that the sources that you find will work for the assignment. Circle, highlight or underline important requirements. If you are not sure what your instructor wants, ask!

What is your instructor asking you to do?

When reading your assignment focus on verbs like analyze , summarize or compare to understand what your instructor wants from you. Other important words to watch out for are how , why , when , etc. All of these words will help you focus on what you need for your research topic.

What are the rules of the assignment?

Many instructors have rules that they want you to follow in order to complete the assignment successfully. They frequently include things like:

• How long your paper or presentation should be
• That might include things like your textbook, class notes, books, articles, and Internet
• It might also include how long your sources need to be, when they were written and who wrote them
• MLA, APA, GSA, etc.
• Informational, persuasive, reflective, annotated bibliographies, scientific, etc.
• Word, RTF, PowerPoint, etc.
• What kinds of topics you can use

Once you have and understand your assignment, choosing a topic is the next step in the research process. In some cases, you will be assigned a specific topic for your research paper. In other cases you will be able to complete your research on a topic of your choice.

If you are able to choose your own topic, try to choose a topic that is interesting to you. You will be spending quite a bit of time doing research and writing your paper--interest in the topic can make the process much easier and help you write a better paper.

• Last Updated: Apr 17, 2023 3:46 PM
• URL: https://libguides.com.edu/TutorialAssignment

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Effective Research Assignments

• Best Practices

Alternative Research Assignments

Collaboration & discussion through blogs & wikis, topic exploration with online forums.

• Studies on Student Research

Beyond the Traditional Research Paper

Many instructors experience frustrations with standard research papers .

This page offers some alternatives.

These resources give examples of research assignments that take many forms.

• Community of Online Research Assignments (CORA)
• Sample Assignments (Oregon State University Libraries)
• Term Paper Alternatives (King's College)

Please let us know if you have additional assignments to share!

Blogs: Though a class blog, students might reflect on and dialogue about specific aspects of their research process.

Potential blog topics might include:

• describing one's chosen research topic, why it interests her/him, and why others should care about it,
• identifying a source that has expanded or challenged thinking about the research topic, or
• describing how one's research question has evolved over the course of their research.

Wikis: Students doing collaborative research might develop and revise their ideas through a wiki (like those available through CourseDen or platforms like Wikispaces ).

Wiki pages can be organized based on different areas of the student's research topic, or on different aspects of the research process. Potential sections within a wiki could include: 

• emerging research questions,
• background information (such as differing perspectives on the research question),
• the working thesis, and
• key sources and how they inform the research.

Online platforms like Twitter, blogs, and other online networks can be good springboards for exploring how a topic has been discussed in a certain discipline or community.

Possible activities include:

• Students examine how different communities (including academic and non-academic ones) converse, share, or create information through social media and other online forums (e.g. blogs, online networks).
• Students use platforms like Twitter to gain perspective on how a given community or discipline discusses a certain topic or issue. Students compare how the "conversation" is represented differently in other mediums with which that community engaages (e.g. publications, blogs, conferences).
• Students compare how discussions in specific online communities compare to those that occur through other modes of communication (e.g. in-person discussions, conferences, academic journals, the popular press, magazines). Students might then reflect on how these various communication channels may inform their own approaches to researching a specific issue.  
• << Previous: Best Practices
• Next: Studies on Student Research >>
• Last Updated: Oct 20, 2022 8:56 AM
• URL: https://libguides.rowan.edu/research_assignments

Understanding Research Assignments

Before you begin researching and writing, you should spend some time understanding your assignment and preparing your process and workflows. To make the most productive use of your time, you'll need to know what you're trying to accomplish and have a consistent process for gathering information, reading, and note-taking.

1) About Research Assignments

2) avoiding plagiarism, 3) organizing your readings, about research assignments.

Most of your courses will require you to complete a research assignment of one kind or another. In general, the goal of a research assignment is to get you to gather information about a certain topic, analyze that information, and report what you’ve learned as part of a class presentation or research paper/essay.

Types of Research Assignments

You can find useful information about the different types of research and writing assignments at the Online Writing Lab .

Important Things to Note About Your Assignment

Relationship to other assignments : Some professors will design their assignments to flow together. You may find that each assignment requires you to do a little bit more work towards writing a big final paper.

Choice of topic : You may be given a list of possible research topics, or you may be asked to choose a topic of interest to you. In either case, it’s a good idea to chat with your prof and do some preliminary research before deciding.

Number and Type of Sources : Often, professors will ask that you use a minimum number of sources in your paper. Information sources can be almost anything, but you may be required to use only, or mostly, academic/peer-reviewed sources.

Citation/Referencing Style : There are many different styles for referencing your sources. The most commonly used styles are APA, MLA, Chicago, and CSE. Make sure you know which you are expected to use, and take a moment to learn the basics of the style.

Length : You will usually be asked to write a paper of specified length. Be sure to start early and give yourself enough time to do the appropriate amount of research and writing.

Library Access

Completing your assignments will require access to the library’s collection. These are specialized resources you won’t find available freely on the Internet. You can access the library’s online collections (databases) through our website. If you are off-campus, you’ll be required to authenticate with your WebAdvisor username and password.

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Avoiding Plagiarism

The following definition of plagiarism can be found in the University of Winnipeg Academic Misconduct Policy :

“Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty in which students present published or unpublished work (written, digital, or other) of another person or persons, or one’s own prior work, in its entirety or in part, as their own original work.”

Every student is expected to produce work that follows the rules of academic integrity, so avoiding plagiarism is a fundamental skill in university. To be clear, you will generally be expected to use other people’s ideas to support the points in your paper, but the source of every idea that isn’t your own needs to be cited in a suitable format.

There are two ways that plagiarism can happen: intentionally and unintentionally. We’ll talk about each here.

Intentional Plagiarism

With the abundance of information available online, it’s incredibly easy to take credit for something you didn’t write, if that’s your intention. However, simply copying information from a website or blog and pasting it into your paper without crediting the source is considered plagiarism. Add this to the act of getting someone (or paying them) to write your paper for you, which is clearly unethical, and you have an idea of how intentional plagiarism happens.

As easy as it is, though, it’s also very easy to detect. If you plagiarize something, your professor only needs to do a couple of simple Google searches or use a plagiarism detection software to figure it out. Plus, your professors often craft their assignments to see how you develop as a researcher and writer during the course. If you are not producing original work, you won’t be effectively demonstrating your development and your grades may suffer, even if you don’t get caught.

Unintentional Plagiarism

Plagiarism can also happen by accident. This usually results from sloppy note-taking or by writing your paper in a rush. Even if you accidentally use another person’s idea without credit, you are still plagiarizing them. Also, most students don’t realize it’s possible to plagiarize yourself, by using your own published ideas without citation.

Basically, any idea that comes from a source (books, articles, websites, videos, previous papers, etc.) needs to be cited.

There can be serious penalties for plagiarism (again, see the Academic Misconduct Policy ). It isn’t worth it to try, and taking the time to properly cite and reference your sources isn’t too difficult once you get in the habit.

Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism

• Don’t procrastinate.
• Create a reference for all your sources, in the format outlined by your prof.
• Take detailed notes as your read each source, noting the page numbers for each idea.
• Paraphrase major points and indicate if an idea is a direct quote.
• In your paper, properly cite all the ideas from your sources.
• Create a bibliography or works cited, including references for all your sources.

Organizing Your Readings

Writing a research paper can be difficult and frustrating if you don’t keep your sources organized. Here’s some advice to keep your readings, notes, and bibliographies organized so you don’t run into trouble later.

• Create a separate folder on your computer for each research project you’re working on.
• Place all your full-text articles (PDFs) in this folder.
• Create a complete bibliography entry for each of your sources (including books and other non-digital sources) and save the file to this folder.
• As you read your sources, take notes under the bibliography entry. Be sure to note the page numbers as appropriate.

When it comes time to put these ideas together into a first draft of your paper, it will be easy to see which ideas came from which source. This will make writing a lot easier, but also help you to see how your sources agree or disagree on your topic, and make sure you avoid accidentally plagiarizing any of your sources.

Many students and researchers like to use a citation management tool to help keep their sources organized, and to create citations and references. If you're interested in this, you may want to have a look at this information about using Zotero , which is one example of a citation manager.

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Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that he or she will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove her point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, he or she still has to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and she already knows everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality she or he expects.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Designing Research Assignments: Assignment Ideas

• Student Research Needs
• Assignment Guidelines
• Assignment Ideas
• Scaffolding Research Assignments
• BEAM Method

Assignment Templates

Research diaries offer students an opportunity to reflect on the research process, think about how they will address challenges they encounter, and encourage students to think about and adjust their strategies. 

• Research Diary Template
• Research Diary Instructions

Alternative Assignments

There are many different types of assignments that can help your students develop their information literacy and research skills. 

The assignments listed below target different skills, and some may be more suitable for certain courses than others.

• << Previous: Assignment Guidelines
• Next: Scaffolding Research Assignments >>
• Last Updated: Jun 9, 2022 12:23 PM
• URL: https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/designing_assignments

• How it works

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Frequently Ask Questions?

How can these samples help you.

The assignment writing samples we provide help you by showing you versions of the finished item. It’s like having a picture of the cake you’re aiming to make when following a recipe.

Assignments that you undertake are a key part of your academic life; they are the usual way of assessing your knowledge on the subject you’re studying.

There are various types of assignments: essays, annotated bibliographies, stand-alone literature reviews, reflective writing essays, etc. There will be a specific structure to follow for each of these. Before focusing on the structure, it is best to plan your assignment first. Your school will have its own guidelines and instructions, you should align with those. Start by selecting the essential aspects that need to be included in your assignment.

Based on what you understand from the assignment in question, evaluate the critical points that should be made. If the task is research-based, discuss your aims and objectives, research method, and results. For an argumentative essay, you need to construct arguments relevant to the thesis statement.

Your assignment should be constructed according to the outline’s different sections. This is where you might find our samples so helpful; inspect them to understand how to write your assignment.

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Excellence in Research and Teaching

Four scholars honored with top graduate student award.

Every year, Georgia Southern graduate students are called upon to teach, grade assignments, run laboratories, conduct research, and write and publish complex papers. But too often their academic achievements are overlooked. Meet the four graduate students who won this year’s Averitt Award, which is the highest honor presented to students within the Georgia Southern University Jack N. Averitt College of Graduate Studies. The award recognizes excellence in two separate categories — research and instruction.

Excellence in Graduate Instruction

Spencer erick riner master of science graduate student college of behavioral and social sciences.

Hometown: Guyton, Georgia Major: Criminology

What did you teach? Criminal Law, investigations and criminal procedure What did you enjoy about teaching? My career in law enforcement spans 27 years and has provided me with extensive practical knowledge and experience to pass along to students. As such, I am passionate about student success and providing them with real-world instruction. I use techniques and lessons from cases I have investigated to enhance classroom instruction.

What did you appreciate most about the program in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences? I truly appreciate the people who work within the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. The faculty and staff within the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology are dedicated to the success of the students. Everyone within the department has a passion for research and instruction. They have supported and encouraged me throughout my time in the master’s program.

What are your career plans? I am currently the director of emergency management for Georgia Southern and I plan to continue working in that capacity. My next academic goal is to be accepted into a Ph.D. program. It would be an honor to become an associate professor within the criminal justice and criminology department in the future. I would like to continue to research criminological issues and teach those who will be working within the criminal justice system.

What did it mean to you to be a recipient of the Averitt Award? It was extremely special to receive a nomination. I was surprised and honored to receive the award because I was one of many deserving candidates.

What is an intriguing or little-known fact about you? I enjoy running. I completed my first marathon in 2019.

IVY COLLINS Master of Science Graduate College of Science and Mathematics

Hometown: Guyton, Georgia Major: Mathematics

What did you enjoy about teaching? I most enjoyed watching students grow and thrive in my class. I taught many students; several were not math majors or STEM majors, so math was hard for them. I saw many students struggle with hard topics, but they lit up when they finally understood the topic or applied it to a problem. It is one of the best things to witness.

Please describe your Georgia Southern experience. When I started at Georgia Southern in the fall of 2021, I was worried about the experiences I would receive during my graduate degree. I went to a small private college as an undergrad, so Georgia Southern was intimidating. I quickly realized that just because Georgia Southern is a bigger university, the math department was very small. In no time, I was forming close relationships with my professors, the staff, the undergrads and other graduate students in the department. Georgia Southern truly made me feel at home.

What did it mean to you to be a recipient of the Averitt Award? I am honored and humbled to have this honor bestowed upon me. Through my years here at Georgia Southern, I have met and worked with many other graduate students who are just as deserving of this award. I truly feel that I was just a model of all the professors I have had throughout my academic career, and I just wanted to provide my students with the educational experiences I had received.

What will you miss most about Georgia Southern? I will miss all of the mentorships I received throughout my time here. I will also miss all of the relationships I created with the faculty and other graduate students.

What are your career plans? My ultimate career goal is to be a professor. That is why I will be continuing my education to pursue my Ph.D. to help prepare me.

What is an intriguing or little-known fact about you? I am a beekeeper. In high school, I developed an interest in protecting the honeybee population and I started my own hives. I am also a volunteer at the Georgia Aquarium.

Excellence in Research Scholars

Katherine fallon doctor of psychology graduate student college of behavioral and social sciences.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky Major: Clinical Psychology

What is the focus of your research? My primary research agenda focuses on a transdisciplinary approach to better understand problems of practice around youth advocacy, resiliency and equity.

What did you learn through conducting your research? Specifically, my research team currently has one active research project as a continuation in evaluating educator perceptions of preparedness in responding to various crisis events (e.g., gun violence, suicide, bullying, assault, natural disaster) and evaluating current school-wide safety plans. Additionally, my dissertation work was aimed at developing a comprehensive assessment of parental perceptions of risk factors for adolescent behavioral and sexual aggression.

I believe research encompasses much more than data collection, analysis and reporting of findings. Throughout my research experience at GS, I have grown a strong appreciation for the utility of research to make public impacts. Through a better understanding of the unique or shared challenges our communities face, we can inform implications for practice (e.g., community partnerships, training) to incite change and growth in the way we lead, educate and support our community. Further, as a student in clinical psychology and current training clinician, I feel my research closely aligns with my mission as a mental health provider of improving access to resources and quality of wellbeing (i.e., physical, emotional, psychological, social, developmental) for under-resourced communities.

What did it mean to you to be a recipient of the Averitt Award? Being the recipient of the Averitt Award was very exciting and unexpected. I am very honored to have been nominated and even more so to have received this award, as this is incredibly monumental for the fields in which my research and academic pursuits are held. I am very thankful to have a team of individuals who have always believed in the work I have done and continuously strive to better the community around us.

What will you miss most about Georgia Southern? During my time at GS, I have had many academic and research mentors whom I have been incredibly thankful for. Dr. Jeff Klibert, Dr. Thresa Yance and Dr. Dorthie Cross have guided me through my dissertation work and psychology courses, and they have consistently encouraged me to lead a

What is an intriguing or little-known fact about you? My childhood life dream was to be on American Idol.

life of advocacy and speak out on important topics. Also, through my research assistantships, Dr. Juliann McBrayer and Dr. Chad Posick, along with the many other faculty co-researchers, have guided me in understanding trials and celebrations in research activity. While I plan to continue to work alongside each of these individuals in my future endeavors, I also hope I can provide mentorship to future students or trainees in the same way they have graciously supported me.

What are your career plans? Next year, I have the opportunity to match with the University of Alabama Birmingham in the Generalist Adult Psychology track for my pre-doctoral internship. I hope to continue my career working within an integrated healthcare system focusing on trauma-informed care for youth and adults. Through this, I plan to continue to disseminate research through the publication of manuscripts, presentations and training to ignite change in under-resourced and understudied communities and promote overall well-being.

JOSEPH VONDRASEK Master of Science in Sports Medicine Graduate Waters College of Health Professions

Hometown: Owosso, Michigan Major: Health Science and Kinesiology

What is the focus of your research? My main research focus is autonomic nervous system function and cardiovascular health, looking at ways to improve the health of these systems via everyday tools that people can use.

What did you learn through conducting your research? In one research project, I evaluated the accuracy and effectiveness of a cost-free smartphone application for improving heart rate variability — an important marker of cardiovascular health — during slow-paced breathing by comparing the app to the gold-standard electrocardiogram. I gained valuable lab skills in measuring fitness, strength, autonomic nervous system status, body composition and blood markers by drawing blood from the study participants. One thing I learned is that the value of understanding the theory of how to do something pales in comparison to actually doing it. I learned this through blood draws. I felt like I didn’t know enough to do it in the beginning, but, as cliché as it sounds, I soon realized you just have to go for it.

Please describe your Georgia Southern experience. I learned how to be an adult at Georgia Southern. I had experiences like paying rent, building up my credit score, booking a flight and appealing parking tickets. I also learned the value of friendship and how fortunate it is to have amazing friends in and out of the lab. It was a challenging and rewarding journey and I especially appreciated the close-knit community and supportive faculty. I felt my time at Georgia Southern prepared me for my future studies and career in exercise physiology.

What did it mean to you to be a recipient of the Averitt Award? I am very grateful to receive such a prestigious distinction from the College of Graduate Studies. Being recognized for the research that I have done while at Georgia Southern was a great honor.

What will you miss most about Georgia Southern? I cherish my time in the Biodynamics and Human Performance Center. I was very fortunate to work closely with all three faculty members who advise students of the lab, and especially my primary advisor, Dr. Andrew Flatt. Dr. Flatt taught me a tremendous amount about the science and

latest research on autonomic nervous system health, but he also showed me what it takes to be a respected and successful researcher in this field.

What are your career plans? I plan to continue my studies by pursuing a Ph.D. in exercise physiology at Florida State University in the cardiovascular and applied physiology lab. After completing my doctoral studies, I hope to apply for a faculty position and continue conducting research and teaching.

What is an interesting or little-known fact about you? During my undergraduate studies, I wrestled for the Alma College Scots.

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24 January 2024

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Column generation based solution for bi-objective gate assignment problems

• Original Article
• Published: 29 April 2024

Cite this article

• Gülesin Sena Daş 1 , 2 &
• Fatma Gzara 3  

In this paper, we present a column generation-based algorithm for the bi-objective gate assignment problem (GAP) to generate gate schedules that minimize squared slack time at the gates while satisfying passenger expectations by minimizing their walking distance. While most of the literature focuses on heuristic or metaheuristic solutions for the bi-objective GAP, we propose flow-based and column-based models that lead to exact or near optimal solution approaches. The developed algorithm calculates a set of solutions to approximate the Pareto front. The algorithm is applied to the over-constrained GAP where gates are a limited resource and it is not possible to serve every flight using a gate. Our test cases are based on real data from an international airport and include various instances with flight-to-gate ratios between 23.9 and 34.7. Numerical results reveal that a set of solutions representing a compromise between the passenger-oriented and robustness-oriented objectives may be obtained with a tight optimality gap and within reasonable computational time even for these difficult problems.

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The first author is supported by Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) (Grant No. 1059B191700275) 2219 Post Doctoral Research Fellowship Program during her research at WAnOpt Lab, University of Waterloo.

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Gülesin Sena Daş

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Department of Management Science and Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

Fatma Gzara

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Daş, G.S., Gzara, F. Column generation based solution for bi-objective gate assignment problems. Math Meth Oper Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00186-024-00856-1

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Received : 26 June 2022

Revised : 22 February 2024

Accepted : 03 March 2024

Published : 29 April 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s00186-024-00856-1

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