Research Projects versus Report Papers.

Case Study:

In class, students work on a research project. They use information from multiple sources, take notes and cite materials following the MLA format. They turn their projects to the teacher... and the teacher is disappointed. Research papers look like encyclopedia articles or book reports. 

What is the problem?

Suggestions: 

Before the project is long underway, students examine several research papers. Their attention is drawn to the details that make research papers not a mere review of information found on a topic. A research paper is the result of an intense work and interaction with primary and secondary sources followed by an evaluation of these materials. A research paper is a composition in which students express their personal ideas and points of view and support them by information found in reliable sources.

In addition to presenting a summary of arguments of other authors on the topic (Report), students analyze, examine, discover and revise facts, theories and applications (Research) through a series of steps (Research Process) in order to develop their own ideas and express them in a form of a product. 




You may decide to "apply" knowledge and focus on creating a product. Then, your learning will grow along making and presenting it to the audience.

Keywords:

Primary Sources - are information "collected directly from the real world". They include interviews, surveys, observations, analysis and ethnographic research (Purdue OWL).

Secondary Sources as opposed to primary sources are articles, books or websites that interpret primary sources. These sources are "works of synthesis and interpretation based upon primary sources and the work of other authors" (Teachinghistory.org).

Research – is a diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories, applications, etc. Synonyms: investigation, analysis, fact-finding, examination, scrutiny (Webster).

Report - is a review of what others have written about a topic, given a spoken or written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated, presenting a  summary of arguments of other authors on the topic. Synonyms: describe, communicate, publish, publicize.

Project - is an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim (Oxford Dictionaries Online)

Research paper reviews the materials written about a topic, draws one’s own conclusions and argues his/her point.

Research Process – is a series of steps, which make up research from the development of an idea to the completed research paper.