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 * So here it is- A blank page... It's fairly easy to get started editing (just click the pencil in the top right and then treat the screen like a word document). There are also tutorials that you can use to help figure stuff out. I'm planning on going to see Hanna tomorrow morning to discuss ideas of how to organize the content that we're going to have- so maybe for now we should brainstorm the categories? I know Peter said that he had some that he'd though of.**

We're still at the start, deciding whether we want to go for a trot or whether we want to look around at the various paths to see which one we want to go down.

Martin had mentioned that he thought it would be interesting/useful to have students on board right from the start and throughout this process. I had imagined students being involved in helping to explain in their own words or actual voices some of the research steps that we put together, but I hadn't thought about involving them up front. I'm not opposed to that, although I'm not sure it will help in the grand scheme of things. I'm thinking out loud here and may change my mind. "The thing of it is" is that the guide we make is not going to help every student. For some, whatever we make is not going to be linear and structured enough. For others, anything we make will be too structured, or won't make sense, or won't answer their particular learning need. I'm comfortable with that.

Rather, teachers could introduce the process as they felt comfortable -- they could could create their own ordering. Students, as they became introduced to the site over time, could visit whichever rooms they felt were useful. In general a few goals to shoot for would be: 1__) don't create a guide that looks neat and orderly but that turns off more students to research than it turns on__ __2) our goal is to get more of the students excited about the learning that happens through research__ __3) remember that students have a lot of fears, blocks, and anxieties -- and that these issues mixed with inexperience can really fluster them and make the entire process one to be endured more than enjoyed.__
 * __My hope is to create something that teachers will find useful in 1) remembering what to say about various aspects of reseach and writing 2) remembering that there are different learners with different styles. This guide would also be written to appeal to the students and would give them help/encouragement/commiseration with various aspects of research.__** I was thinking of a non-linear and non-hierarchically-structured presentation (that is, there would be no Roman numeral I -- "This is where you begin" -- nor would there be any suggestion that you needed to approach the research from a certain place). If (and I know this is not possible) there could be a circular arrangement of topics -- and if that circle could spin like a roulette wheel so that it was clear that nothing was naturally on top -- that would be what I'm talking about ([From Martin]I LOVE THIS - and I'm not sure if it can happen for us on the website but I'll bet it is possible - I can tell you that I did a presentation about 3 or 4 years ago and the design guy that helped me came up with this NON-LINEAR POWERPOINT!).

My intutition overall is that a linear (Roman numeral outline) approach is deadly for more students than it is helpful, and I'm trying to imagine something that gets away from the dry rigidity of such models -- and I'm also imaginging something that is interesting to use. I always have in mind Paul Fussell's dictum: "There is no excuse to be boring". That doesn't mean I think the student need to be given ice cream with sprinkles whenever they do something. I think you can be serous about something while remembering who your audience is.


 * __The question still stands, can we decide on the broad parameters of these rooms now, or do we need to talk more together, or do we need student input? If we invite student input, which students will we invite so that we get a good cross section of opinion? Do we want to decide on the names of the rooms, and then consult with students at some point?__**

My ideas for what the names of the rooms should be are the bold heading below, more or less (they are after Kristy's ideas). I'd love to know what you're feeling are about Kristy's idea or my ideas. Do we need to slow down and talk more? Should we get some students to talk to us? Could be fun. Any ideas for the broad categories we should create (what I’m calling here ‘the names of rooms”)?


 * Things I (Kristy) think the Research Guide should include (in no particular order)-**

- __How to develop a good research questions__ __- Where/how to start research (which are the most useful databases etc)__ __- Citation style(s) both in-text and bibliography and how to use things like EasyBib or Zotero__ __- How to organize/outline information as it is collected (cards? if using Zotero there's a way to do this along with keeping citations organized)__ __- How to go from information to thesis to paper **Yes.PA**__

That's what I've got for now...

Some Categories for Research and Writing Guide
 * Here are some ideas from PeterA for Categories (Kristy, please make it be single spaced!)**

 individual who has to do every part of the process alone. Talking with people is a good practice throughout the process: · The librarian · Family/friends/faculty · The internet
 *  Think of research as a social act [Use people as resources and sources -- might be a better way to say it] **that you are directing/initiating: You don’t need to think that you’re a rugged

Steve: I agree with this about it being a social act, though am not sure the term conveys what we really mean. I'd also had something to the effect that this interaction triggers a series of changes and evolution in the writer's thinking as ideas are both tossed out and added, new viewpoints are introduced, etc. I think many times students are afraid to read or listen to anything that challenges their intended thesis or plan for fear they don't know how to integrate complications to their ideas (this also is covered by Peter's other topic below on counter positions and debates).

Hanna here - I think one of the most important ways to get kids to develop this sense is to give them research experiences that are meaningful. Somehow the questions for which they are seeking answers have to be ones they really care about. If they feel they are jumping through hoops, they will not feel like scholars and researchers. I like this process on which the department is embarking because it will generate conversation about both the students and the assignments.
 * Habits of thought for researchers: **best practices in terms of how to think about the entire research experience. How to develop the sensibility of a researcher.

__Steve: is the "best practices" part the best practices for us the teachers to teach this, or for the students to have in mind?__

(A statement about what is the point of doing research/why are students asked to do it/what are the expectations for research, etc. might be nice.)
 * Goals of Research **

Types Primary/secondary (written)  Primary/secondary (oral)  Some discussion of the meanings of primary and secondary – and some discussion of the benefits and potential problems with each type.  How to interrogate sources for reliability, point of view, bias, etc. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> How do we know which sources to trust? <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> At the advanced level – students should be introduced to why sources are central <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> to the production of history – and central to philosophical debates about what <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> history is and about the unavoidable conundrum of biased researchers using <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> biased sources to produce history.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sources: **

(Steve's next section deals directly with this - Russ.)
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Understanding and becoming comfortable with counter-positions **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> **and debates** about topics or about evidence


 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> How to find a focus and work towards a position/thesis **

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Steve: We all know the best research writing isn't simply conveying one body of facts to your reader, as in "Planes of World War II" or even "Medical Advances Triggered by the Civil War" (though I'd argue the latter has more of an original viewpoint, at least if the student researcher is the one who makes the case that it was the war experience that pushed the advances). Ideally good research writing involves developing an original position and using research to support it (though for historians it probably also can work in reverse: the original research suggests a position or thesis). In reality, high school students don't have the time or resources to do original research so they are parroting what others have done. At best, they're combining multiple secondary sources (though I know we still often see a paper almost totally dependent on one source). This is why in the last couple years, I've started choosing research paper topics for the kids that actually are almost like essays questions in that they elicit personal/emotional responses (should we get rid of the electoral college, is WalMart bad, did the exec branch go too far, etc.). That way, they're really doing persuasive writing and the research is how they do the persuading. This kind of topic also better fulfills the notion that it's a "social act" as Peter calls it because the topic is relevent to everyone.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> (__I think this realistic assessment, though admitting to certain limitations, is particularly valid when thinking of those students who are "mystified" by this process...in other words the "hard cases" for whom this guide might be most helpful__. I think this guide would do well to keep these students in mind at all times. Would this lead to a quasi "tiered" guide - even in the roulette format? I don't know. - Russ.)

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> **Presenting Research in Writing** · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Exploration Writing: research and writing as a way to come to discoveries · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">More formal/traditional modes of presentation <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> How to present a coherent argument or exploration about a topic

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Hanna again - how do we get them to start early for the same of these discoveries? I am thinking about those moments when, as I was writing a paper, I suddenly realized I had lost my way or that my argument had changed. Those moments were weirdly fun because I got to really think about what I was attempting to say. But those moments are not fun the hour before the paper is due.

(I think this is the area that is the most "mystifying" as well as the area that I have never seen explained well. This also might be an area where student input would be particularly helpful - finding a student that made great strides with this and asking them "what changed?" or "what clicked?" - Russ)

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Why? <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> When? <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> How? (for advanced students, maybe some discussion of the multitude of citation <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> possibilities and why that is)
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Citing Sources **