With perhaps the exception of the last, it seems like there are already enough of these to go around, written with more expertise than I have in distance learning, and epidemiology, and dog ownership, respectively. Instead, I wanted to offer up an activity idea I had recently, useful for both in-person and online classes, designed to aid writers of all levels in their research process: The Handy Dandy Notebook.
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| Okay, maybe one dog picture. Winking black and brown puppy photo by Dominika Roseclay from Pexels. |
A few caveats: This is not only a fairly straightforward activity to assign to a class; it's also a pretty good reflection of my own research process on projects big and small, which means it's idiosyncratic; it may not be useful for the naturally organized, the meticulous outliner, or the linear thinker. However, it has been a lifesaver for me, and I often wish that someone had suggested this process to me as an undergraduate. Moreover, although I am envisioning it as it would be used in a history course, it could easily function for a lot of disciplines which emphasize finding, analyzing, and evaluating information from a variety of sources.
First, you'll need a shared online (semi-)collaborative space to work in. I like and recommend OneNote for this because it allows you to just absolutely dump things in indiscriminately-- you can type anywhere you like in the work area, handwrite with a tablet and stylus, drop in PDFs either as shortcuts to a download or embedded directly into the page, and highlight, underline, or scribble on any or all of those things with various pens. Those functionalities are fun and helpful; however, you can easily accomplish something similar with a Google Doc or set of Google Docs, a Word document uploaded to a course platform or Box folder, or a variety of other software options.
Next, each student needs a topic. This could be put to great use as a research paper starter, particularly in the phase in which students have chosen topics but have not yet figured out which sources they will use. It could also work well as a way to give students a taste of a topic that you are about to begin discussing, revealing what mass culture has to offer on the subject before jumping into its academic treatment. For example, before students in my Fiction and the Historical Imagination course began our section on Westerns, I asked them to look online for any source that sparked their interest which purported to define or explain the Western and post it to a Compass discussion board.
Third, each student needs a space in which to work (their "notebook"), and time in which to do it. If using a collaborative option, give each student a page or section of the shared space. You can outfit this however you like; you may wish to just indicate the name of the student, or you may wish to provide brief reminders, instructions, or suggestions based on their proposed topics. I would offer the following instructions at minimum:
- Copy and paste every link you look at into your space, and remind yourself a). what was in it and b). what you thought about it.
- This is not formal-- worry about "future you" looking at it, not "present me." That is-- these are designed to be resources for your project; it's not designed for me to evaluate how "well" your initial research is going.
As far as time goes, I'd suggest giving students a rough, relatively brief amount of time that you'd like them to spend researching to limit stress and maximize the benefits of unstructured research time.
Next, stand back and wait! Let students chase down their topics.
Next up is classwide comparisons. When it comes time to discuss (in person, synchronously over Zoom or in a class chat, or asynchronously in a discussion board), they should examine others' notetaking styles and see what stands out to them-- do you see any techniques you'd take for yourself? What did others think was important, and how does that compare to what you noted about your sources?
In my own work, it's about 50/50 that I return to my notes weeks or months later and think "Oh, right!" versus "Huh?" Optional but useful, depending on your goals: Have students return to these notes two or more weeks later in the semester. Do they still remember these sources? Do their notes make sense to them, or would they need to reread the sources if they wanted to write about them? This could be examined in an individual reflection, a class or small group discussion, or in the context of actually using the notes to craft a paragraph or other short assignment.
What does this activity, as a whole, do for students? At the most basic level, it encourages the beginning of reflection on a writing topic, offering permission for students to get started early. Perhaps more significantly, it offers students the chance to practice and get feedback on something that can be quite mysterious: the research process itself. Frequently when others have tried to introduce notetaking approaches to me, it has failed miserably because my writing (and, really, everything) style is chaotic; I need novelty and mess at the beginning before I can transition anything into order and linearity. This activity offers beginning writers both (to mangle a cliche) roots and wings: enough boundaries to feel secure enough to try; enough freedom to take a chance. Finally, and maybe most practically, by getting into a habit of noting literally every site and piece of information they look at online, a writer is less likely to struggle with both plagiarism and the frustration of tracking things down later that they didn't realize they'd want to use. It's only through trial and error that I've realized that it can be good to elaborate on where I found a document I'm making notes on as well as just the title and the author (was it Google books? An interlibrary loan? An archival document?), because it's never as easy to remember this a year on as I thought it would be at the time. It's also a very helpful tool for writing these blog posts-- where else would I get all the links I end up putting in?
How do you help students practice good research habits in your discipline? Are you finding it more difficult to do so in the wake of moving instruction online? Let me know!
NB: I hope you are all doing well in this stressful time. If
any of you self-quarantining find yourself with more time at home than usual on
your hands, want to share any of your struggles and triumphs of pivoting
to remote education, or have questions or topics you'd like me to address, I'd love to feature your guest posts and/or answer your questions.
Related links:
Title talk: I'm very skeptical about this, but apparently if you want your own handy dandy notebook, you can buy one at this self-titled online store?
Authors that have talked about the type of writing that involves "making a mess and then cleaning it up," like Anne Lamott and Joan Bolker have helped me (and inspired this activity) immensely.
If you are looking out for resources for online teaching, I suggest UIUC's Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning list of resources for the COVID-19 transition to online instructional delivery.
If you're lacking in a little light reading material, might I suggest this digital archive of 6000 children's books?
