Beyond the Generic Research Essay: Developing a Core of Critical Analysis OCTELA, March 2013 Lisa Beckelhimer, Cynthia Nitz Ris, Michele Griegel-McCord University of Cincinnati

Today’s Discussion A new approach to an old research essay A new way of identifying and evaluating sources A new assignment

Comparison of Students’ Actions Traditional Essay Choose topics with little or no relevance to themselves as students Lack a strong contribution of their own to the argument or topic Research Analysis Choose topics based on familiarity, experience, and accessibility to source material

Compile the first few sources and/or sources they think the teacher will like but that they don’t truly understand Ignore rhetorical contexts of sources Compile sources inappropriate for the audience and/or for an academic essay Copy, paste, regurgitate, patchwrite with source material Conduct a more authentic research process with different goals in mind – to use sources as the subject of analysis rather than as support for an argument on the topic Traditional EssayResearch Analysis

Exhibit a simplistic understanding of the issue being researched Produce an uncritical rehash of what has already been written on the topic Understand and think critically about research; utilize skills in critical thinking, evaluation, argument, and analysis Traditional EssayResearch Analysis

“Students are not selecting authoritative, meaningful sources and not reading them carefully,” says Rebecca Moore Howard of The Citation Project. “They are not, in a word, engaging.” Dan Berrett, “Skimming the Surface” The research analysis essay engages students as active learners, not just about the topic, but about research and critical thinking. What the research says...

Students lack: The ability to turn a topic into a search strategy The ability to read an abstract and determine whether the article is relevant to their topic Meredith Farkas, head instructional services librarian, “ ‘I need three peer reviewed articles’ or the freshman research paper” In this new approach, the analysis drives both the search strategy and relevance of sources

“... the research paper as taught... is an artificial genre, one that works at cross- purposes to actually developing respect for evidence-based reasoning, a measured appreciation for negotiating ideas that are in conflict, or original thought.” Barbara Fister, “Why the ‘Research Paper’ Isn’t Working” The research analysis is an authentic genre of our discipline: the research- based, argumentative analysis that develops critical thinking skills that students will use in college and the workforce What the research says...

Fulfilling Common Core Standards: Writing Grades CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST Write arguments focused on discipline- specific content. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST a CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST a Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

If: we agree that argument entails stating a claim, supporting or defending the claim with sound reasoning and evidence, establishing credibility, and acknowledging opposing viewpoints... Then: Analysis IS argument — and we would argue — a higher form of argumentative thinking than arguing about a topic with little or no relevance to the writer or “supporting” (i.e., regurgitating) one’s argument with others’ opinions. This new approach is more similar, then, to an extended rhetorical analysis or synthesis than to a traditional opinion essay.  Claim relates to the debate/sources/stances or perspectives  Writer supports or defends claim with analytical reasoning  Evidence to support student’s thinking comes from quoting and paraphrasing the sources  Writer establishes credibility as a learner studying research and rhetoric, and acknowledges that other learners might view this same research or debate differently

Fulfilling Common Core Standards: Research CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. Research analysis accomplishes all of these, usually better than the traditional approach, because the subject IS the research (or sources/debate/rhetoric). Our mantra: “The topic is not the topic!”