Interest-Driven Research

Each year, I ask my students to do a MLA-formatted research paper, and each year I've taught it differently. I did something this year that I think I'll stick with for a while. I allowed students to choose their own topics. The only parameter was that they had to address the question, "Can progress occur without conflict?" somewhere within their paper.

AP Prep and Gifted students had to write a 5-7 page paper, while Regular students' papers had to be 3-5 pages. All students had to present their research to the class using digital media as an aid.

I gave students an instructional packet that walked them through the research process step-by-step, and set them free to work, helping as needed. Here's a link to the packet I used: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13BA9821q89ndLaIlLrNFMKZymnQY1yVf1cesUi5cviI/edit?usp=sharing.

Research subjects spanned a large variety of topics. They were interesting to grade (in years past, I've found myself grading similar projects over and over), and I had more students complete the assignment than I've had in years past. I credit the high participation rate to the self-guided structure with support (research packet), and to increased student interest.

Here are some examples of students' presentations. You can see just from this small sample the variety and high quality of student work.

• Women in Construction: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Lt5vgWxRGfWHl5UDFBbzlSRFU/view?usp=sharing
• The Collapse of an Empire: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Lt5vgWxRGfbTFjWDB4U1RPbXM/view?usp=sharing
• Mental Health in the U.S. Corrections System: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Lt5vgWxRGfVndxa3EtWWhWLU0/view?usp=sharing
• Pablo Escobar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Lt5vgWxRGfVDNRYmxZaF9OSWM/view?usp=sharing
• The Role of the Internet in Political Activism: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Lt5vgWxRGfTEZRRFhqSDE3WWM/view?usp=sharing