Week 7: Developing Research Topics and Questions
Class Info
- Dates: Wednesday, 3/13, Monday, 3/18
- Meeting Info: Meeting Info: 11:30am-12:45pm in room N602A
Objectives
- To read op-ed/opinion essays and find additional mentor texts
- To propose topics and plans for Project 2
- To consider research techniques and begin researching.
For Wednesday, 3/13
Reading
- Reading/Writing resource: “Op-ed Writing: Tips and Tricks” (The Op-ed Project).
- Reading/Writing resource: “How to Write an OP-ED or Column” (Harvard Kennedy School Communications Program).
Writing
- Add a post to our site to share your proposal, which will answer the following questions:
- what topic are you interested in writing about?
- what is the thesis or argument for your opinion essay?
- within the City Tech student population, who is your audience?
- what information will you need to support your opinion? what research will help you get that information?
In Class Wednesday, 3/13
- Proposals
- what topic are you considering? freewrite about your topic or topics for 5 minutes.
- what topic are you considering? why? offer feedback about your partner’s topic.
- environmental decisions, effects on animals, what can we do here at City Tech? focus on positive solutions we can make
- student club offers a lot of experience eg communication, internships; do more than only going to classes eg clubs, internships, research projects, other co-curricular or extracurricular activities
- international students–issues they have, a way to make us connect more, learning all the bureaucratic stuff, learning a different education system–should there be an advisor, peer mentor, peer-to-peer club? what is the value of studying internationally?
- therapy/emotional support animals come into college on certain days to relieve stress, beneficial for learning (cat cafes!). counterpoint: allergies, fear.
- college could do better promoting job opportunities, networking internships for post-graduation
- transportation costs–college students should get a discount or exemption from commuter costs including congestion pricing; free metrocards for CUNY students, all students, etc
- first-year students: hard to find your place, friends, major, suggestions about types of courses that promote collaboration with classmates; how do you find your place at City Tech, sense of belonging
- men’s rooms at City Tech: how to navigate the different options, 10th floor atrocious vs 1st floor better; a college needs to do better than a public park bathroom; school’s image, our health, disgust, they should have paper towels or wet wipes; dignity issue.
- schedules, why 8am classes? what about nights or weekend classes. summer availability. having choice is important
- get active in college: social activity, clubs and interest groups, how do we learn about clubs, what blocks us from being active?
- food prices in the cafeteria–very high prices, what’s the quality? we need nutrition, food options, what would be ideal vs practical; microwave; neighborhood options. what about free breakfast or lunch for CUNY students? HMGT-cooked food?
- free college/community college
- CUNY ID as a way to get into arts/cultural institutions for free/reduced
- Presentations of proposals
For Monday, 3/18
Reading
- Article: “TV’s Battle of the Binge: Why the Wait Can Be Worth It” by James Poniewozik. Student op-ed “OPINION: Weekly episodes are better than binge watching” by Olivia Franklin.
- Reading/Writing resource: Lateral Reading (Stanford History Education Group).
- Additional op-ed examples.
- Additional texts for research.
Writing
- Start researching your topic and share your ideas and results in our research discussion.
In Class Monday, 3/18
- Thinking about our topics: freewrite everything you know about your topic and other thoughts you have about your topic, including why you want to write about it.
- if you wrote your freewrite electronically, please add it as a comment on this post or in our Project 2 Brainstorm discussion (I’ll add the link asap).
- Research in opinion essays
- How do our mentor texts use research? for example, in “What We Are Not Teaching Boys About Being Human”: data (book sales); quote from an expert (professor of psychology/author of a relevant book); refers to relevant professional organization; lived experience research of reading books with her children
- how much of the opinion essay is the author’s opinion? how much is fact? how much research does it involve?
- Student opinion essays
- “Trapped in an Elevator, CUNY’s Lack of Funding Was No Longer Funny to Me” by Dana Kaldy (Hunter College)
- “Menstrual Products Should Be Available in Bathrooms” by Lauren Hakimi (Hunter College)
- “Police on Campus Offer Stress Rather than Safety” by Charon Fitzgerald (Queens College)
- Questions for groups to answer based on the student opinion essay:
- What strategies do the opinion essay authors uses that you think is effective? What you like about each of those strategies?Â
- author’s own experiences–described or really detailed
- interview other students and share/quote from their experiences in the interviews
- language used can make it entertaining
- How do these student opinion essays appeal to students?
- validates readers’ experiences by reading that someone else experienced it
- connection because of the same environment, community
- makes us ask: do we feel the same way?
- students can relate–expand the group of people experiencing this
- What else could the author have done to strengthen their piece? Â Â
- use a high-profile example
- What kind of evidence is given to help prove the point? What kind of evidence would enhance these opinion essays? Evidence can be in the form of, for example …
- Statistics
- News
- Reports from credible organizations
- Expert quotes
- Scholarship
- History
- First-hand experience
- Anecdotes (informal stories you’ve witnessed or heard)
- What could this author have researched to make their piece stronger? What search terms? Where would you search? What can you find with a quick search?
- Police on campus, violence, article from Harvard Crimson student newspaper
- research that says the same thing the author does can amplify or emphasize it, isn’t just redundant
- look at CUNY infrastructure; where does the budget go?
- use hyperlinks–connects readers to research more directly
- what’s the situation in other schools
- What is another argument that the author could have made with the same points or supports?
- What kind of research do you need to do?
- Reading/Writing resource: “Sort Fact from Fiction with Lateral Reading” (Stanford History Education Group). If you like this video, you might also want to watch “How to Use Wikipedia Wisely” from the same group.
- What search terms can you use for your research? What feedback does your group have for you to get you started researching?
- What sources are you finding? Look for a discussion post asking you to share these on our OpenLab site before our next class.
- Continue researching for Project 2
Photo Credit
“Art and Activism for Climate Action” by Fabrice Florin via Flickr under the license CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed.
My topic is about college students needing a reduced fare/fee or exemption from transportation costs, and my reason to write about this topic is because I’ve seen the MTA fare go from $1.25 to $2.90 which does not seem like much money being spent at first glance but imagine a college student going to and from college 5 times a week; that totals to $29 that week. Now realistically every student has different schedules thus making that price higher or lower, but other factors also play a role in how much a student needs to pay in public transportation fees which I won’t get into detail here.
It does not stop there either, with New York set to implement their new congestion pricing plan in the near future, students that drive personal vehicles (such as cars/motorcycles) entering the congestion pricing zone will have to pay $15 if driving a passenger vehicle ($7.50 for motorcycles). On a weekly basis, that’s a lot of money a student must spend if they drive to college going through that pricing zone.