Research Skills Assignment #1

Goals

One of the student learning objectives for this course is that students learn to frame a research question and write a thesis statement that answers that research question. I used to assign a research paper, and I started doing these more limited assignments because of the pandemic. I think they work pretty well, so we’ve continued doing them. Instead of a research paper, we will do a couple more targeted assignments that are aimed at developing your skills.

This assignment and the related module are designed to help you learn about getting started with a research project in history, specifically:

How to find preliminary sources on a research topic

How to develop a research question

If you’ve already done research assignments for other classes, this may seem relatively simple. If college-level research is new to you, I hope the modules will provide enough of a guide that it won’t be too overwhelming. You are welcome to reach out to ask me for help! There is also online chat help via the LACC Library that you might find useful.

Please reach out with your questions, as they are likely to be helpful to everyone!

Prompt

Step 1: Write Down a Topic Idea

Start with something that you learned about over the past several weeks in this class: it could be a story that intrigued you or a time and place that you thought could have been more developed: jot down an idea or two.

Step 2: Explore the Module Resources

Explore the module resources about the LACC Library databases and about background research. (This is pages 6.3-6.4)

Step 3: Search for Sources in Library Databases

Step 4: Pick 3 Sources

Select 3 sources that you think are helpful and relevant. For this assignment you need:

1 1 academic journal article (you may find 6.5-6.5c particularly helpful)

2 1 primary source (see pages 6.6-6.6c)

3 1 other source you accessed via the LACC Library resources

Write down all the information you need for your bibliography and format according to Chicago style (6.7)… or export the citation from the database, if they have that option.

Step 5: Write a Research Question (See 6.8 and 6.9/11.3)

Using what you’ve learned about the topic from your background research and the guides in this module, write a research question for your topic. Remember, a good research question is open-ended, can be answered in multiple ways (is open to interpretation), and can be researched.

Step 6: Reflect and Write

Write 250 words or more about this process and what you learned. Guiding questions are below – you can choose to answer some of them, all of them, or none of them. As long as you write about something that you thought was important about your experience doing this assignment and your learning, you are good!

Why did you pick the sources you picked? How do you think they would be helpful in answering your research question?

What was most challenging about this assignment? What roadblocks did you encounter, and how did you figure out how to navigate them?

What was something new that you learned about the research process that was interesting or surprising?

How did you find the process of doing research within the library databases? How does it compare to doing research via Google?

What questions did this assignment provoke about doing research?

If you were going to actually write this paper, what would your next steps be? Why?

If you used AI assistance (see Using AI to do research for this assignment (https://ilearn.laccd.edu/courses/341231/pages/using-ai-to-do-research-for-this-assignment)), how did it go? How did you use it, and what were the benefits and drawbacks?

Examples of Past Student Assignments

HIST 87 Research Skills Example (PDF) (https://ilearn.laccd.edu/courses/341231/files/72518714?wrap=1)

HIST 87 Research Skills #1 Example 2 (PDF) (https://ilearn.laccd.edu/courses/341231/files/72519010?wrap=1)

Assignment Checklist

Turn in:

Your original topic idea – where did you start?

Your proposed research question – the topic written in a more narrow, open-ended question that can be researched and analyzed. It should be a how or whyquestion.

A bibliography of 3 sources, formatted in Chicago style, that includes:

1 academic journal article

1 primary source

1 other source accessed via the LACC library databases – ebook, popular magazine, reference article, etc.

250+-word reflection on the assignment

Grading

This assignment has a rubric to show how you’ll be graded.

WRITE MY PAPER