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by Gordon Harvey

Students often do their best and hardest thinking, and feel the greatest sense of mastery and growth, in their writing. Courses and assignments should be planned with this in mind. Three principles are paramount:

1. Name what you want and imagine students doing it

However free students are to range and explore in a paper, the general kind of paper you’re inviting has common components, operations, and criteria of success, and you should make these explicit. Having satisfied yourself, as you should, that what you’re asking is doable, with dignity, by writers just learning the material, try to anticipate in your prompt or discussions of the assignment the following queries:

• What is the purpose of this? How am I going beyond what we have done, or applying it in a new area, or practicing a key academic skill or kind of work?
• To what audience should I imagine myself writing?
• What is the main task or tasks, in a nutshell? What does that key word (e.g., analyze, significance of, critique, explore, interesting, support) really mean in this context or this field?
• What will be most challenging in this and what qualities will most distinguish a good paper? Where should I put my energy? (Lists of possible questions for students to answer in a paper are often not sufficiently prioritized to be helpful.)
• What misconceptions might I have about what I’m to do? (How is this like or unlike other papers I may have written?) Are there too-easy approaches I might take or likely pitfalls? An ambitious goal or standard that I might think I’m expected to meet but am not?
• What form will evidence take in my paper (e.g., block quotations? paraphrase? graphs or charts?) How should I cite it? Should I use/cite material from lecture or section?
• Are there some broad options for structure, emphasis, or approach that I’ll likely be choosing among?
• How should I get started on this? What would be a helpful (or unhelpful) way to take notes, gather data, discover a question or idea? Should I do research? 

2. Take time in class to prepare students to succeed at the paper

Resist the impulse to think of class meetings as time for “content” and of writing as work done outside class. Your students won’t have mastered the art of paper writing (if such a mastery is possible) and won’t know the particular disciplinary expectations or moves relevant to the material at hand. Take time in class to show them: 

• discuss the assignment in class when you give it, so students can see that you take it seriously, so they can ask questions about it, so they can have it in mind during subsequent class discussions;
• introduce the analytic vocabulary of your assignment into class discussions, and take opportunities to note relevant moves made in discussion or good paper topics that arise;
• have students practice key tasks in class discussions, or in informal writing they do in before or after discussions;
• show examples of writing that illustrates components and criteria of the assignment and that inspires (class readings can sometimes serve as illustrations of a writing principle; so can short excerpts of writing—e.g., a sampling of introductions; and so can bad writing—e.g., a list of problematic thesis statements);
• the topics of originality and plagiarism (what the temptations might be, how to avoid risks) should at some point be addressed directly. 

3. Build in process

Ideas develop over time, in a process of posing and revising and getting feedback and revising some more. Assignments should allow for this process in the following ways:

• smaller assignments should prepare for larger ones later;
• students should do some thinking and writing before they write a draft and get a response to it (even if only a response to a proposal or thesis statement sent by email, or described in class);
• for larger papers, students should write and get response (using the skills vocabulary of the assignment) to a draft—at least an “oral draft” (condensed for delivery to the class);
• if possible, meet with students individually about their writing: nothing inspires them more than feeling that you care about their work and development;
• let students reflect on their own writing, in brief cover letters attached to drafts and revisions (these may also ask students to perform certain checks on what they have written, before submitting);
• have clear and firm policies about late work that nonetheless allow for exception if students talk to you in advance.
• Pedagogy Workshops
• Responding to Student Writing
• Commenting Efficiently
• Vocabulary for Discussing Student Writing
• Guides to Teaching Writing
• HarvardWrites Instructor Toolkit
• Additional Resources for Teaching Fellows

Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that he or she will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove her point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, he or she still has to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and she already knows everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality she or he expects.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to Write a Perfect Assignment: Step-By-Step Guide

Table of contents

• 1 How to Structure an Assignment?
• 2.1 The research part
• 2.2 Planning your text
• 2.3 Writing major parts
• 3 Expert Tips for your Writing Assignment
• 4 Will I succeed with my assignments?
• 5 Conclusion

How to Structure an Assignment?

To cope with assignments, you should familiarize yourself with the tips on formatting and presenting assignments or any written paper, which are given below. It is worth paying attention to the content of the paper, making it structured and understandable so that ideas are not lost and thoughts do not refute each other.

If the topic is free or you can choose from the given list — be sure to choose the one you understand best. Especially if that could affect your semester score or scholarship. It is important to select an  engaging title that is contextualized within your topic. A topic that should captivate you or at least give you a general sense of what is needed there. It’s easier to dwell upon what interests you, so the process goes faster.

To construct an assignment structure, use outlines. These are pieces of text that relate to your topic. It can be ideas, quotes, all your thoughts, or disparate arguments. Type in everything that you think about. Separate thoughts scattered across the sheets of Word will help in the next step.

Then it is time to form the text. At this stage, you have to form a coherent story from separate pieces, where each new thought reinforces the previous one, and one idea smoothly flows into another.

Main Steps of Assignment Writing

These are steps to take to get a worthy paper. If you complete these step-by-step, your text will be among the most exemplary ones.

The research part

If the topic is unique and no one has written about it yet, look at materials close to this topic to gain thoughts about it. You should feel that you are ready to express your thoughts. Also, while reading, get acquainted with the format of the articles, study the details, collect material for your thoughts, and accumulate different points of view for your article. Be careful at this stage, as the process can help you develop your ideas. If you are already struggling here, pay for assignment to be done , and it will be processed in a split second via special services. These services are especially helpful when the deadline is near as they guarantee fast delivery of high-quality papers on any subject.

If you use Google to search for material for your assignment, you will, of course, find a lot of information very quickly. Still, the databases available on your library’s website will give you the clearest and most reliable facts that satisfy your teacher or professor. Be sure you copy the addresses of all the web pages you will use when composing your paper, so you don’t lose them. You can use them later in your bibliography if you add a bit of description! Select resources and extract quotes from them that you can use while working. At this stage, you may also create a  request for late assignment if you realize the paper requires a lot of effort and is time-consuming. This way, you’ll have a backup plan if something goes wrong.

Planning your text

Assemble a layout. It may be appropriate to use the structure of the paper of some outstanding scientists in your field and argue it in one of the parts. As the planning progresses, you can add suggestions that come to mind. If you use citations that require footnotes, and if you use single spacing throughout the paper and double spacing at the end, it will take you a very long time to make sure that all the citations are on the exact pages you specified! Add a reference list or bibliography. If you haven’t already done so, don’t put off writing an essay until the last day. It will be more difficult to do later as you will be stressed out because of time pressure.

Writing major parts

It happens that there is simply no mood or strength to get started and zero thoughts. In that case, postpone this process for 2-3 hours, and, perhaps, soon, you will be able to start with renewed vigor. Writing essays is a great (albeit controversial) way to improve your skills. This experience will not be forgotten. It will certainly come in handy and bring many benefits in the future. Do your best here because asking for an extension is not always possible, so you probably won’t have time to redo it later. And the quality of this part defines the success of the whole paper.

Writing the major part does not mean the matter is finished. To review the text, make sure that the ideas of the introduction and conclusion coincide because such a discrepancy is the first thing that will catch the reader’s eye and can spoil the impression. Add or remove anything from your intro to edit it to fit the entire paper. Also, check your spelling and grammar to ensure there are no typos or draft comments. Check the sources of your quotes so that your it is honest and does not violate any rules. And do not forget the formatting rules.

with the right tips and guidance, it can be easier than it looks. To make the process even more straightforward, students can also use an assignment service to get the job done. This way they can get professional assistance and make sure that their assignments are up to the mark. At PapersOwl, we provide a professional writing service where students can order custom-made assignments that meet their exact requirements.

Expert Tips for your Writing Assignment

Want to write like a pro? Here’s what you should consider:

• Save the document! Send the finished document by email to yourself so you have a backup copy in case your computer crashes.
• Don’t wait until the last minute to complete a list of citations or a bibliography after the paper is finished. It will be much longer and more difficult, so add to them as you go.
• If you find a lot of information on the topic of your search, then arrange it in a separate paragraph.
• If possible, choose a topic that you know and are interested in.
• Believe in yourself! If you set yourself up well and use your limited time wisely, you will be able to deliver the paper on time.
• Do not copy information directly from the Internet without citing them.

Writing assignments is a tedious and time-consuming process. It requires a lot of research and hard work to produce a quality paper. However, if you are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty understanding the concept, you may want to consider getting accounting homework help online . Professional experts can assist you in understanding how to complete your assignment effectively. PapersOwl.com offers expert help from highly qualified and experienced writers who can provide you with the homework help you need.

Will I succeed with my assignments?

Anyone can learn how to be good at writing: follow simple rules of creating the structure and be creative where it is appropriate. At one moment, you will need some additional study tools, study support, or solid study tips. And you can easily get help in writing assignments or any other work. This is especially useful since the strategy of learning how to write an assignment can take more time than a student has.

Therefore all students are happy that there is an option to  order your paper at a professional service to pass all the courses perfectly and sleep still at night. You can also find the sample of the assignment there to check if you are on the same page and if not — focus on your papers more diligently.

So, in the times of studies online, the desire and skill to research and write may be lost. Planning your assignment carefully and presenting arguments step-by-step is necessary to succeed with your homework. When going through your references, note the questions that appear and answer them, building your text. Create a cover page, proofread the whole text, and take care of formatting. Feel free to use these rules for passing your next assignments.

When it comes to writing an assignment, it can be overwhelming and stressful, but Papersowl is here to make it easier for you. With a range of helpful resources available, Papersowl can assist you in creating high-quality written work, regardless of whether you’re starting from scratch or refining an existing draft. From conducting research to creating an outline, and from proofreading to formatting, the team at Papersowl has the expertise to guide you through the entire writing process and ensure that your assignment meets all the necessary requirements.

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How to Write a One Page Paper in APA Style

Writing a one-page paper in APA format is not an especially easy task, but it is indeed possible if you don't count the title page and references. If you must, then the paper has to contain all four major elements on one page. An APA-style paper consists of a title page with a running head, an abstract, the body of the paper with its various sections and/or in-text citations and/or footers and finally, the reference page. Type it in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.

Add the title at the top of the page in the header section with the words "Running head:". The title, in all caps with no bold font or typeface, is simply the topic or subject of the paper with the name of the writer and the university/entity for whom the paper is written. Single space this section at the top of the page and center it.

Type or write out the abstract. Center and bold the word "abstract." If all of the main elements of the APA-style paper are going to fit on one page, the abstract (summary) of the paper should be no more than two to three sentences long. If the mandatory "one-page" paper is not literal, then the abstract and the body are the only parts that will go on the single page. The title page with a "running" head and the reference page noted below can be separate for a total of three pages.

Type or write the body of the APA paper. The title should be repeated here, centered and in bold. It should consist of no more than two paragraphs, including in-text citations to be referenced in the footnote of the paper. There will be no room for sections in a one-page paper. Also, the resources should be narrowed down to only one of two references.

Reference the in-text citation or citations in the footnote section of the page or paper. You can single space the references with a double space between them and reverse indented. If the one-page mandate is not literal, then you can exchange the footnotes for a reference page, but you must still reverse indent them. Center the word "References" and bold it if you choose.

Things You'll Need

• Purdue's OWL Resources: Sample APA Format Paper

Renee Greene has been writing professionally since 1984 when she began as a news clerk for "The Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer." She has written nonfiction books and a book of Haikus. She holds an associate degree from Phillips Junior College and is an English major at Mesa (Ariz.) Community College.

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Resources for Teachers: Creating Writing Assignments

This page contains four specific areas:

Creating Effective Assignments

Checking the assignment, sequencing writing assignments, selecting an effective writing assignment format.

Research has shown that the more detailed a writing assignment is, the better the student papers are in response to that assignment. Instructors can often help students write more effective papers by giving students written instructions about that assignment. Explicit descriptions of assignments on the syllabus or on an “assignment sheet” tend to produce the best results. These instructions might make explicit the process or steps necessary to complete the assignment. Assignment sheets should detail:

• the kind of writing expected
• the scope of acceptable subject matter
• the length requirements
• formatting requirements
• documentation format
• the amount and type of research expected (if any)
• the writer’s role
• deadlines for the first draft and its revision

Providing questions or needed data in the assignment helps students get started. For instance, some questions can suggest a mode of organization to the students. Other questions might suggest a procedure to follow. The questions posed should require that students assert a thesis.

The following areas should help you create effective writing assignments.

Examining your goals for the assignment

• How exactly does this assignment fit with the objectives of your course?
• Should this assignment relate only to the class and the texts for the class, or should it also relate to the world beyond the classroom?
• What do you want the students to learn or experience from this writing assignment?
• Should this assignment be an individual or a collaborative effort?
• What do you want students to show you in this assignment? To demonstrate mastery of concepts or texts? To demonstrate logical and critical thinking? To develop an original idea? To learn and demonstrate the procedures, practices, and tools of your field of study?

Defining the writing task

• Is the assignment sequenced so that students: (1) write a draft, (2) receive feedback (from you, fellow students, or staff members at the Writing and Communication Center), and (3) then revise it? Such a procedure has been proven to accomplish at least two goals: it improves the student’s writing and it discourages plagiarism.
• Does the assignment include so many sub-questions that students will be confused about the major issue they should examine? Can you give more guidance about what the paper’s main focus should be? Can you reduce the number of sub-questions?
• What is the purpose of the assignment (e.g., review knowledge already learned, find additional information, synthesize research, examine a new hypothesis)? Making the purpose(s) of the assignment explicit helps students write the kind of paper you want.
• What is the required form (e.g., expository essay, lab report, memo, business report)?
• What mode is required for the assignment (e.g., description, narration, analysis, persuasion, a combination of two or more of these)?

Defining the audience for the paper

• Can you define a hypothetical audience to help students determine which concepts to define and explain? When students write only to the instructor, they may assume that little, if anything, requires explanation. Defining the whole class as the intended audience will clarify this issue for students.
• What is the probable attitude of the intended readers toward the topic itself? Toward the student writer’s thesis? Toward the student writer?
• What is the probable educational and economic background of the intended readers?

Defining the writer’s role

• Can you make explicit what persona you wish the students to assume? For example, a very effective role for student writers is that of a “professional in training” who uses the assumptions, the perspective, and the conceptual tools of the discipline.

Defining your evaluative criteria

1. If possible, explain the relative weight in grading assigned to the quality of writing and the assignment’s content:

• depth of coverage
• organization
• critical thinking
• original thinking
• use of research
• logical demonstration
• appropriate mode of structure and analysis (e.g., comparison, argument)
• correct use of sources
• grammar and mechanics
• professional tone
• correct use of course-specific concepts and terms.

Here’s a checklist for writing assignments:

• Have you used explicit command words in your instructions (e.g., “compare and contrast” and “explain” are more explicit than “explore” or “consider”)? The more explicit the command words, the better chance the students will write the type of paper you wish.
• Does the assignment suggest a topic, thesis, and format? Should it?
• Have you told students the kind of audience they are addressing — the level of knowledge they can assume the readers have and your particular preferences (e.g., “avoid slang, use the first-person sparingly”)?
• If the assignment has several stages of completion, have you made the various deadlines clear? Is your policy on due dates clear?
• Have you presented the assignment in a manageable form? For instance, a 5-page assignment sheet for a 1-page paper may overwhelm students. Similarly, a 1-sentence assignment for a 25-page paper may offer insufficient guidance.

There are several benefits of sequencing writing assignments:

• Sequencing provides a sense of coherence for the course.
• This approach helps students see progress and purpose in their work rather than seeing the writing assignments as separate exercises.
• It encourages complexity through sustained attention, revision, and consideration of multiple perspectives.
• If you have only one large paper due near the end of the course, you might create a sequence of smaller assignments leading up to and providing a foundation for that larger paper (e.g., proposal of the topic, an annotated bibliography, a progress report, a summary of the paper’s key argument, a first draft of the paper itself). This approach allows you to give students guidance and also discourages plagiarism.
• It mirrors the approach to written work in many professions.

The concept of sequencing writing assignments also allows for a wide range of options in creating the assignment. It is often beneficial to have students submit the components suggested below to your course’s STELLAR web site.

Use the writing process itself. In its simplest form, “sequencing an assignment” can mean establishing some sort of “official” check of the prewriting and drafting steps in the writing process. This step guarantees that students will not write the whole paper in one sitting and also gives students more time to let their ideas develop. This check might be something as informal as having students work on their prewriting or draft for a few minutes at the end of class. Or it might be something more formal such as collecting the prewriting and giving a few suggestions and comments.

Have students submit drafts. You might ask students to submit a first draft in order to receive your quick responses to its content, or have them submit written questions about the content and scope of their projects after they have completed their first draft.

Establish small groups. Set up small writing groups of three-five students from the class. Allow them to meet for a few minutes in class or have them arrange a meeting outside of class to comment constructively on each other’s drafts. The students do not need to be writing on the same topic.

Require consultations. Have students consult with someone in the Writing and Communication Center about their prewriting and/or drafts. The Center has yellow forms that we can give to students to inform you that such a visit was made.

Explore a subject in increasingly complex ways. A series of reading and writing assignments may be linked by the same subject matter or topic. Students encounter new perspectives and competing ideas with each new reading, and thus must evaluate and balance various views and adopt a position that considers the various points of view.

Change modes of discourse. In this approach, students’ assignments move from less complex to more complex modes of discourse (e.g., from expressive to analytic to argumentative; or from lab report to position paper to research article).

Change audiences. In this approach, students create drafts for different audiences, moving from personal to public (e.g., from self-reflection to an audience of peers to an audience of specialists). Each change would require different tasks and more extensive knowledge.

Change perspective through time. In this approach, students might write a statement of their understanding of a subject or issue at the beginning of a course and then return at the end of the semester to write an analysis of that original stance in the light of the experiences and knowledge gained in the course.

Use a natural sequence. A different approach to sequencing is to create a series of assignments culminating in a final writing project. In scientific and technical writing, for example, students could write a proposal requesting approval of a particular topic. The next assignment might be a progress report (or a series of progress reports), and the final assignment could be the report or document itself. For humanities and social science courses, students might write a proposal requesting approval of a particular topic, then hand in an annotated bibliography, and then a draft, and then the final version of the paper.

Have students submit sections. A variation of the previous approach is to have students submit various sections of their final document throughout the semester (e.g., their bibliography, review of the literature, methods section).

In addition to the standard essay and report formats, several other formats exist that might give students a different slant on the course material or allow them to use slightly different writing skills. Here are some suggestions:

Journals. Journals have become a popular format in recent years for courses that require some writing. In-class journal entries can spark discussions and reveal gaps in students’ understanding of the material. Having students write an in-class entry summarizing the material covered that day can aid the learning process and also reveal concepts that require more elaboration. Out-of-class entries involve short summaries or analyses of texts, or are a testing ground for ideas for student papers and reports. Although journals may seem to add a huge burden for instructors to correct, in fact many instructors either spot-check journals (looking at a few particular key entries) or grade them based on the number of entries completed. Journals are usually not graded for their prose style. STELLAR forums work well for out-of-class entries.

Letters. Students can define and defend a position on an issue in a letter written to someone in authority. They can also explain a concept or a process to someone in need of that particular information. They can write a letter to a friend explaining their concerns about an upcoming paper assignment or explaining their ideas for an upcoming paper assignment. If you wish to add a creative element to the writing assignment, you might have students adopt the persona of an important person discussed in your course (e.g., an historical figure) and write a letter explaining his/her actions, process, or theory to an interested person (e.g., “pretend that you are John Wilkes Booth and write a letter to the Congress justifying your assassination of Abraham Lincoln,” or “pretend you are Henry VIII writing to Thomas More explaining your break from the Catholic Church”).

Editorials . Students can define and defend a position on a controversial issue in the format of an editorial for the campus or local newspaper or for a national journal.

Cases . Students might create a case study particular to the course’s subject matter.

Position Papers . Students can define and defend a position, perhaps as a preliminary step in the creation of a formal research paper or essay.

Imitation of a Text . Students can create a new document “in the style of” a particular writer (e.g., “Create a government document the way Woody Allen might write it” or “Write your own ‘Modest Proposal’ about a modern issue”).

Instruction Manuals . Students write a step-by-step explanation of a process.

Dialogues . Students create a dialogue between two major figures studied in which they not only reveal those people’s theories or thoughts but also explore areas of possible disagreement (e.g., “Write a dialogue between Claude Monet and Jackson Pollock about the nature and uses of art”).

Collaborative projects . Students work together to create such works as reports, questions, and critiques.

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Online Guide to Writing and Research

The research process, explore more of umgc.

• Online Guide to Writing

The Research Assignment Introduction

When tasked with writing a research paper, you are able to “dig in” to a topic, idea, theme, or question in greater detail.  In your academic career, you will be assigned several assignments that require you to “research” something and then write about it. Sometimes you can choose a topic and sometimes a topic is assigned to you.  

Either way, look at this assignment as an opportunity to learn more about something and to add your voice to the discourse community about said topic. Your professor is assigning you the task to give you a chance to learn more about something and then share that newfound knowledge with the professor and your academic peers.  In this way, you contribute meaningfully to the existing scholarship in that subject area. You are then creating a research space for yourself and for other researchers who may follow you.  

Mailing Address: 3501 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, MD 20783 This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . © 2022 UMGC. All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing?

What Is College Writing?

Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Doing Exploratory Research

Getting from Notes to Your Draft

Introduction

Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition

Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience

Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started

Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment

Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic

Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy

Rewriting: Getting Feedback

Rewriting: The Final Draft

Techniques to Get Started - Outlining

Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques

Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas

Writing: Outlining What You Will Write

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction

Critical Strategies and Writing

Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis

Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation

Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion

Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis

Developing a Paper Using Strategies

Kinds of Assignments You Will Write

Patterns for Presenting Information

Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques

Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data

Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts

Supporting with Research and Examples

Writing Essay Examinations

Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete

Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing

Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources

Research Resources: What Are Research Resources?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources

Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure

Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure

The Nature of Research

The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated?

The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed?

The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?

Chapter 5: Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Giving Credit to Sources

Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws

Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation

Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides

Integrating Sources

Practicing Academic Integrity

Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources

Types of Documentation

Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists

Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style

Types of Documentation: Note Citations

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Finding Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

How Is Writing Graded?

How Is Writing Graded?: A General Assessment Tool

The Draft Stage

The Draft Stage: The First Draft

The Draft Stage: The Revision Process and the Final Draft

The Draft Stage: Using Feedback

The Research Stage

Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers

Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure

Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument

Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion

Writing Arguments: Types of Argument

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Dictionaries

General Style Manuals

Researching on the Internet

Special Style Manuals

Writing Handbooks

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project

Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report

Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve

Collaborative Writing: Methodology

Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation

Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members

Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan

General Introduction

Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Working with Your Instructor’s Comments and Grades

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

Devising a Writing Project Plan and Schedule

Reviewing Your Plan with Others

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ENGL 101: Academic Writing: How to write a research paper

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• How to evaluate resources
• How to write a research paper
• Occupational Resources

How to write a research paer

Understand the topic, what is the instructor asking for, who is the intended audience, choosing a topic.

• General Research

Books on the subject

Journal articles, other sources, write the paper.

You've just been assigned by your instructor to write a paper on a topic. Relax, this isn't going to be as bad as it seems. You just need to get started. Here are some suggestions to make the process as painless as possible. Remember, if you have any questions ASK .

Is the assignment a formal research paper where you have to do research and cite other sources of information, or is the assignment asking you for your reaction to a particular topic where all you will need to do is collect your thoughts and organize them coherently. If you do need to research your topic, make sure you know what style manual your instructor prefers (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc).

Make sure you keep track of any restrictions that your instructor places on you. If your instructor wants a 4 page paper, they won't be happy with a 2 page paper, or a 10 page paper. Keep in mind that the instructor knows roughly how long it should take to cover the topic. If your paper is too short, you probably aren't looking at enough materials. If you paper is too long, you need to narrow your topic. Also, many times the instructor may restrict you to certain types of resources (books written after 1946, scholarly journals, no web sites). You don't want to automatically lessen your grade by not following the rules. Remember the key rule, if you have any questions ask your instructor!

You will also need to know which audience that you are writing for. Are you writing to an audience that knows nothing about your topic? If so you will need to write in such a way that you paper makes sense, and can be understood by these people. If your paper is geared to peers who have a similar background of information you won't need to include that type of information. If your paper is for experts in the field, you won't need to include background information.

If you're lucky, you were given a narrow topic by your instructor. You may not be interested in your topic, but you can be reasonably sure that the topic isn't too broad. Most of you aren't going to be that lucky. Your instructor gave you a broad topic, or no topic at all and you are going to have to choose the specific topic for your paper.

There are some general rules that you can use to help choose and narrow a topic. Does a particular topic interest you? If you are excited by a particular field, choose a topic from that field. While doing research you will learn more about the field, and learn which journals are written for your topic. Are you answering a relevant question? You and your instructor are going to be bored if you are writing a paper on the hazards of drunken driving. However, it might be more interesting to write about what causes people to drink and drive. The more interesting your topic the more you will enjoy and learn from writing your paper. You may also want to focus on a specific point of view about the topic, such as what teenagers think the causes of drunken driving are.

Do General Research

Now that you have a topic, it is time to start doing research. Don't jump to the card catalog and the indexes yet. The first research that you want to do is some general research on your topic. Find out what some of the terms used in the field are. You will also find that this research can help you further define you topic.

One source of general research is a general encyclopedia. Depending on the encyclopedia, at the end of each entry there may be a bibliography of suggested works. Good encyclopedias to consult are Encyclopedia Britannica , Encyclopedia Americana, and World Book.

You will also want to check to see if your topic is in a field that has a subject Encyclopedia, a Subject Handbook, or a Subject Dictionary. These guides contain information about a wide variety of topics inside a specific field. Generally the information in more detailed that what is contained in a general encyclopedia. Also the bibliographies are more extensive.

Find further information

Now that we have some background information on our topic; we need to find information about our specific topic. Before searching, ask yourself what type of information you are looking for. If you want to find statistical information, you will need to look in certain types of sources. If you are looking for news accounts of an event, you will need to look in other types of sources. Remember, if you have a question about what type of source to use, ask a librarian.

Have you asked your instructor for suggestions on where to look? Why not? This person is experienced in the field, and they have been doing research in it longer than you have. They can recommend authors who write on your topic, and they can recommend a short list of journals that may contain information on your topic.

Books are one type of resource that you can use for your research. To find a book on your topic, you will need to use the online catalog, the CamelCat . Taking the list of keywords that you created while doing general research, do keyword searches in the catalog. Look at the titles that are being returned, do any look promising? If none do, revise your search using other keywords. If one does, look at the full record for that book. Check the subject headings that it is cataloged by. If one of those headings looks pertinent to your research, do a subject search using that particular heading.

Once you've got the books that you want to use start evaluating whether the book will be useful. Is it written by an author who is knowledgeable about that particular topic? Is the author qualified to write about the topic? What biases does the author have about the topic? Is the book current enough to contain useful information?

Once you've answered these questions, use the books that you deem useful for your research. Remember while taking notes to get the information that you need to do a proper citation. Also, pay attention to any bibliographies that are included in the book. These can help you locate other books and articles that may be useful for your research.

The Campbell University Libraries subscribe to a wide variety of Indexes and Journals for the use of students and faculty. Increasingly these materials are provided as Electronic Databases. These databases contain citations of articles and in some cases the full text of articles on a variety of topics. If you don't know which database will be useful for you, ask a librarian and they will be happy to assist you. You can also use the Find Articles link to search multiple databases at one time for information on your topic.

Once you've selected a database to use, use the keywords that you developed from your general research to find articles that will be useful for you. Once you've found one, see which terms the database used to catalog the article and use those terms to find more articles. Don't forget to set limits on the database so that only scholarly articles are returned if your instructor has made that a requirement for your paper.

Look at the journal articles that you have selected, and examine the bibliographies. Are there any authors that are mentioned in more than one article? Are there any articles that are mentioned more than once? You should find those authors and articles and include them in your research.

There are other useful sources that you can use in your research. If your report tends to be on a business topic or if you need company information for your research there are many companies that provide company reports. The contents of these reports differ, depending on which service that you are using. Generally speaking you will find company officers, financial statements, lists of competitors, and stock price.

The Internet is another source for information on a variety of topics. The major problem with the using Internet resources is authority. Anybody who knows HTML can produce a web site that looks pretty decent. However, a website produced by a sophomore in high school on a topic is not going to be useful to you in your research. Before using a website for information, you need to evaluate the site. Here are some questions you will want to ask: Who created the site? (If you can't tell, don't use it.) Has the site been recently updated? Is the site promoting a specific agenda/ does it have a bias? (Bias isn't necessarily bad, but you need to keep it in mind when interpreting the information presented?) Are there any misspellings on the site? (If there is one misspelling careless error more than three, don't use the page) Do the links on the page work? (If a few don't work, not a big problem, if most of the links don't work, the site isn't being maintained, and should not be used.)

You have all of your research, now it is time to write the paper. Don't forget to cite all of the research that you have collected using the preferred citation style of your instructor. If possible try to give yourself a couple of days to let the paper sit before you edit it. Look at a hard copy of the paper and check for mechanical errors (spelling, punctuation). Also try to imagine that you are the intended audience for the paper. Does your paper make sense? Are the arguments logical? Does the evidence presented support the arguments made? If you answered no to any of these questions, make the necessary changes to your paper.

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Research Essay

The main goal of a research paper is to investigate a particular issue and provide new perspectives or solutions. The writer uses their own original research and/or evaluation of others' research to present a unique, sound, and convincing argument.

Although the final version of a research paper should be well-organized, logical, and clear, the path to writing one is not a straight line. It involves research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and writing. These stages are not linear; instead, the writer weaves back and forth, and the paper's focus and argument grows and changes throughout the process.

Click on the Timeline for a visual representation of the timeline. Click on the Checklist for a document containing the checklist items for a research essay.

Step 1: Getting Started

A: understand your assignment 1%.

Determine exactly what the assignment is asking you to do. Read the assignment carefully to determine the topic, purpose, audience, format, and length. For more information, see the Writing and Communication Centre's resource  Understanding your assignment .

B:  Conduct preliminary research 3%   

Do some general reading about your topic to figure out:

• what are the current issues in your subject area?
• is there enough information for you to proceed?

See the Library's resource  Conduct preliminary research (PDF) .

C:  Narrow your topic 3%

Use traditional journalistic questions (who, what, where, when, why) to focus on a specific aspect of your topic. It will make your paper more manageable, and you will be more likely to succeed in writing something with depth. Read more about  Developing and narrowing a research topic (PDF) .

D: Develop a research question 3%

A research question guides your research. It provides boundaries, so that when you gather resources you focus only on information that helps to answer your question. See the Writing and Communication Centre's resource  Develop a research question (PDF) .

Step 2: Research

A: design your research strategy 5%.

List the types of literature that may contain useful information for your topic, and isolate the main concepts. Use these concepts to build a list of relevant/useful search terms. For more information, see the Library's resource on Effective research strategies (PDF) .  

This Search statement worksheet (PDF) can help you organize your research strategy.

B: Find and evaluate sources 10%

Not all sources are equally useful. The content of sources you choose must be relevant and current, and you need to make sure you're using academically valid sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles and books. See the Library's resource on  Evaluating your search results critically  and the  RADAR Evaluation Method (PDF) .

C: Conduct research 20%

Gather your information and keep careful track of your sources as you go along. See the Library's resource  Conducting research and note taking (PDF) .

Step3: Organizing your essay

A: move from research to writing: how to think 8%  .

This critical step involves using the information you've gathered to form your own ideas. This resource can help you get the most out of what you're reading: Reading and listening critically . You've read a good deal of information and now you have to analyze and synthesize it into something new and worth writing about. See How to think: move from research to writing (PDF) for the kind of questions that can guide you through this process.

B: Develop a thesis statement 3%

A strong thesis statement is the cornerstone of a good research essay. Your thesis needs to be clean, concise, focused, and supportable. In most cases, it should also be debatable.

C: Outline the structure of your paper 4%

Organize your ideas and information into topics and subtopics. Outline the order in which you will write about the topics. For more information on how create a good outline, see  Two ways to create an outline: graphic and linear .

Step 4: Writing the first draft

Time to get writing! A first draft is a preliminary attempt to get ideas down on paper. It's okay if your ideas aren't completely formed yet. Let go of perfection and write quickly. You can revise later.

For additional help, check out the Writing and Communication Centre's resource on  Writing a first draft .

Step 5: Revising and proofreading

A: evaluate your first draft and conduct additional research as needed 10%.

Determine if there are any gaps in your draft. Do you have enough evidence to support your arguments? If you don't, you should conduct further research.

B: Revise your draft 5%

Print out your paper and work from a hard copy. Read it carefully and look for higher order problems first, such as organization, structure, and argument development. For more help with these higher order issues, check out the tips for revision . 

C: Evaluate your second draft and rewrite as needed 5%

Narrow your focus to paragraph-level issues such as evidence, analysis, flow, and transitions. To improve your flow and transitions, see the Writing and Communication Centre's resource on Transition words .

D: Proofread and put your paper into its final format 5%

Last step! Read carefully to catch all those small errors. Here are some tips on Proofreading strategies . Also take time to make sure your paper adheres to the conventions of the style guide you're using. Think about titles, margins, page numbers, reference lists, and citations.

The University of Waterloo's Writing and Communication Centre has a number of resources that can help you in revising and proofreading. 

Tips for writing: 

• Active and passive voice (PDF)
• Writing concisely (PDF)
• Writing checklist (PDF)

Style Guides:

• APA style guide (PDF)
• Chicago author-date style guide (PDF)
• IEEE style guide (PDF)
• MLA style guide

A Simple Trick for Success with One-Pagers

May 26, 2019

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Have you heard the whispers about one-pagers in the online teacher hallways? The concept of a one-pager, in which students share their most important takeaways on a single piece of blank paper, has really taken off recently.  

The one-pagers I see on Instagram draw me in like a slice of double chocolate mousse cake. The artistry students bring to representing their texts on a single piece of paper, blending images and ideas in creative color, is almost hypnotizing for me. Perhaps you’ve had the same experience.

But it’s the very beauty of the models that get posted that can drive students and teachers away from the one-pager activity. Sure, it’s great for super artistic students , we tend to think, but what about everyone else?

Turns out it CAN be great for everyone. As long as you know how to structure it.

What Is a One-Pager?

Let’s backtrack a bit and talk more about what a one-pager is. It’s pretty simple, really. Students take what they’ve learned—from a history textbook, a novel, a poem, a podcast, a Ted Talk, a guest speaker, a film—and put the highlights onto a single piece of paper. AVID first developed this strategy, but now it’s widely used in and out of AVID classrooms.

But why is this seemingly simple assignment so powerful?

As students create one-pagers, the information they put down becomes more memorable to them as they mix images and information. According to Allan Paivio’s dual coding theory, the brain has two ways of processing: the visual and the verbal. The combination of the two leads to the most powerful results. Students will remember more when they’ve mixed language and imagery.

Plus, one-pagers provide variety, a way for them to share what they’ve learned that goes beyond the usual written options. Students tend to surprise themselves with what they come up with, and their work makes for powerful displays of learning. Plus, they’re fun to make. Let’s not pretend that doesn’t matter.

So, assuming you’re sold on trying this out, you’re probably wondering what exactly goes into a one-pager?

Students might include quotations, ideas, images, analysis, key names and dates, and more. They might use their one-pagers to make connections to their own lives, to art or films, to pop culture, to what they’re learning in their other classes. They might even do it all. You’d be amazed at how much can fit on a single piece of paper.

Many teachers create lists of what students should put inside their one-pagers. Knowing they need two quotations, several symbolic images, one key theme, etc., helps guide students in their work.

The Art Problem

When creating one-pagers, artistic students tend to feature more sketches, doodles, icons and lettering. Students wary of art tend to feature more text, and can be reluctant to engage with the visual part of the assignment at all.

It was this issue—the issue of the art-haters—that first drew me into one-pagers two years ago. I had seen some stunning one-pagers posted in my Facebook group, Creative High School English . But the comments that followed were always the same. “That’s amazing work! But so many of my students don’t like art….”

Those comments struck a chord with me. For years I had dealt with comments from some of my own students about their distaste for artistic materials when I would introduce creative projects. No matter how much I explained that it was the intention behind their choices that mattered, I always got some pushback if there were any artistic elements involved in a project.

Was there a way to tweak the one-pager assignment so every student would feel confident in their success?

Another problem was one of overall design: Though they knew they needed to hit all the requirements their teachers listed, students still seemed to be overwhelmed by that huge blank page. What should go where? Did colored pencils really have to be involved?

A Simple Solution: Templates

As I thought about the problem, I wondered if students would feel less overwhelmed if they knew what needed to go where. If the quotations had to be in the middle, the themes in the upper left, the images across the bottom, etc. I began to play around with the shapes tool in PowerPoint, creating different one-pager templates.  

Then I began shaping my requirements, correlating each element with a space on the paper. Maybe the border could be the key quotations. The center would feature an important symbol. The themes could go in circles around the center. I developed a bunch of different templates for varied ways to respond to novels. Then I tried podcasts. Films. Poetry.

As I shared these templates with other teachers, I kept getting the same feedback: “It’s working!”  

That little bit of creative constraint actually frees students to use their imagination to represent what they have learned on the page without fear. They know what they need to put down, and where, but they are also free to expand and add to the template. To choose their own colors. To bring out what is most important to them through their creativity and artistry. And those super artistic students? They can just flip the template over and use the blank page on the back.

Beyond Novels

There are so many ways to integrate this creative strategy into your classroom. While one-pagers lend themselves beautifully to final assessments after reading independent novels, literature circle selections, or whole class novels, that’s really just the beginning.

You can use them to get to know students better, as with a name tent or “about me” one-pager at the beginning of the year. One school used templates to have every student create a one-pager about their own lives, collecting them all into hallway displays as part of a project they called “Tell your Story.”

You can also use them to help students focus in on the most important information in nonfiction articles and books. One EFL teacher in Croatia used the templates to have students share key takeaways from articles they read about social media. Not only did students have to analyze the text deeply to figure out what was most important, but the dual-coding theory suggests the process of creating the one-pagers will help them remember the information better.

Another great use for one-pagers is to keep students focused while absorbing media. When students are watching a film, listening to a podcast, or even attending an assembly with a guest speaker, they can be creating one-pagers as they listen, a kind of formalized version of sketchnotes.

Simple Steps for One-Pager Success

Whenever you’re considering your options for assessment, throw one-pagers into the mix. The steps below should help you in creating an assignment for which every student has a roadmap to success.

1.    Choose the elements you want your students to put onto their one-pagers. For example, quotations, key themes, literary elements, discussion of style, important characters or dates, connections to other disciplines, connections to their lives, connections to modern culture.

2.    Create a layout using the shapes tool in PowerPoint or something similar (or grab a free set of templates here or here ).

3.    Connect your instructions to your layout. Make it clear which elements should go in which area of your template.

4.    Create a simple rubric with the key categories you want your students to succeed with. With literary one-pagers, I use “Textual Analysis,” “Required Elements,” and “Thoroughness.”

5. As you introduce the assignment, show students some examples of one-pagers to give them a sense for how they might proceed.

6.    Give students time to work on their one-pagers in class so they can ask you questions. Consider providing some artistic materials if you can, or inviting students to bring them in. You can always let them complete the work at home if necessary.

7.    Do a gallery walk of the one-pagers before you collect them, or have them present to each other in small groups. The students will learn a lot from seeing each other’s representations.

8.    Create a display after you grade the one-pagers with your rubric.

You can find more of Betsy’s great ideas on her website, Spark Creativity .

Come back for more. Join our mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration that will make your teaching more effective and fun. You’ll get access to our members-only library of free downloads, including 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half , the e-booklet that has helped thousands of teachers save time on grading. Over 50,000 teachers have already joined—come on in.

What to Read Next

Categories: Instruction , Podcast

Tags: assessment , English language arts , teaching strategies

57 Comments

Using this for assessment is also a great idea to provide an idea of student learning. Can you comment on how you use these for assessment and how you assess the one-pagers? Thanks!

Hi Kim, I think one-pagers make a great closing assessment for many units. They provide a chance for kids to really sum up everything they’ve learned, whether it’s from a novel, a series of poems, a part of history, etc. I think it helps a lot to grade them from a clear rubric – if you download my free set of templates, it includes the rubric I designed. You might want to grab it, just to help you design your own if you prefer. Hope this helps! Betsy

i think the students really help between to encourage other students to be creative and loyal to others and make up your own ideas.

Can you share a link to your rubric templates?

Hi Tish, you can go to A Simple Trick for Success with One-Pagers and find the links to the rubrics. If you look at the captions under the images, there’s a link to download them directly. Hope this helps!

I assess one-pagers against our education department’s rubric for written work – we have one for personal response (ideas + presentation) and another, more elaborate one for essays (content + support + form/structure + choices + correctness). It transfers nicely to one-pagers, and provides enough buffer for the kids who fear the artistic components. Here are our rubrics: https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/edc-2019-2020-ela30-1-scoring-guide.pdf

Hi there! This is awesome! Do you have any samples or formats for a math class? Algebra 1 and Geometry? I can see this more so with geometry since there’s lots of shapes and visuals. Thanks for your help and input!

I had students make a math one (I teach 6th grade) as a 2nd semester review. They had to include 3 things from each unit from that semester. Since we had 5 units, they broke the paper up into 5 sections.

Hi Brittany, That sounds like a wonderful review! Did you encourage them to bring in some visuals and color to help bring the concepts to life? I hope it went well! Betsy

Hi Janice, I’m afraid I don’t have any examples for math, but I think it would work very similarly. I would suggest template sections on main ideas from the unit, illustrations of the main ideas, connections to students’ own lives and the modern world, connections to other math concepts, etc. I hope that’s helpful! Betsy

I love this idea! I’m wondering how to tweak it to use in our math classrooms. Time to start experimenting. Thank you for this!

This is so helpful. I am a math teacher and a mother. My teenage son would come to a screeching halt whenever he had to generate a visual representation, because he dd not know how. I finally convinced him that, since the teacher had not *taught* him any art, and would not be *assessing* him on the artistic merit of his work, that, for instance, tracing was an ok thing to do. We expect kids to “do art” when they have not been taught how to, and some of them are not in a position (for whatever reason) to spontaneously “do art.” Why is this? (BTW, I hold a BFA.)

Hi Johanna, I hear you! It’s sad for me how little artistic outlet our students get these days, if they don’t choose to follow it on their own. It’s one reason I love this type of assignment, that can let those who flourish with art fly, and provide some reasonable small steps for those who feel intimidated by it. I’m glad you found these ideas helpful! Betsy

I’ve been hearing about these for a while! So glad to see this break down of the activity. I think creating templates is such a wonderful idea to help those students who struggle to see themselves as creative. I had my writing students create infographics this past semester, and showing them all the templates on canva really helped them feel more comfortable with creating their own examples of the genre. I’m definitely going to give this activity a try, potentially as a shareable attachment to their short autobiographies at the beginning of the semester. Thanks for the idea!

Erika, I’m so glad you find the template idea helpful! I couldn’t agree with you more about how helpful it is to share some structure ideas when approaching a design task – I love Canva too. I’ve seen some great results with one-pagers reflecting kids’ own lives, so I hope the autobiographical one-pagers will turn out well for you!

Another way to get around the “art” issue, is to use digital templates online such as the pre-set templates available on platforms like Pictochart, or create your own to share and use within Google Classroom. Encourage students to use free graphics from Copyright Commons approved sites, create comic strips to import from tools such as Pixton, etc. Another way to increase student engagement and engage in multimodal meaning making…

What great ideas! I love giving kids the option to go digital if they feel comfortable in that design space, and these are a lot of wonderful specific options. Thanks!

I teach high school physics. I can think of ways for astronomy and earth science but what of Newton’s laws or projectile motion. A section for equations. A definition perhaps. What else? Any suggestions?

What about sections that illustrate some of the principals, and a section that shows examples of practical applications of the scientific laws in students’ own lives?

I’m a science teacher, too. I know someone who assigned “Newtoons”, where kids had to think of a real world example and apply Newton’s laws to it in the form of a cartoon. Perhaps that could be incorporated into a one pager?

I think I will check out Newtoons

I would love some advice on how to use this with college math students.

Hi Lauren, I think it can be adapted to math with pretty similar template sections. You could have sections for main concepts, key equations, connections to other math or science concepts, connections to the real world, etc. And throughout, you could encourage students to create visuals that demonstrate the information to go with their text. I hope that’s helpful! Betsy

I went digital with one pagers this spring. Students used Adobe Spark to create and published on a class Padlet. Voila! No art supplies needed (and by May, few are to be had!).

Digital is a great option for one-pagers! Canva would be another fun place to experiment for those without access to Spark.

One other alternative is to pair up two students for the one-pager. One student could be more artistic/visual and the other more textual. Such a pair would have to learn to cooperate, communicate, and build on each other’s strengths. The process could be just as important as the product. Alternatively, each person in the pair could separately come up with various parts of the design. They would then meet to choose which elements to include or re-design to make the one-pager.

Tim, This is a great idea! Thanks for sharing.

Hi, I love having students gallery Walk their one pagers, but not sure what sort of accountability piece to have students complete as they do the gallery Walk and examine each other’s works. Any suggestions would be great!

Hi Courtney, I may have some suggestions for you for this. When my students do gallery walks, they usually complete a graphic organizer that sits with the work of each author. There are two forms I like to use: the Glows and Grows and the TAG sheet. The format is up to you but it can be as simple as a 2- or 3-column table on a page. The Glows and Grows is just two categories: One glow telling what the author did well, and one grow telling what they can do to make their work even better. The TAG sheet is similar but takes it one step further. T- Tell something you liked, A- Ask a question, G- Give a suggestion. I find that both these tools help students recognize good practices in their work of their peers, help them to spot errors that they might want to avoid, and give solid feedback that they respect because it’s coming from their peers. Hope you find this helpful!

What a cool way to let each student play to their own strengths. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for this simple break down. I do a lot of writing and I’d like my students to be more reflective of what they learn from each assignment, particularly when we address a new style of writing. Any suggestions on how to use this with writing?

Hi Lauren, There are a few solid ways to use one-pagers around writing. One is to use it as an argument writing activity, or pre-writing. You can create a template where there are places for main ideas, counterarguments, quotations, and a thesis, all to be shared through both text and imagery. Another option would be to get meta and create a one-pager that is actually about the type of writing the student has just tried out and reflects the work they did and what they need to improve. With this type of template, you could create space for the main structures of the writing, what the student excelled at, and what they need to work on for the next iteration. Again, all to be shared through both text and imagery. Yet one more option would be to create a series of mini-one-pagers throughout the year that reflect writing type. So you could teach them the structures of different types of writing and have them create small illustrated versions to put together as a guide for themselves moving forwards. At the end of the year, they’d have a little book illustrating argument writing, opinion writing, compare and contrast, etc. Hope those ideas help! Betsy

I love one pagers and have used them for the last few years both with and without the template. I also taught my students how to make an infographic this year using Canva and they loved it. I think next year, I will combine the two and have them make their one-pager electronically so that both the artistic kids and the non-art lovers can be equally successful.

I have been doing projects similar to these for many years:))) Love the way you broke the ideas into steps and defined the process. Templates are great!!!!

I provide the option of collaging from magazines for my students who see themselves as less artistically inclined. They can do just collage or combine collage elements with some of their own drawings. I find this makes them feel less insecure about their drawing abilities. An unintended bonus is that some students have realized that they can be artistic without having to put pencil or paint to paper.

Love this idea of a collage for an option! I am trying one pagers this year in history to review units prior to quizzes and tests.

Love these. I have often used the Frayer model – with adaptions- for math and science concepts and or just terminology.

I used One-Pagers with my AP Human students as an end of year review. Students had to do one One-Pager per chapter. My students told me this was the best review and the most enjoyable work they did all year. They really felt this prepared them for the AP exam. Even the non-artistic students did a beautiful job!

I am using this as a project for a movie we’re watching. I’m allowing them to utilize the template or free-style, as I have quite the range of skill and anxiety in my class. Thank you for sharing.

Vickie, We are glad to hear that you’re planning to use one-pagers in your class. Let us know how it goes with your students.

How do you encourage students to use images? In providing a checklist of items I wanted students to include, somehow the One-Pagers my students recently completed for social studies included mostly text. Do I also require a certain number of images? amount of color? When I used One-Pagers last year, they were much more successful. I don’t recall how my prompt was different. I use your marvelous templates (thank you) and examples (thank you again) and the directions that identifying specific information needs to be considered. What is missing? Why aren’t the images a focus? How might I change my prompt.

With appreciation, Lisa

Hello! What is the research behind one-pagers? I would like to incorporate this method into my classroom.

This is wonderful, and it’s exactly what my students need! I’ve wanted to incorporate one-pagers into our units, but my anti-art, special ed students have balked at the idea. Thanks for sharing these templates!

Stacy, We are glad that this is exactly what you needed for your students!

I agree with all of you

I love this concept of a one pager to summarize a lesson. I teach kindergarten and can see how the students can use this technique to introduce themselves to the class.

I have never heard of the concept of using one-pagers in a classroom, though I can vaguely remember doing something very similar in a high school English class. After reading this blog post and listening to the interview, I am very excited to work this into a lesson plan that I am currently working on! Thank you for the tips and information on how to do these correctly.

I’ve tried to incorporate one pagers in my high school history classes but have struggled with how to use them effectively. The students were often intimidated or overwhelmed and the lessons seemed to flop every time. Thank you for the walk through of your process and templates. My attempts were missing the structure/parameters my students needed to be successful. I’m excited to tweak my lessons for next year and use the strategies you discussed.

Does anyone know of research related to using digital tools to write and draw and does this help or hinder learning?

Hello there. I am 14 years old. i need some help unfortunately with completing a one pager for school online. Do you know where I could go?

– Bella

Hey Isabella,

We’re sorry to hear you’re having trouble with this. Our advise is to reach out to your teacher or classmates – they should be able to help you. Good luck!

HI! Just wanted to give you a heads up that the AVID link at the beginning of the post is not working–it routed me to website that looked like a professional soccer club. I am not sure which one because the website is in Chinese, or Korean, or Japanese, or some other language I don’t know well enough to recognize! Thanks!

Hey Kelly, Thanks so much for the heads up! The link has been updated.

hey kelly , thanks so much for the heads up and thanks for everything.# love it give you the deets.

This will be my first use of a one-pager. Your information will be most valuable as I present it to the students..

This is an amazing idea! As I was reading my brain was coming up with all kinds of way I could adapt this further for Special Education when some students needs a different way to express what they’ve learned throughout a unit. I feel like so many people shy away from artistic projects so that they don’t pressure those “less artistic” students when they should be supporting their creative processes by making these projects more accessible. Wonderful read.

Hi Lauren, There are a few solid ways to use one-pagers around writing. One is to use it as an argument writing activity, or pre-writing. You can create a template where there are places for main ideas, counterarguments, quotations, and a thesis, all to be shared through both text and imagery. Another option would be to get meta and create a one-pager that is actually about the type of writing the student has just tried out and reflects the work they did and what they need to improve. With this type of template, you could create space for the main structures of the writing, what the student excelled at, and what they need to work on for the next iteration. Again, all to be shared through both text and imagery. Yet one more option would be to create a series of mini-one-pagers throughout the year that reflect writing type. So you could teach them the structures of different types of writing and have them create small illustrated versions to put together as a guide for themselves moving forwards. At the end of the year, they’d have a little book illustrating argument writing, opinion writing, compare and contrast, etc. Hope those ideas help! Betsy

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APA Sample Paper

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Note: The APA Publication Manual, 7 th Edition specifies different formatting conventions for student  and  professional  papers (i.e., papers written for credit in a course and papers intended for scholarly publication). These differences mostly extend to the title page and running head. Crucially, citation practices do not differ between the two styles of paper.

However, for your convenience, we have provided two versions of our APA 7 sample paper below: one in  student style and one in  professional  style.

Note: For accessibility purposes, we have used "Track Changes" to make comments along the margins of these samples. Those authored by [AF] denote explanations of formatting and [AWC] denote directions for writing and citing in APA 7. 

APA 7 Student Paper:

Apa 7 professional paper:.

Assignment 1: Reading a Paper

Research gets transmitted in many forms — demos, code, talks, and more — but its formal report most often occurs through a written paper. The paper explains the problem, the approach, and an evaluation. When ready, the academic submits the paper for review by other academics; once it passes this peer review process, the paper appears at a venue such as conference or journal. Since most research is disseminated in the form of papers, it's critical to be able to read research papers and make sense of them.

Your first assignment will be to read a paper in the area of your project interest, and to synthesize its main argument into a detailed outline. In addition, you will be getting set up with any prerequisites for your section. Don't underestimate the time required for either of these!

Part 1: Read a Paper

Read a paper and outline its argument and structure.

Each section has listed one paper below. Find yourself a quiet place and work your way through it. Don't worry if you can't understand every detail; focus on understanding the paper's big ideas and how they are argued. It can take time to read a paper — don't feel discouraged if it takes you a long time.

Outlining a Paper

Your outline should recompress the paper back into an outline format that explains the paper's argument. We suggest the following structure of one paragraph per bullet, with an example outline following the description:

• Title : What paper did you read?
• Problem : What problem is it solving? Why does this problem matter?
• Assumption in prior work : What was the assumption that prior research made when solving this problem? Why was that assumption inadequate?
• Insight : What is the novel idea that this paper introduces, breaking from that prior assumption?
• Technical overview : How did the paper implement that insight? I.e., What did they build, or what did they prove, and how?
• Proof : How did the paper evaluate or prove that its insight is correct, and is better than holding on to the old assumption?
• Impact : What are the implications of this paper? How will it change how we think about the problem?

You may adapt this structure if needed for the paper you are outlining; check with your TA first if your proposed structure deviates by more than one bullet.

Example, for the paper Flash Organizations: Crowdsourcing Complex Work by Structuring Crowds As Organizations:

• Title : Flash Organizations: Crowdsourcing Complex Work by Structuring Crowds As Organizations
• Problem : Crowdsourcing has been used successfully for many goals that can be decomposed into small, modular microtasks, but it has struggled to achieve more complex goals such as design and engineering. For example, tasks such as image labeling work because it's modularizable, but design is interdependent and requires adapting as you go, so crowdsourcing has succeeded at image labeling but failed at design. If crowdsourcing is limited to modular tasks, then it will never be able to achieve goals of meaningful complexity, which will limit its impact on the world.
• Assumption in prior work : Prior work all takes an algorithmic model of crowdsourcing: the programmer specifies who does what, and when, in a kind of big algorithmic recipe to follow. This assumption shows up in goals ranging from Wikipedia ("edit this page"), to interactive crowd-powered interfaces ("find errors" --> "fix errors" --> "verify fixes"), to open source software ("create a module with this fixed API").
• Insight : This paper proposed that instead of coordinating crowds as we do algorithms, that we should be coordinating crowds as we do with organizations. They propose a series of computationally-enhanced versions of the structures that organizations use — roles, tasks, hierarchy, and so on — and introduce the idea of a flash organization, which is a rapidly assembled collective of online collaborators who use these computational organizational structures to coordinate.
• Technical overview : The authors created a system called Foundry that implements these ideas. Foundry is a web interface that connects to the Upwork online labor marketplace to draw on-demand expertise. It uses a combination of first-come-first-served hiring queues and Slack integration to bring workers onboard and keep them updated. It introduces an adaptation model drawn from the metaphor of code branching and merging to enable the organization to adapt.
• Proof : Three non-crowdsourcing experts used the system to convene and lead flash organizations to achieve proof-of-concept complex goals. These experts created (1) a tablet system for EMTs to report medical trauma cases enroute to the hospital, (2) a card game for storytelling, which was playtested and iterated upon, and (3) an enterprise-grade event planning system that had to meet branding and security standards.
• Impact : Flash organizations offer a broad new view of crowdsourcing — one that's not rooted in Tayloristic algorithms, but instead in an organizational metaphor. This approach can achieve far more complex outcomes, enabling crowdsourcing to apply to a broad new class of problems. It has implications for the future of work (how do we protect labor rights?), for organizations (what will organizations look like in the future if flash organizations are widely deployed?), and for collaboration (will we all work remotely?).

Here are the papers per section. Look at your section's project list and pick the paper that corresponds to a project that intrigues you.

Note : If you encounter a "Get Access" paywall on the below links (e.g., for IEEE or ACM), make sure you are using Stanford's EZproxy .

AI: A Simple Framework for Contrastive Learning of Visual Representations

Hci: data-driven interaction techniques for improving navigation of educational videos, systems: chaff: engineering an efficient sat solver.

• Chain-of-Thought Prompting Elicits Reasoning in Large Language Models
• See starter task below.

Part 2: Section Starter Task

Complete starter task for your section

Kanishk's section: starter task details .

Brando's section: starter task details .

Kexin's section: starter task details

Set up Google Colab and train a model on MNIST using PyTorch to at least 95% test accuracy. You may use any resource you want as long as you clearly cite it and understand what the code is doing. You may wholesale copying code, but you MUST cite any code you copy. Not citing used code constitutes an honor code violation.

• Note 1 : Google Colab uses your Google Drive space, so please use your Stanford drive if you want to avoid using storage space on your personal account (your Stanford drive has unlimited storage).
• Note 2 : Make sure to set an accelerator for improved speeds (Edit -> Notebook settings -> Hardware accelerator -> GPU). You may have to do this every time you open a notebook.

Instructions:

• Walk through the welcome Colab notebook (watch the video, run a few lines of Python): https://colab.research.google.com/notebooks/welcome.ipynb
• Set up a new notebook for this assignment.
• Torch should already be installed in Colab
• Use Python 3
• Don’t just read the code, actually run it in Colab
• Read and understand the following code: https://github.com/pytorch/examples/tree/master/mnist
• Transfer the code from that repository to the Colab. You may copy code.

Familiarize yourself with git by:

• Browsing through the documentation: https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-About-Version-Control
• Going through a tutorial: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/gitlab-basics/start-using-git.html
• Read about some uses of large language models: https://github.com/elyase/awesome-gpt3
• Create a free account and play with a large language model. Try to find interesting successes or failures! https://www.ai21.com/studio

Deliverables : Combine the following into a single PDF and upload it to Canvas.

• A short (one paragraph) writeup on using Colab, git, PyTorch, (language models if you tried it), and what was difficult in the process.
• The notebook exported as a PDF.
• A link to the notebook (your instructor may request access to it).
• Prototyping: Lecture 2 — The Power of Prototyping | HCI | Stanford University
• Wizard of Oz: Lecture 11 — Faking it - Wizard of Oz | HCI Course | Stanford University
• Hello World: https://reactjs.org/docs/hello-world.html
• Introducing JSX: https://reactjs.org/docs/introducing-jsx.html
• Rendering Elements: https://reactjs.org/docs/rendering-elements.html
• Components and Props: https://reactjs.org/docs/components-and-props.html
• State and Lifecycle: https://reactjs.org/docs/state-and-lifecycle.html

Deliverables: Write a brief reflection (1-3 paragraphs) of your thoughts regarding the power of prototyping and your first impressions of wizard of oz studies and upload it to Canvas.

Install TeXLive (or MacTeX), following the instructions online . If you are running Ubuntu, you should be able to get away with: sudo apt install texlive-full

Make sure you have git and make installed. On Ubuntu, you should be able to get away with: sudo apt install git build-essential If not already, it's probably a good idea to get acquainted with git .

Clone the systems monorepo and build the example LaTeX document. You should get RW access to the repo during section. git clone [email protected]:matthewsot/cs197-systems.git

Make sure you can build the example LaTeX document. cd cs197-systems/starter-task/latex-test make This should create a file build/main.pdf . Check that it looks reasonable.

Download the latest CVC5 SMT solver binary for your platform here . Then use CVC5 to check satisfiability of the SMT-LIB2 file in the starter repo. cd cs197-systems/starter-task/smt cvc5 --produce-models --incremental --dump-proofs example.smt2

Write an SMT-LIB2 file that tells CVC5 to look for integer solutions to the equation x^2 + x + 1 = 0 . You can base it off of the example.smt2 file from before. CVC5 should report there are no solutions ("unsat").

Deliverables : a .zip or .tar.gz of (1) the main.pdf file generated by the LaTeX example, (2) the output of CVC5 on example.smt2 , (3) your custom SMT-LIB2 file for solving x^2 + x + 1 = 0 .

Part 3 (AI): Submit Project Interest Rankings

Finally, if you are in the AI section please submit project interest rankings for the projects in your section. These rankings will not be used to assign projects. Rather, they will give the course staff information to help facilitate the creation of teams during your next section.

Fill out the project interest form here .

• AI project list
• HCI project list
• CompBio project list

You are expected to submit two PDFs and one form for this assignment:

• Submit a PDF with your paper outline on Canvas.
• Submit a PDF for your section’s starter task on Canvas.
• Submit your responses to the project ranking form linked above.

Your outline will be graded on the following rubric:

• Accuracy: does the description correctly describe the paper?
• Completeness: does the description capture all the important ideas in the paper? (Not all the ideas! All the important ideas.)
• Clarity: does the description convey the ideas understandably to the reader?

In addition, your starter task will be graded based on completion.

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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20 One-Pager Examples, Plus Advice for Using Them With Your Students

A single page of notes can be a real game-changer.

One-pagers and Sketchnotes have become incredibly popular in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. Rather than just jotting down words on a page, students use one-pagers to visually represent key points and takeaways. They’re fun to create and have a real impact on memory and comprehension. Here’s how to use them, plus lots of terrific one-pager examples to inspire you and your students.

What Are One-Pagers?

Source: Chomping at the Lit

One-pagers invite students to think deeply about a text and produce a single page to represent its most important aspects. They usually include some images, doodles, or other graphic elements, giving them the alternate name Sketchnotes . One-pagers are often full of color and may include more images than words, depending on the student. They’re most commonly used in ELA classrooms but can be helpful in other subjects too.

This note-taking concept was pioneered by AVID , a group that seeks to prepare all students for college. As one-pagers caught on, teachers found that students who used one-pagers made a deeper connection to the text and had better retention of key concepts. AVID’s guidelines encourage students to share their one-pagers with one another, helping to inspire learning in a variety of visual ways.

How To Get Started With One-Pagers

Source: Spark Creativity

One problem teachers face when encouraging kids to use one-pagers is that some students don’t feel “artistic” enough. They may also not know where to start. When teaching kids to use Sketchnote one-pagers, provide more direction at first. Start by showing kids one-pager examples (see below). Ask what they notice about these Sketchnotes. Some characteristics they might note:

• The information and images fill the whole page.
• They’re colorful and full of illustrations.
• The illustrations don’t need to be expert, they just help emphasize a connection.
• Words are carefully chosen to highlight key concepts.

Some kids will take the idea and run with it right off the bat. Others will need a little more help. In this case, offering one-pager templates like these from Spark Creativity can really help.

You can also share these specific directions from AVID , which provide guidance on what to include on each page. Giving students a clear list of what to cover will increase confidence and free them up to be creative. For example, in English Language Arts, you might ask students to:

• Sketch one visual symbol that represents the text’s main theme.
• Write out two quotations that show the author’s style.
• Include a sketch and a sentence representing the setting.
• Make connections between the text and current events using sketches and text.
• Examine one or two main characters and their development.
• Identify three symbols through sketches or text.
• Include a statement about one thing they connected with in the reading.

One-Pager Examples and Ideas

Here are some outstanding one-pager examples on a variety of texts and topics. Note the incredible array of styles, which you can use to remind kids that there’s no one right way to use Sketchnotes. Encourage them to be creative!

Simple DNA One-Pager

Source: @sciencelessonsthatrock

We like this one-pager example because it shows students that you don’t need to be an expert artist to create something meaningful.

Poetry One-Pager

Source: @prestoplans

Here’s an example of how a template can provide students with strong guidance to get them started. This one-pager has more words than illustrations, but it’s still colorful and engaging.

Digital One-Pager

Source: @readitwriteitlearnit

One-pagers can go digital too! Try a whiteboard tool like Jamboard to make the process easy.

The Outsiders One-Pagers

Source: @wonderingwithmrswatto, The Outsiders

Source: @wonderingwithmrswatto, Digital The Outsiders

Take a look at these two different one-pager examples, one handwritten and one digital—and both effective!

Symbols One-Pager

Source: @studyallknight

Here’s another terrific way to use a template. Students can sketch the symbol, then add in handwritten notes for more info.

Beowulf One-Pager

Source: @gretazefo

This note-taking option really gives artistic students a chance to shine! Just make sure they add enough information (graphic or text) to help them make connections with what they’ve read.

The Great Gatsby One-Pager

Source: @mrsreganreads

Sketching characters from books can bring them to life for readers. Highlight a few quotes that truly express their personalities.

Power Profiles One-Pager

Source: @laumom

Students can use one-pagers to demonstrate what they know. They make interesting alternatives to essays or book reports.

Because of Winn-Dixie One-Pagers

Source: @enrichingelementary

Note that although each student used the same basic template (hand-drawn too, so don’t worry about making copies!), they each created something different and meaningful to themselves.

Fahrenheit 451 One-Pager

Source: @mudandinkteaching

Encourage students to add at least some images to their Sketchnotes, even if they’re as simple as stick figures or outlines. This engages different parts of the brain than just writing words does, and it deepens recall.

Letter From Birmingham Jail One-Pager

Source: @thehodgenator

Even when writing text, try to use a variety of colors and styles for emphasis. Just shading a background can draw the eye to something important.

Geography One-Pager

Source: @wmscl4

One-pagers are terrific for comparing and contrasting information, like this one comparing how geography affects the lives of people in China and India.

The Running Dream One-Pager

Source: @mayor_james

We love the idea of adding a word cloud to a one-pager! If you’re making a digital version, try these word cloud generators .

Intro One-Pager

Source: @nowsparkcreativity

One-pagers are such a fun way to do a getting-to-know-you activity on the first day of class.

Frayer Model Vocab One-Pager

Source: @missjackiesroom

The Frayer model graphic organizer is a terrific lead-in to more creative one-pagers, and a nice way to get students more comfortable with the format.

Inaugural Address One-Pager

Source: @mrsprzbooks

The main image choice can set the tone for an entire one-pager analysis.

USA One-Pager

Source: Teach With Tina

Don’t be afraid to try one-pagers in any class, for any topic!

Want to share more one-pager examples or ask for advice? Join the conversation in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, get our free reading comprehension strategies bundle ..

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8 Creative Ways to Use Sketchnotes in Your Classroom

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Night One Pager: Assigning a One-Pager Project as a Culminating Project

I recently assigned a one pager final project to my sophomores for their culminating Night project. I wanted to combine as many rigorous ELA content ideas as possible, while also designing a fun project for students that provided them with a bit of choice. This Night one pager project was the perfect way to finish the memoir!

To make this one pager project rigorous, I required my students to include multiple MLA-cited quotations with a literary analysis explanation. These are skills my students have learned and practiced all year long, so it was a way for me to assess that skill. I also wanted to give my students an opportunity to express their creativity, and it came through. In considering all of these elements, the one pager was the perfect culminating activity for Night!

What is a One Pager?

A one pager is a classroom assignment, activity, or assessment where students place all of their work on one page. With a one pager, students combine visual and text elements to demonstrate a thematic and symbolic meaning of a text. A one pager can include quotes from a text, quote analysis, critical thinking questions and answers, and visual representations of a setting, symbol, or character.

Furthermore, the one pager is also extremely versatile, and teachers can tailor it to fit their needs. You can read more about the one pager, sketch notes, and mind maps in this blog about coloring in the secondary ELA classroom .

Assigning a One Pager Project as a Culminating Activity for Night

For the actual assignment, I created a one-pager choice board that is similar that requires students to connect four elements. Every student had to complete the quotes, questions, and images element of the project. From there, students had their choice of four different items they could include: a connection to a song, a timeline, a setting, or a figurative language option. By providing students with a choice, they feel like they have more say with their work.

I reviewed the assignment with my students, explained my expectations, passed out the handout (which was printed double-sided with the instructions on the front and the brainstorming organizer and checklist on the back), and showed my students some examples. Keep reading the post. You can sign-up for my emails to receive a free Google Docs copy of this assignment which includes the assignment, checklist, planning sheet, and a rubric.

On the day projects were due, I provided my students with an opportunity to present their one-page to class. I did this as an extra-credit option. For each student who volunteered to present their project, I gave them an extra 5 points on their project).

The Night One-Pager was an enjoyable project for my students, and it was the perfect final project to assign at the end of the school year.

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Teaching Night in the High School Classroom

When I teach Night to my sophomores, I use this Night Teaching Unit that includes a 5-week pacing guide.

This Night Activities Bundle includes pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading activities to use when teaching Night. This Night Teaching Unit Begin includes teaching resources and activities for you to complete with your students before, during, and after you read Night.

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Using One-Page Assignments as Alternative Assessments

• Feb 3, 2020

By Vickie Harri, EdD

Not too long ago the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) Coordinator at my middle school sent an email requesting teachers to share their one-pagers (also known as one-sheets) with her for our AVID revalidation. My response was simply “one-what?” I had never heard of such a thing. Then, someone on the CSTA middle school science teacher Facebook group posted a type of alternative assessment where students interact with their learning by drawing, labeling, and writing by utilizing notebooks and other instructional resources. This, I was informed, was a one-pager.  One-pagers were developed by AVID and are a “creative response to your learning experience. It allows you to respond imaginatively while being brief and concise in making connections between words and images. We think about what we see and read differently when we are asked to do something with what we have seen or read. We learn best when we create our own ideas. Your personal thinking about what you have experienced should be understood by the audience that views the One-Pager.”

The objective of one-pagers is for students to be able to “express comprehension of, reactions to, and connections with a specific topic or piece of text.”  Betsy Potash states that one-pagers provide a variety of and a way for students to share what they’ve learned beyond the typical question/answer options.  Learning becomes more memorable as students mix images with information.  One-pagers also allow students’ creativity to come out in powerful displays of learning.

So, what are the components of a one-page assignment?  One-pagers use white unlined paper and are colorful, with the entire page filled with text and diagrams.  According to the AVID Teacher’s Guide, one-pagers should have excerpts from the reading or text, graphic representations of their learning, and a personal response.

When I assigned my first one-pager on the formation of the universe I had my students include a title, an essential question, and a colored border demonstrating the concept we were studying.  We also included three drawings of the universe, before, during and after the big bang and, of course, a written description of each drawing.  I had them write and answer five questions using Costa’s Levels of questions as well.  Finally, they wrote a summary answering the essential question.  Some advocates of one-pagers provide their students with templates to use in the execution of the assignment.  I chose not to provide a template because I felt it limited student creativity. As I teach 8th grade, the assignment took longer than I expected (three days instead of two), but the creativity and learning was worth the extra time.

For assessment, I created a simple rubric listing the requirements of the assignment; title, essential question, border, drawings with written description, five questions and answers, summary, full color, and creativity. The grading categories were Met, Somewhat Met and Did Not Meet. My students enjoyed doing the one-pagers, creating some spectacular projects, and as a teacher, they gave me a good indication of their learning and understanding of the concept.  And as an added bonus, they look really good on the classroom wall.  All the pictures are samples of student work.

Resources: Cult of Pedagogy - A Simple Trick for Success with One-pagers AVID Middle Level Writing with Integrated Reading and Oral Language Teacher Guide Vickie Harri, EdD.  is an 8th grade science teacher at Oaks Middle School in the Ontario-Montclair School District and a CSTA member.

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Introduction

CDHE Nomination

AUCC Requirements

Course Description

Sample Policy Statements

Syllabus Sequencing Strategies

Sample Daily Syllabi

Lesson Plans

Reading Selection Recommendations

Assignments

Response Papers and Discussion Forums

Presentations

Discusssion, Group, WTL Questions

Variations, Misc.

Curbing Plagiarism

Additional Teaching & Course Design Resources

Guide Contributors

Response Paper Assignment Example

This example of a weekly response assignment asks for students to submit a one page paper every Friday. The instructor posts specific questions each week during the first few weeks to give the students an indication of what they might pay attention to while reading. After the first few weeks, the instructor encourages the students to come up with their own topics for the responses. Included below is a list of general questions for those students who lack a specific topic for the week. The majority of the questions focus on formalist or traditional literary devices while the last question opens up the possibility of the responses by inviting students to comment on other critical approaches (i.e. feminism, reader response, etc.). One interesting twist for this assignment is the coin flip to decide whether the instructor will collect the response or not. This strategy allows students the possibility of missing a response paper without consequences to their grades and lessens the grading burden for the instructor.

Weekly Response Papers:

For every assigned reading, you should annotate the text. These annotations will help you complete the response paper that you are expected to write every week (once a week). The first few weeks of the semester, you should check the course calendar on Wednesday (from the ‘Calendar’ in our class Writing Studio program) to find questions that you may use to guide your short responses to the fiction we read. After the first few weeks of the semester, you are required to come up with your own writing topics.  On weeks when we read two or more fictional pieces, you should choose one of the selections to respond to in writing. These short responses ( double-spaced and 1 page in length ) must be typed and brought to class every Friday (unless otherwise stated).  At the beginning of class on Friday, I will flip a coin: heads means the responses must be submitted for a grade; tails means I will not collect them. These response papers, while informal pieces of writing, should still be grammatically and syntactically correct; I expect you to use language precisely, to support your response with specifics from the fiction using cited quotations, to write with style, focus, and, yes, correct spelling. Be sure to specify which selection you are responding to in the title or heading. No late responses will be accepted for any reason (you may submit them early if you anticipate an absence), but I will drop the lowest response paper before averaging the others to figure the 30% of the final course grade .  I reserve the right to issue a pop-quiz or an alternative assignment in place of the week’s response paper. No email submissions are accepted .

Response Papers Dos and Don’ts:

A response paper should be fairly formal and should genuinely attempt to shed light on one or more aspects of the work. You may discuss the significance of character, plot, setting, symbol…whatever catches your fancy. Overall, I am looking for interesting and original insights concerning the reading assignment.

An ideal response will be about 1 page in length and typed. Your paper will explore a problem or point of interest created by a work of literature (this includes, but is not limited to, character motivation, thematic elements, symbol, irony, poetry conventions, etc.). Your ideas and insights will be based on information from the pages in the text we have read so far, calling upon specific examples to illustrate the idea or issue you are exploring. Your grade will be based on the quality and depth of your insights, and on the use of specific textual evidence as support. (Avoid the obvious! Take risks! Make it interesting!)

Possible starting places for your response include an author's life, politics, the social context of the work, philosophical musings, how and why the work evokes a particular feeling in you, cultural relevance, or the components of the text such as the significance of form, setting, narrative voice, imagery, or symbolism. Or, perhaps you will apply a critical approach to the text. Or, you may wish to explore the relationship between elements of the text (How does setting influence character?). As we move on into the later weeks of the course, you may even wish to direct your responses toward identifying patterns between texts, and asking what the significance of these patterns might be.

The Dos and Don'ts of Response Papers:

**Remember : Response papers must be submitted on time. They will be evaluated on the basis of focus, development, use of evidence, creativity, and level of insight. They will count as 30% of your final grade, and be graded on a 10 pt. scale each. Additionally, I will drop your lowest response.