Asking students to write in 社会科学 classes is an important way of finding out the quality of their ability to think critically about the material. 作为教师, we routinely ask students to show their understanding of events or concepts, whether the course we are teaching is history, sociology or psychology. 在这些领域中 of study, asking students to demonstrate their knowledge of applying their learning and understanding to primary source material is a central way of determining how fully 他们完成了学生的学业. 构建有意义的作文考试是一个核心 way this communication happens in social science classrooms, as is asking students to research a topic in the field, integrate that research into their own analysis, 并适当地记录他们的工作.
Several teachers at Washtenaw Community College have designed projects which clearly communicate standards and expectations to students, along with offering opportunities for students to apply their skills and knowledge in practical ways. Dr. 大卫·菲茨帕特里克 has designed an assignment for his History 220 course which offers them some choice of topic, and which clearly communicates standards. 学生有5个选题 on which to write an argumentative paper which answers a specific question. 而 the 5thchoice is for the student to determine their own topic pending the approval of instructor, the other choices ask for focused research and thought along specific 行. 关于一个作业的问题. Fitzpatrick分享了这个项目 ranged from an invitation to determine what caused the collapse of Reconstruction in our country between 1872 and 1877, to considering how significant slavery was as 内战的起因. For each option, he indicated appropriate starting points for research, and clear standards for documentation (No MLA, either footnotes or endnotes 可接受). He indicates clear length, content and research requirements for the paper, and includes a timetable of due dates for preparatory materials students will 像他们完成论文一样完成. 一步一步，他清楚地与 students, and shows by the design of the assignment that he is well aware that student may not already know how to do the sort of research he has in mind. 想了解更多 Dr. Fitzpatrick’s assignments, please view a PDF document below. 你需要Acrobat 阅读器，以查看PDF. 如果你知道 not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download 它是免费的 Adobe.
Dr. 菲茨帕特里克的作业
十大菠菜心理学家. Anne Garcia, asks PSY 100 students to write a Journal Article Critique in order to show that they are able to conduct research in their field. Her directions for the assignment are clear and include the rationale for the assignment, 除了清楚地说明她的标准外:
Part of conducting psychological research is reviewing and understanding published 研究. In this part of the assignment, you are being asked to identify and find an article published in a scientific journal that is based directly (or in some cases indirectly) on the original research topic. 请阅读这篇文章和 write a paper about the article that answers the questions below. 论文应该 be typed in 12 pt font and approximately 2 to 3 pages in length. 一定要附上 a copy of the research article (including the abstract that briefly summarizes the 整个调查研究)和你的报告.
In addition, Professor Garcia includes questions for her students to help them learn the vocabulary of psychological research articles, and to aid them in thinking critically 关于他们发现的材料. Her directions clearly state the reason this sort of project is important, and also make it certain that students who are following her directions and cues will end up being able to read, comprehend, and write coherently 关于他们领域的奖学金. 更多地了解Dr. 请给我加西亚的作业 请参阅下面的PDF文件. 您将需要acrobatreader来查看PDF. 如果你知道 not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download 它是免费的 Adobe.
儿童心理作业说明
标准文档样式 for historical papers is found in The Chicago Manual of Style, and Kate Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, 都是由芝加哥大学出版社提供的. 标准文档样式 for Sociology and Psychology is APA, the set of standards put out by the American 心理协会. Whichever documentation style you choose, remember that the reason they must document their work in college is not just to prove that they have not plagiarized another’s work, but is primarily to show the quality and nature 他们所进行的研究. 通过适当地引用他们的研究来源， they are ensuring that their ideas will be given more credence. 我们就能沟通得越多 with them about what standards and expectations we want them to be able to meet after they have successfully passed our courses, the better we will be serving their long term goals, and our own agenda of conveying information.
考试的问题. As teachers at a community college, part of what we are communicating to our students are cues as to what college level work requires. 为此，我们可以 consider offering students guide行 for each type of writing they do in our courses. Richard Marius, in A Short Guide to Writing about History, 3rd Ed.敦促学生 to be specific in answering essay questions on history exams. 他写道:“你必须这样做 人名、日期、文件、地点? 什么? 在哪里? 当? 为什么? 这些问题 should haunt your mind, and you should always be trying to answer them as you read 写”(183). By spending some time preparing students to do the quality work we expect of them on essay exams, we can ensure that we are training them to take 重视他们受教育的机会.