POST: THE LOST ART OF RESEARCH-PAPER WRITING

Students no longer need the excuse "The dog ate my
research paper" because in a large majority of our
nation's schools, there are no research papers for the dog
to eat! Many high-school teachers around the country have
quit teaching research-paper writing because they simply
do not know how to keep their students from plagiarizing
off the Internet. Rather than facing the problems which
arise when students cheat, many teachers are backing away
from teaching a full-fledged research paper at all.

Meanwhile, businesses are clamoring for employees who can
do quality research and who can then write up their
research in such a way that there is no chance of
litigation being filed against their companies.

Colleges and university professors are complaining because
their students no longer know how to do independent
research. When papers are assigned, many college students
are taking the easy way out by plagiarizing because they
really do not know a systematic way to go through the
research process.

After teaching in the public schools for over 27 years, I
have spent several years in a private, Christian school
where we have required our students to research both
contemporary and literary topics using the fifth edition
of Joseph Gibaldi's MLA HANDBOOK FOR WRITERS OF RESEARCH
PAPERS (ISBN 0-87352-975-8, c. 1999). We have developed
two research-paper packets -- one for English I - II and
another for English III - IV. The process which we have
devised is very explicit and sequential. Students are
monitored at each step in the research process and during
the writing of their papers. We believe we have found a
way to make sure students do their own independent
research.

We want to offer our research packets (plus an important
document entitled "Steps to Research Paper") free-for-the-
taking to anyone who wants to use them. For that reason,
the packets have been mounted on our school's website
(www.ctcslions.com under English Research Papers I - IV).
We want public schools, private schools, charter schools,
and homeschoolers to make use of our materials. The papers
are mounted in WORD, PDF, and HTML for easy accessibility.
By downloading the papers and computerizing them, teachers
can feel free to change the content to make them specific
to their own students' needs. CTCS is a private, Christian
school; but educators in the secular setting can easily
utilize the materials by making a few changes via their
computers. We are claiming no authorship or copyright
privileges.

Donna Garner