If it’s so important to know how to write a
research paper, why is it that I’ve never read one?
I read plenty of essays, narratives and poems, but
I never read research papers. It seems that nobody
ever reads research papers, although nearly everyone
has written one.
Well, I looked up “research paper” on Google.
com. Of the 10 non-sponsored sites returned, all
were about how to write a research paper. Not one
had anything to do with actual published research
papers.
The search did reveal one practical application of
the research paper: There were about 10 sponsored
links for companies that sell research papers to
students. Learning to write a research paper is
certainly a valuable skill to have if one is considering
a career in the research paper business. I am not
considering such a career, however. So where else
is the research paper found?
Simply type “research paper” into the VCU
Library InfoTrac search engine and many research
papers appear.
They are easy to identify, being labeled with
“research paper” in parentheses following the title.
Some examples of these “real-world” research papers
include “Protective effect of Aloe Vera L. gel against
sulpher mustard-induced systemic toxicity and
skin lesions (research paper)”; “Changes in 5-H[T.
sub.1A] receptor binding and G-protein activation
in the rat brain after estrogen treatment: comparison
with tamoxifen and raloxifene (research paper),” and
my favorite: “The mathematico-symbolic formulation
of teleonic principles (research paper).”
The specificity of these topics seems to contrast
with English 200 students’ topics, which are slightly
more general; being more along the lines of “advertising
is bad,” “sexism is bad” and the occasional,
“pollution is bad.”
Upon viewing these “real” research papers, I
immediately concluded that I would never have to
write one until at least graduate school. But still,
good thing I’m learning how to write one, right?
Wrong! The undergraduate “research paper”
has no educational value! I hereby implore VCU’s
administration to stop requiring undergraduates to
take English 200.
Is learning how to write a research paper
important? Learning to conduct research is, but it in mind, I think we ought to carefully examine part of the course description from my English 200 syllabus: “From the careful and thorough researching and writing required in English 200, students will develop analytical, interpretive,
and critical thinking skills necessary for, and transferable to, all disciplines in
the academic community and beyond.”
The problem with this portion of the course description is that these skills
will not be transferable to all disciplines in the academic community and beyond.
The research methods taught in English 200, which are almost entirely library
based, are not applicable across all disciplines.
Analytical, interpretive and critical thinking skills should already be tools used
by the college sophomore. Students who do not possess those skills necessary
to assemble a documented essay have no business attending college.
Officially and ideally, students should be learning these skills in secondary
school.
The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Standard of Learning outline for grade 12
states: “The student will write documented research papers.
1. Identify and understand the ethical issues of research and documentation.
2. Evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of information.
3. Synthesize information to support the thesis.
4. Present information in a logical manner.
5. Cite sources of information, using a standard method of documentation,
such as that of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American
Psychological Association (APA).”
I do not think that VCU’s administrators should be so presumptuous as
to assume that students who do not learn the above-mentioned skills in high
school will learn them in college. Students who do not know how to think
deserve the poor marks they will receive on their writing assignments, and
perhaps those poor marks will encourage them to consider careers that do not
require college degrees.
I have had more than one encounter, however, with classmates who claim to
have gained from the class. Most of these classmates said that the class “taught
them how to really write a research paper.”
This type of non-learning ought to be discouraged at an administrative level.
Instead, perhaps the class ought to be offered as an elective to those students
who do need to develop critical thinking skills.
Finally, I call for the gathering of some statistics on how effective English
200 really is. I would like to see a comparison of the undergraduate and
graduate marks of all written academic work of students who have taken the
course to those who have not. This study will either shed additional light on
the utter uselessness of the course, or it will completely prove me wrong.
The study should examine whether the acquired “analytical, interpretive, and
critical thinking skills” measurably improve the writing of students who have
completed English 200.
As you all know, good writing skills come only with practice, and good
practice comes from writing within the discipline a student is studying, not in
an English composition course during sophomore year. Unmotivated students
who never read and who generally have no passion for learning will never be
able to write.
I hope that the English department will support me in a call for the abolition
of the required English 200 course. It is a course detested by students and
teachers alike, and as far as I know, it offers no measurable gain.
The lazy professors of other departments who refuse to teach their students
how to conduct research and writing in their own fields have hijacked our
college’s English department for long enough. It is time for VCU’s English
department to refuse to pretend to teach what cannot be taught in an English
class and devote itself fully to its proper purpose: the study of our language
and literature.