UWP 19 - Writing Research Papers

Catalog Description

UWP 19. Writing Research Papers (4) Lecture/discussion C 4 hours. Prerequisite: course 1 or English 3 or the equivalent. Development of skills in critical reading, analysis, documentation, and writing needed for research-based assignments. Instruction provided in formulating research topics and in developing effective arguments. Reading and writing assignments may focus on a single theme. GE credit: Wrt (cannot be used to satisfy a college or university composition requirement and GE writing experience simultaneously). -I, II. (I, II.)
Course Goals

To help students understand the nature of research questions and to develop a research project related to their academic or professional interests
To offer students a variety of exercises and activities that help to develop the skills needed for an argumentative research project
To provide students with research strategies for both textual and non-textual kinds of research (for example, field work, surveys, interviewing, and observation)
To explore concepts of argumentation, including evidence, logic, and ethical and emotional appeal
To provide students with review and intensive practice in standard written English
To provide students with practice in revising sentences for clarity and precision
To explore through readings and through discussion of student writing the ways in which writers synthesize and organize facts and opinions from a variety of sources
To teach appropriate forms of acknowledging and documenting sources

Entry Level

Students should have completed UWP 1 or ENL 3 or the equivalent. The course is designed for students at the sophomore level; it may also be appropriate for upper division students in some majors or as a preparatory course for UWP 101, 102, or 104. Students should be familiar with the general principles of good writing prior to entry into the course.
Topical Outline

Critical reading skills and research-based writing
Identification of research questions
Strategies for research, including library investigations, data base searches, interviewing techniques, field work, surveys, and other methods
Principles of argumentation: making evidence consistent and complete; using logic to build arguments; rhetorical strategies
Acknowledgment and documentation of sources
Synthesis and organization of information from sources

The course will be graded by a letter grade.
Grades will be based on the student's performance on in- and out-of-class writing assignments and a final exam. Students will write a minimum of 6000 words; the number of assignments and the weight of each assignment will vary according to the instructor in accordance with departmental guidelines.

Assignments and sequencing vary from instructor to instructor, but in general, assignments will build toward the student = s completion of a significant research project, where the student has identified a problem requiring research and formulated an original argument in response to the questions raised by that problem.

Reading

Instructors will use a rhetoric or handbook that helps students approach research problems, such as The Little, Brown Guide to Writing Research Papers , Writing Research Papers: A Norton Guide , or Brenda Spat = s Writing From Sources . In addition, the instructor will provide student with examples of research writing, such as Mary E. McGann, Critical Thinking and Writing in the Disciplines , or alternatively, the instructor may collect appropriate reading from current publications.
Explanation of Potential Course Overlap

UWP 19 does not overlap with any other courses. It is distinguished from UWP 1 and UWP 101 by its focus on research and argumentation and the development of skills in writers at the intermediate level. It is distinguished from UWP 18 by its focus on research-based writing.
Justification of Units

UWP 19 is a four-unit course, representing four hours of lecture/discussion per week.

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