Reading and Summarizing Research (STEM)
Description
This module is offered in two versions, one for Social Sciences/Business/Education and the other for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields. The focus is on using the typical organization of U.S. research writing to understand and take notes. We will also focus on common concerns for second-language writers: paraphrasing, quotation, and appropriate source-use practices; use of reporting verbs and noun clause structure; and controlling the strength of claims. Students work with readings they have selected from their course/dissertation research.
Materials
No textbook: students should bring 3-5 research papers (journal articles) in their field as mentor texts.
Recommended books for further reading (choose the one closest to your field):
- Robert Irish, Writing in Engineering: A Brief Guide (Oxford, 2015)
- Mika & Danielle LaVaque-Manty, Writing in Political Science: A Brief Guide (Oxford, 2015)
- Leslie Ann Roldan & Mary-Lou Purdue, Writing in Biology: A Brief Guide (Oxford, 2016)
- Lynn Smith-Lovin and Cary Moskovitz, Writing in Sociology: A Brief Guide (Oxford, 2016)
- Shan-Estelle Brown, Writing in Anthropology: A Brief Guide (Oxford, 2016)
Readings and Tasks: Science, Technology, & Engineering Fields
| Week | In preparation | In class |
| 1: The RP Genre |
Collect a mini corpus of 3-5 research articles in your field; bring the articles to class for analysis Read: How to read and understand a scientific research article |
Review the IMRAD structure Discuss how to read scientific articles efficiently How do scientists and engineers read research (here’s some actual advice)? |
| 2: Reading and notetaking |
Read: The Science of Scientific Writing Can you find examples of good (or bad) writing in your corpus? Annotate one article that you plan to summarize and write a memo (Optionally, here is a model of the reading process discussed in week 1) |
Note-taking techniques. Meta-cognitive reading strategies (Mokhtari & Reichard, 2002) Outlining a text Identifying cohesive language and other metadiscourse (see handout) |
| 3: Paraphrasing |
Read about plagiarism and paraphrasing Outline your article. Take notes. Skim through this useful list of academic phrases for referring to sources |
Principles of source use Paraphrasing practice with class text Noun clauses Reporting verbs |
| 4: Summary writing | Draft a 1-2 paragraph summary of your article |
Principles of a good summary Peer review summaries in groups Misc grammar issues and wrap up |
This Graduate Communication Support Initiative module was designed by Nigel Caplan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This version: 12/29/16
