English

Unit 3: Research Writing / 0

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research

ENGL1101, Heidi R. Anderson

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 1

UNIT 3: EXPLORATORY RESEARCH

In this unit, we’ll venture down a more traditional path for the college writing classroom. Of course, we’ll do this in (mostly) unorthodox ways, so don’t settle in for the typical research experience!

Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, linguist, and anthropologist said, “Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.” So, let’s start there: with curiosity.

Unit 3, Part 1: Curiosity and Exploratory Research

Task 1: What is curiosity – write your responses to the following questions (this should take @5-6 minutes):

• How would you define curiosity? • Are you a curious person – why or why not? What makes a person curious? • When was the last time you were curious about something (as you defined the term in the first question)? • What are you curious about now, i.e. are there subjects, topics, ideas/concepts, events, people, places, etc.

that you want to know more about? • If you’re not curious about anything, what do you think it would take to ignite your curiosity?

Task 2: What others have to say – Choose one of these following quotations about curiosity and respond to the questions below (this part – reading and responding – should take @ 7-8 minutes):

First, type or copy and paste the saying/phrase/quotation in your response. Then answer these questions: Why do you like this saying/why did you choose it?

• Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect. ~ Samuel Jackson • Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness. ~ Bryant H. McGill • Curiosity is the real teacher. ~ Thibaut • Curiosity is unruly. It doesn’t like rules, or, at least, it assumes that all rules are provisional, subject to the

laceration of a smart question nobody has yet thought to ask. It disdains the approved pathways, preferring diversions, unplanned excursions, impulsive left turns. In short, curiosity is deviant. ~ Ian Leslie

• I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Task 4: Research topics – Respond to these questions (this should take @5 minutes):

• List at least 3 topics you’d be interested in studying. Avoid Googling, “research paper topics.” Instead, go back to Task 1 and see if there are topics there and/or think about your life, the world around you – what’s going on that you might want to learn more about?

• Explain why you are interested in the topics. • For each topic, list 3 questions about it – questions that might guide your research.

Remember: this is an exploratory research unit. I expect students to flounder a bit with choosing topics, and we’re not jumping right into a final research paper. In fact, you won’t complete that project until the end of the semester. So, for now, set your mind on discovery and don’t settle for the traditional research paper (or topic!).

RESEARCH WRITING: THE BEGINNING

This unit covers the concepts and practical application of them for research writing. Some of this may be review for you; even so, take your time with the review – you may find there are some things you don’t know about research writing at the college level.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 2

Note: The rest of the chapter is mostly task free, i.e. there aren’t specific tasks to turn in, and time commitment is difficult to estimate; it will vary for each person and topic. Thus, while it seems like a low-investment unit, it’s actually a critical foundation for effective and efficient college writing; please invest as fully as possible.

Throughout the chapter, I’ve used “boredom” as an example research topic. Some of the materials related to the topic will be viewed or handed out in class. My interest in the topic of boredom began in the dentist’s office,

looking through an issue of Real Simple while waiting for my appointment to begin. I found and read an article, “Never a Dull Moment” by Jennifer Lindley, and that was the beginning of my curiosity. I wondered: Scientists actually study boredom? Boredom has a definition and can be measured? Boredom has effects? I wanted to learn more!

So, I looked for Lindley’s article online and found a copy I could read more closely. Unlike the “skimmed” reading I did in the dentist’s office, now, I applied an academic reading process to get a deeper understanding of the topic.

THE ACADEMIC READING PROCESS

Yes – there is an academic reading process! Like the writing process, many students overlook the importance of employing a process for academic reading. If a research writer doesn’t read carefully and deeply, they won’t use the source to its full potential. Thus, research writers must be effective and efficient readers, not just good writers!

Here are the steps of the academic reading process:

•Pre-reading is helpful because it gets you warmed up before the rigorous exercise of reading deeply and actively. Pre-reading includes looking at the title to see what the topic is, then considering how much you know about it. It can include talking and/or writing about the topic too.

•Reading actively means that you take notes from the reading – underline, highlight, etc. This is also called annotation – taking notes within a piece of writing.

Doing this helps you remember what you’ve read and helps you find the information you need more quickly. Annotating also makes the next step of the process easier.

•Re-Reading: If you’re using a source in research, you’ll need to read it more than once. In this step readers review their annotations and/or add annotations; they don’t necessarily read every word/paragraph of the article again.

•Post-Reading involves activities that check your reading comprehension. Writing a summary or answering questions about the reading are examples of post-reading.

Teachers often ask students to complete “post-reading” activities to make sure they’ve actually read the assignment, i.e. to hold them accountable for the reading, and they want to make sure students understand what they’ve read.

Practice this process, and you’ll become a better, more confident reader of academic texts and a better writer – guaranteed.

I’ll share an annotated copy of “Never a Dull Moment” in class. Here are keys to my annotation/active reading strategies: • I’ve used color and different writing utensils; I always use a pencil the first time I read because I’m not sure

what’s important vs. what’s novel about the reading.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 3

• I’ve noted experts and sources cited by the author, e.g. books and publications, so that I can find these later – they may be good sources for a final paper.

• My annotations are more frequent in the first part of the article, not the second. That’s because the second part focuses on parents and parenting; I didn’t think that would be part of my research focus, so I didn’t annotate these ideas except to generally mark “Problem” and “Solutions.”

My next steps were to find more sources, so I did a Google search, and found this YouTube video: “Why Do We Get Bored?” from the Vsauce channel, produced by Michael Stevens.

I also searched MState Library’s database resources, which helped me come up with more search phrases:

After doing this, I had several readings and more ideas for a narrower focus, e.g. boredom at school or work, eating or creativity. I read articles about boredom, both in scholarly publications (primary sources) and popular publications (secondary sources).

Entering the Conversation: They Say / I Say

The article by Jennifer Lindley was the point-of-departure for my exploration of the topic of boredom; it was the initial source that ignited my curiosity. Michael Stevens’ Vsauce video and other sources I found provided more information, and now, I was entering the conversation, i.e. I was able to think about the topic of boredom and articulate my own ideas based on sources.

Task 5: Entering the conversation – The idea of “entering the conversation” comes from the book, They Say / I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. The pdf of the introduction from this text is in our D2L. After reading “Introduction: Entering the Conversation,” answer the following questions (this may take @ 40 minutes or more as needed):

1. What different “Ways of Responding” have the authors offered? 2. How have the authors answered the question, “Do Templates Stifle Creativity?” Give the specific examples

they use to develop their response. 3. How have the authors answered the question, “But Isn’t This Plagiarism?” Give the specific examples they use

to develop their response. 4. Share the big “take-away” for you from this chapter.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 4

For now, let’s move on to what researchers often do once they’ve found several sources and read, watched, and listened to them carefully: write summaries of them and respond to them.

Summarizing is a basic (and crucial) skill for research writers. In this section of the Unit 3 Chapter, we’ll review summarizing and plagiarism.

WRITING SUMMARIES AND AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

Anytime we’re using sources in writing, plagiarism can become an issue. So, let’s review. As a college writing instructor, I’ve seen two kinds of plagiarism:

• Inadvertent: inadvertent plagiarism is the result of a writer who: • Inaccurately summarizes, paraphrases, or quotes a source of information or • Uses inadequate citations/documentation

• Deliberate: when a writer intends to take someone else’s ideas/writing, they often do it by • Copying a document word-for-word (copy-and-paste) or • Buying or “recycling” papers from online or other students

In addition, many instructors see the use of AI language-processing tools, e.g. ChatGPT, as plagiarism. After our first two units, I hope we have a better understanding of how tools like this can and should be used in a learning environment.

What I’ve seen most often is students transferring what they’ve learned in high school and applying it to using sources in college writing, but paraphrasing – putting a source into your own words – is different at the college level. Thus, many students find themselves committing plagiarism, but in high school the same use would not have drawn attention.

Again, I realize many students who have studied at the high school level in the U.S. have been taught to do the following:

• Replace an author’s (“important”) words with synonyms • Overuse quotations • Reword a text line-by-line or sentence-by-sentence

Doing this is not acceptable for college students!! Now, let’s look at a sample1 – here’s a passage from an article by Alex Thio, “Global Analysis of Culture.”

Almost from the time we are born, we are taught that our way of life is good, moral, civilized, or natural. At the same

time, we learn to feel that other peoples’ ways of life are not. The result is ethnocentrism, the attitude that one’s own

culture is superior to that of other peoples.

Now, here’s the passage as paraphrased by a student writer:

According to Alex Thio, just as soon as they are born, people learn that their culture is excellent, ethical, and acceptable.

Simultaneously, they learn that other peoples’ lifestyles are not. This leads to ethnocentrism, the idea that a person’s own

culture is good, moral, civilized, or natural, but that other peoples’ cultures are not so good.

Is the paraphrase plagiarized?

1 This sample comes from Trudy Smoke’s A Writer’s Workbook, the 4th edition.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 5

The answer is yes, this paraphrase is plagiarized. It is unacceptable because it copies the wording (the phrase and clause structures) of the original and just replaces words with synonyms.

To attribute (v) / attribution (n): [to attribute something to someone] – means to give credit to someone or something for the creation of something. The student writer uses attribution, but that doesn’t mean the original sentence structure can be used.

Specifically, the student writer uses the phrase “According to Alex Thio” as attribution. The writer shows that the ideas belong to Thio, but they still use words, phrases, and sentence structures that are too close to the original. It is inadvertent plagiarism, i.e. why would the student show/tell the reader, the instructor, where they got the information if they were trying to cheat?!

Below you’ll see the original and the student’s side-by-side with highlighted phrases and clauses to show how the paraphrase copies the original.

Original from “Global Analysis of Culture” – Alex Thio: In the words of a student writer: Almost from the time we are born, we are taught that our way of life is good, moral, civilized, or natural. At the same time, we learn to feel that other peoples’ ways of life are not. The result is ethnocentrism, the attitude that one’s own culture is superior to that of other peoples.

According to Alex Thio, just as soon as they are born, people learn that their culture is excellent, ethical, and acceptable. Simultaneously, they learn that other peoples’ lifestyles are not. This leads to ethnocentrism, the idea that a person’s own culture is good, moral, civilized, or natural, but that other peoples' cultures are not so good.

What went wrong? I think I know! The student writer was trying to paraphrase the passage word-by-word, sentence-by sentence, and that is a recipe for plagiarism. Instead, research writers need to take a step back and consider: what is the main idea here? What is the source/passage/author trying to convey?

If we focus on the general idea, we’d have a better paraphrase:

In “Global Analysis of Culture,” Alex Thio explains “ethnocentrism” and the roots of it in how children are raised and

taught the values of a culture.

I hope this clarifies and demystifies the view of plagiarism. If you’re not sure about plagiarism or need more information, please talk to me about it.

In class, I mentioned the YouTube video, “Why Do We Get Bored?” Here’s a formal summary of the video. Is it acceptable, i.e. is there inadvertent plagiarism, adequate information about the source, etc.?

In the YouTube video, “Why Do We Get Bored?” Michael Stevens explores the topic of boredom from a variety

of perspectives, including philosophical, neurological, physiological, and psychological views of this human emotion.

Stevens cites philosophical views that see boredom as an initiator for human creativity, a prompt that “may have caused

us to accomplish much of what we have achieved.” He also points to neurological and physiological research that suggests

correlations in personality traits such as self-awareness and lower proneness to boredom and connections between

dopamine levels and higher proneness to boredom, which can be linked to negative effects like depression, addiction, etc.

Stevens says that our brains need a balance of stimulation, what psychologists call “flow.” He emphasizes the need for the

stimulation-deprived mind to find flow to the extreme that it will produce hallucinations rather than remain at a standstill.

Stevens considers the evolutionary aspect of boredom when he says, “Emotions are not superfluous. Normal amounts of

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 6

them have a purpose.” In this view, boredom is a negative emotion associated with disgust. According to Stevens, disgust

in the form of boredom initiates creative thought. Thus, he concludes, “boredom is the sign of a healthy mind.”

Notice: • The noun + verb pairs – in most sentences the author (Michael Stevens, or Stevens) is the subject of sentences,

and the simple present verb form is used throughout. • The focus of the summary includes Stevens’ purpose not just the content of the video.

Any summary requires careful reading and re-reading (watching, re-watching / listening, re-listening). Think of it this way: You don’t get to know someone by meeting them only once. It’s the same with a source: You need to consume it at least twice to get a deeper understanding. Reading more than once will also help you avoid inadvertent plagiarism.

Many believe that using ChatGPT to write a summary is ok; I’m not sure, so I will say this: I would like students to summarize a source before they ask ChatGPT to do it. Then, compare what ChatGPT includes and what your summary contains. All use of AI must be shared with Heidi and cited (more on this later).

RESPONDING TO READING

Many of you have written summaries before, but have you written a formal response? In this section, we’ll learn about responding to reading; it is another crucial skill for research writers. Responding is the foundation for Graff and Birkenstein’s book, They Say / I Say.

First, let’s think about how summary and response are different.

A summary contains the ideas from the article; it does not include your opinion or reaction to the information from the reading. A response includes your opinion or reaction to the information from the reading.

So, summarizing and responding are important skills for research writers --- but why? • Writing a summary shows that you’ve read and understood the text (and, thus, the topic). • Writing a response shows that you’ve thought about what you’ve read – that you’ve taken the reading to a

deeper level.

In many college classes, students are asked to summarize and respond. Doing so in a formal essay is called a response or reaction paper. A response/reaction paper includes a summary along with your interpretation and/or reaction to the ideas presented in the passage, article, book, etc. This type of writing asks that you think about what you’ve read and decide how you feel about it; it is a deep reading and deep reading exercise.

Let’s look more at how to respond. The following are 3 different (and common) ways to respond to something you’ve read – i.e. to respond to a text.

• Text-to-Self ▪ How does what the writer says connect with my own experience? Have I had a similar experience?

• Text-to-World ▪ What’s happening in the world right now that is connected to this reading/topic?

• Text-to-Text ▪ What other story, book, essay, or piece of writing have I read that reminds me of this text? Why does it

remind me of the reading?

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 7

In addition, when you are reading an article, look for passages (a sentence, sentences, or a paragraph) that provoke a feeling or emotion. Then try to use one of these formulas to develop your ideas: • This passage/idea makes me feel _______________ because______________. • This passage/idea reminds me of _______________ because______________. • I agree / I disagree with this passage/idea because ___________________.

A traditional formal response is focused on one idea, not the whole article. The responses are in the body paragraphs; thus, each body paragraph focuses on one idea, detail, passage, etc. from an article (or source).

Let’s try responding to an idea from the YouTube video. I’ve created questions that are variations of text-to-text, text-to-world, and text-to-text questions because I don’t want you to get stuck with just those few options. Take a few minutes to write your responses to these questions:

At the end of his YouTube video, “Why Do We Get Bored”,” Michael Stevens encourages viewers to “give yourself time…to get bored.” • What do you think about this recommendation? Do you give yourself time to be bored? Should you? Will you? • What results would we see if more people took time to be bored? Can you think of people you know who need

to get bored? • Does what Stevens say remind you of anything you’ve read about in Lindley’s article (“Never a Dull Moment”)?

Responding to sources is what research writers do, and if it’s done well, readers will be more likely to agree with the central message. Research writers must also identify themes in the research. That’s what I’ll cover next.

A theme in research is a particular topic or issue that is discussed often or repeatedly in multiple sources. Researchers identify themes as a way of cross-referencing information about the topic; you learned about doing this as part of evaluating source in Unit 2: Bias and Critical Thinking.

You’re also learning about this in responding to sources; themes are text-to-text connections between sources. So, how do we identify themes in our research? First, we read/watch/listen to our sources more than once; that will make it easier to find ideas that are similar.

Let me simplify this a bit; look at the following conversations and see if you can identify themes, similar ideas, that are included in more than one conversation:

Topics of Conversation 1 Topics of Conversation 2 Topics of Conversation 3

The weather Thanksgiving break Sports

Classes The weather Families

Families Jobs Classes

Broken-down car Health Jobs

Music Teachers The weather

What are the repeated topics in these conversations, i.e. themes? • Conversations 1, 2, and 3 include the topic of the weather. • Conversations 1 and 3 include the topics of classes and families. • Conversations 2 and 3 include the topic of jobs.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 8

These are the themes in the conversations. Notice: The topics of Thanksgiving break, a broken-down car, music, health, teachers, and sports are not themes because they’re in only one conversation. We’ll cover this more thoroughly in class … you don’t want to miss it!

MLA DOCUMENTATION – DOCUMENTING AND CITING SOURCES IN RESEARCH WRITING

Next, I’ll briefly explain features of MLA Documentation, how to cite and document sources in research writing. Warning: This may be the most difficult section of the chapter/unit to engage with, but it’s important (or I wouldn’t make you read it!)

Before we begin, let’s review some vocabulary to make sure we’re speaking the same (research/academic) language:

• To cite (v) / citation (n) - the dictionary defines citation as a quotation of a source, but most English instructors would agree that it’s any reference to a source – quotation, paraphrase, or summary.

• To attribute (v) / attribution (n) – to give credit to the source of something

These are terms that apply to the use of sources in writing; the ideas you use in your essays/papers need to be cited, i.e. you need to include attribution of sources to give credit to the writers/creators, and the sources need to be documented to show your readers where you found them.

The following pages cover 4 steps to documenting sources. These steps apply to any research writing – any time you use sources in a formal speech or essay.

1. Choose a documentation style – documentation styles are field specific. ▪ Documentation styles are field specific. ▪ Modern Language Association (MLA) is used in the humanities and fine arts. ▪ American Psychological Association (APA) – social sciences and education

If an instructor does not choose a documentation style for you, you’ll choose. MLA is used in the humanities and fine arts: philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history, etc. When you’re not sure which one to use, ask your instructor.

Once you learn the basics of MLA, you should be able to learn the others as needed. In other words, you can transfer the basics from one documentation style to another.

2. Decide what kind of source it is ▪ Books ▪ Scholarly journals – print or online ▪ Popular magazines or newspapers – print or online ▪ Library databases – contain journals, magazines, and newspapers ▪ Other online sources – web pages, online magazines, newspapers, blogs, social media, etc. ▪ Multimedia sources – films, podcasts, tv or radio programs, speeches, interviews, etc. ▪ Primary research – surveys, interviews, observation, experiments, etc.

The way we do research – online – can make it difficult to identify the type of source we’re using. If we don’t know what type of source it is, we won’t document it correctly. We’ll review these types of sources in class; for now, remember this: When in doubt, ask your instructor and/or an academic specialist (librarian), and/or a writing coach from the Center for Academic Writing and Reading what type of source you’re working with.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 9

3. Complete works cited entries; entries include 3 basic parts (pieces of information): ▪ Author or authors’ names ▪ Title of the piece – format titles consistently: quotation marks or italics ▪ Publication information – this varies depending on the type of source ▪ MLA calls the place of publication the container

Even if you’re not sure you’ll use a source, you should create a works cited entry for it. Doing it right away will save you time (and stress) at the end of the writing process.

Remember – the titles of shorter works (articles, essays, chapters) are in quotation marks – “Title of a Shorter Work.” The titles of magazines, newspapers, books, and web pages (containers) are in italics – Title of a Magazine.

MLA Documentation style also has its own capitalization rules:

• Capitalize the first and last words in a title • Do not capitalize articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions unless they are the first or last word

Finally, the publication information is usually the place and date of publication and any other information that would help readers find the source if they looked for it on their own.

Let’s look at the sample works cited below.

Name 7

Works Cited

Koerth-Baker, Maggie. “Why Boredom Is Anything but Boring.” Nature, 12 Jan. 2016, pp. 146-48, doi:10.10384-

529146a.

Lindley, Jennifer. “Never a Dull Moment.” Real Simple, vol. 16, no. 2, Feb. 2015, pp. 102-05. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=100298082&site=ehost-live.

Mann, Sandi, and Rebekah Cadman. “Does Being Bored Make Us More Creative?” Creativity Research Journal, vol. 26,

no. 2, Apr. 2014, pp. 165-73. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10400419.2014.901073.

“Why Do We Get Bored?” YouTube, uploaded by Michael Stevens, Vsauce, 18 Aug. 2013,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwd25JV-jnU.

Williams, Caroline. “Bored? Well, Don't Be.” New Scientist, June 2017, pp. 102-07. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=123618573&site=ehost-live.

Notice the format of the Works Cited page: • It’s on page 7 – it’s at the end of a research paper. • The title of the page is in bold and centered: Works Cited. • The entries are in alphabetical order based on the authors’ last names. • All entries invert the author’s name – last (family) name comes first, then the first (baptismal) name. • All entries use the hanging indent. This makes it easier for readers to see where the entry begins and ends. • The third entry has two authors. The first author’s name is inverted, but not the second one.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 10

• It’s an example of a scholarly journal, so there’s more publication information added like volume # and page numbers. Notice that the name of the library database is also included.

• The first entry is from an online magazine with a DOI - a digital object identifier, a combination of numbers and letters that identifies the location of a text on the web.

Whew! That’s a lot for creating a works cited entry. Now, finally, we get to the fourth and final step in the process:

4. Practice in-text citations ▪ In-text citations are the references in the paragraphs of your paper ▪ In-text citations come in two forms:

• Parenthetical reference – using the author(s)’ name(s) in parentheses; if you have a print version, include page numbers

• Attribution – using the author(s)’ name(s) + a strong verb + summary, quotation, or paraphrase

Now, you need to consider how to use the source in your paper. How you cite the source in your paper is called in- text citation. But first, let’s consider a question: Why use in-text citation?

It’s a map; it brings readers to the works cited.

Think about it this way: Have you ever gotten directions to somewhere and still gotten lost?

Documentation works the same way … you, the writer, are giving your readers a map (in-text citations) that should lead them to the works cited page at the end of the essay/paper.

Let’s see if you can use the in-text citations in the sample paragraph to find the entry in the works cited on the next page.

Here’s a paragraph from an exploratory essay/discovery draft:

The topic of boredom is current, relates to my career as an educator, and provides many subtopics to explore for

further research. When I did a Google News search, I found at least 400,000 results, some as recent as a day old. In the

library database, Academic Search Premier, I found over 100 results for sources from 2016 alone. Moreover, several

sources relate to education. In ““Why Boredom Is Anything but Boring,” Maggie Koerth-Baker writes about studies done

with college students and alleviating boredom. Sandi Mann and Rebekah Cadman also write about the effects of boredom

on students, recommending teachers explore the topic with students. In “Boredom: That Which Shall Not Be Named,”

Jason Weinerman and Cari Kenner discuss the topic and research of academic boredom, arguing that teachers should take

responsibility for and help students understand what the term means in “the learning environment” (18). In addition,

sources give many subtopics to consider as I narrow my topic, e.g. boredom and creativity (Koerth-Baker), boredom and

children (Lindley), and boredom and addiction (Williams). Because the topic of boredom is current, related to teaching

with many subtopics, it is a good source for a research project.

Where do you see parenthetical reference? Where do you see attribution?

Now, here’s the works cited page from the essay. Do the in-text citations lead you to the works cited entry?

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 11

Works Cited

Koerth-Baker, Maggie. “Why Boredom Is Anything but Boring.” Nature, 12 Jan. 2016, pp. 146-48, doi:10.10384-

529146a.

Lindley, Jennifer. “Never a Dull Moment.” Real Simple, vol. 16, no. 2, Feb. 2015, pp. 102-05. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=100298082&site=ehost-live.

Mann, Sandi, and Rebekah Cadman. “Does Being Bored Make Us More Creative?” Creativity Research Journal, vol. 26,

no. 2, Apr. 2014, pp. 165-73. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10400419.2014.901073.

Weinerman, Jason, and Cari Kenner. “Boredom: That Which Shall Not Be Named,” Journal of Developmental Education,

vol. 40, no. 1, Fall 2016, pp18-23. EBSCOhost, doi:10.10400419/2014.901073.

“Why Do We Get Bored?” YouTube, uploaded by Michael Stevens, Vsauce, 18 Aug. 2013,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwd25JV-jnU.

Williams, Caroline. “Bored? Well, Don't Be.” New Scientist, June 2017, pp. 102-07. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=123618573&site=ehost-live.

Were you able to find the sources? Yes! Now, you know why the hanging indent and the author’s last name is used in MLA Documentation – it helps guide readers to the left-hand margin of the works cited entry.

And that’s the 4 steps for documenting sources! I’ve shared the basics of MLA documentation, and you will need to learn more as you gather and cite sources. The next section illustrates how the MLA Handbook can be accessed for free from our library:

HOW TO ACCESS THE MLA HANDBOOK VIA MSTATE LIBRARY

MState students have free access to the MLA Handbook; the following section explains the steps for accessing the handbook, focusing on the assigned reading, “Chapter 5: The List of Works Cited” and “Chapter 6: Citing Sources in the Text.”

1. Click on this link to take you to the MState Library website: MState Libraries. Once there, click on “SEE THE

DATABASE LIST” under A-Z database list.

2. Go to the “M” listings – click on the “M” or scroll down the page.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 12

3. Click on Access the Handbook to open the e-book:

4. Scroll down to “The List of Works Cited (chapter 5) and click on the link under “5.0: The List of Works Cited.” I’d like all students to read this chapter.

Click on “Next” to continue reading the chapter:

Follow the same steps for accessing and reading “Citing Sources in the Text (chapter 6).” I’d like all students to read this chapter.

Next, we’ll look at another common format in college writing (and part of your exploratory writing): The annotated bibliography.

As part of the formal writing for Unit 3, you’ll create an annotated bibliography --- a list of sources in MLA documentation format with annotations below each works cited entry. Most annotated bibliographies focus on summary, but here, I want you to write annotations that evaluate and state the relevance of the source to your project/research.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 13

Annotated Bibliography

Koerth-Baker, Maggie. “Why Boredom Is Anything but Boring.” Nature, 12 Jan. 2016, pp. 146-48, doi:10.10384-

529146a.

Koerth-Baker’s article is full of references to experts – John Eastman, Peter Toohey, and Sandi Mann, for

example. The article also included the Boredom Proneness Scale – the pros and cons of it. Koerth-Baker is a journalist, so

I would want more primary or scholarly sources than this one.

Lindley, Jennifer. “Never a Dull Moment.” Real Simple, vol. 16, no. 2, Feb. 2015, pp. 102-05. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=100298082&site=ehost-live.

Lindley looks at boredom from a parenting view, mostly. She does offer references to experts and their

publications as well as some research studies. I wouldn’t use this source because it’s from a popular publication, but it

was a great introduction to the topic.

Mann, Sandi, and Rebekah Cadman. “Does Being Bored Make Us More Creative?” Creativity Research Journal, vol. 26,

no. 2, Apr. 2014, pp. 165-73. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10400419.2014.901073.

Mann and Cadman look at the research surrounding creativity and boredom. They are firm believers that boredom

is “good” and that it leads to innovation. They are both experts with doctorate degrees in psychology. I trust this source,

but I want to dig deeper into critics of boredom as positive.

Notice: • Like a works cited page, the title – Annotated Bibliography – is in bold and centered at the top. • The works cited entry is first, and a short annotation is added in a paragraph below the entry. • The annotations focus on my evaluation of the source and its relevance to my research/project.

Next, we’ll go over the assignment: Discovery Writing and Annotated Bibliography.

UNIT 3 FORMAL WRITING: DISCOVERY WRITINGS AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Though there may be exceptions, I do not want students to use an AI text-generator for these writings. We will, of course, discuss this more in class.

Early research includes a lot of discovery; thus, most of the pre-writing and drafting you’ll do for this assignment will be in class and followed up with a conference to go over your discoveries. Discovery writing is not a final research paper; it should reflect (include) what you’ve learned so far about your topic, not a developed argument.

Thus, this formal writing is not an essay; it is 3 separate writing assignments. I do this to help you refrain from writing an essay! Read the following carefully:

In U3: Discovery Writing 1, respond to the following: • Share background information on your topic. Cite sources using attribution. • Answer the journalist questions: who, what, where, when, why, how – as they relate to your topic; not all may

make sense for the subject you’re researching, while others may be answered several times. • Think about key terms and definitions, i.e. what words/concepts were new to you as you began your research? • Consider the history of the topic/issue; try googling a timeline for it or use what you’ve learned from the

sources you’ve accessed so far. • Finish with your research questions, i.e. what do you want to know/explore/discover with this topic?

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 14

In U3: Discovery Writing 2, respond to the following: • Choose one of your sources and write a summary and response; the summary should be a paragraph, no

longer. Then, choose one specific idea from the source to respond to (review pages 6-7 for response ideas).

In U3: Discovery Writing 3, respond to the following: • What themes have you discovered in your research so far? What are your next steps for research? Cite at least

2 sources that cover each theme.

Students must also complete and submit an annotated bibliography. The annotated bibliography (AB) must include at least 7 sources related to your topic; the AB should be formatted according to MLA documentation guidelines.

Annotations should include a one-sentence summary of the source and your evaluation of its worth to your project – focus on answering these questions:

✓ How has this source been useful to your research thus far? ✓ Is the source credible – why or why not?

Here are examples of the discovery writings:

Sample – U3: Discovery Writing 1: Share background information on your topic.

According to Dictionary.com, ‘boredom’ is the feeling of being wearied by dullness, tedious repetition, etc.

Boredom has been the topic of discussion and controversy for researchers in the fields of psychology, math, history, and

education. According to “The History of Boredom” by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, the word ‘boredom’ was used by the

author Charles Dickens in 1852, and the emotion was first studied by a British mathematician named Francis Galton. It

was, of course, the subject of ancient philosophers like Seneca and historians like Plutarch (McRobbie). Norman

Sundberg and Richard Farmer, researchers at the University of Oregon developed the Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS) in

1986. After the creation and implementation of the BPS, research on boredom flourished with a focus on accurately

measuring the emotion (McRobbie). In 2011, Peter Toohey published Boredom: A Lively History, and, again, the topic

received much attention from psychologists and historians alike. More recently, educators have taken notice as we want to

know how to avoid boredom in the classroom as it seems an obstacle to engagement. This is where my curiosity comes

from – How can I help students avoid boredom or should I, instead, help them capitalize on it as a springboard for

creativity?

Sample – U3: Discovery Writing 2: Summary and response:

Now, take a look at examples of responses – look for the use of quotations and paraphrases and how the writing shifts from “they say” to “I say.”

In the YouTube video, “Why Do We Get Bored?” Michael Stevens explores the topic of boredom from a variety

of perspectives, including philosophical, neurological, physiological, and psychological views of this human emotion.

Stevens cites philosophical views that see boredom as an initiator for human creativity, a prompt that “may have caused

us to accomplish much of what we have achieved.” He also points to neurological and physiological research that suggests

correlations in personality traits such as self-awareness and lower proneness to boredom and connections between

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 15

dopamine levels and higher proneness to boredom, which can be linked to negative effects like depression, addiction, etc.

Stevens says that our brains need a balance of stimulation, what psychologists call “flow.” He emphasizes the need for the

stimulation-deprived mind to find flow to the extreme that it will produce hallucinations rather than remain at a standstill.

Stevens considers the evolutionary aspect of boredom when he says, “Emotions are not superfluous. Normal amounts of

them have a purpose.” In this view, boredom is a negative emotion associated with disgust. According to Stevens, disgust

in the form of boredom initiates creative thought. Thus, he concludes, “boredom is the sign of a healthy mind.”

As an introduction to boredom, Stevens’ video includes many interesting details. At the end of “Why Do We Get

Bored?” Stevens encourages viewers to “give yourself time … to get bored.” In other words, Stevens is promoting

boredom as a potentially positive emotion. I agree; I think people should spend more time without distractions like

technology or social interactions and just think, sit quietly, and think. This could prompt productive, maybe even profound

thoughts. John Eastwood would not agree with this positive assessment of boredom. In “Bored? Well, Don’t Be,” the

author quotes Eastwood who says, “‘If you are in a state of mind-wandering you are not bored… In my view, by

definition boredom is … an undesirable state’” (Williams). But I wonder: Why can’t the “undesirable” and the productive

coexist? For example, when I find myself impatiently waiting in line at a retail store, I often let my mind wander to

different ideas about work, my family, etc. This doesn’t mean I’m no longer impatient, but the thoughts I’m entertaining

are, in a sense, entertaining me. In sum, I don’t see boredom as entirely positive or negative; instead, I believe it’s up to

the individual whether or not they experience boredom negatively or positively.

Sample – U3: Discovery Writing 3:

What themes have you discovered in the research so far? What are your next steps for research?

There are several themes in the research I’ve done so far. For example, sources discuss how boredom can be a

good emotion, how measurements of boredom are not reliable, and the positive and negative effects of boredom. In

Michael Stevens’ video, “Why Do We Get Bored,” he talks about the creativity produced from boredom. He quotes

Giacomo Leopardi who wrote, “Boredom is the most sublime of all human emotions because it expresses the fact that the

human spirit, in a certain sense, is greater than the entire universe. Boredom is an expression of a profound despair and

not finding anything that can satisfy the souls’ boundless needs” (Stevens). The idea that boredom is good is also

presented in articles by Jennifer Lindley and Caroline Williams. In Maggie Koerth-Baker’s article, she addresses the

issues of reliability in measurements of boredom. This is another theme in the sources I’ve read. All agree that self-

reported surveys are flawed because they rely of the subjects’ honesty in answering the questions. Williams interviews

John Eastman, a professor of psychology who developed the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS), a

measurement that relies less on subjects’ self-evaluation of the emotion.

Both Stevens and Koerth-Baker touch on the negative aspects of boredom, but it’s Caroline Williams who goes

more into depth with the correlations of boredom with higher incidents of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction as well as

high-risk behaviors connected to mental illness. Williams correlates boredom with poor grades as do Mann and Cadman

in their article, “Does Being Bored Make Us More Creative?” Weinerman and Kenner explore academic boredom too, but

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 16

they don’t make a direct connection to failure or poor grades. Mann and Cadman as well as Weinerman and Kenner

believe educational boredom is an opportunity for learning and that teachers should exploit the emotion in the classroom.

My next steps for research are to look more at current measurements of boredom and possibly how technology

has or hasn’t had an impact on boredom, especially in students. I found a few scholarly articles, e.g.

“Making School Meaningful: Linking Psychology of Education to Meaning in Life” by Rolf Reber, and I want to read

these and decide if educational boredom, i.e. boredom in school, will be my focus for a final paper.

Sample – Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Koerth-Baker, Maggie. “Why Boredom Is Anything but Boring.” Nature, 12 Jan. 2016, pp. 146-48, doi:10.10384-

529146a.

Koerth-Baker’s article is full of references to experts – John Eastman, Peter Toohey, and Sandi Mann, for

example. The article also included the Boredom Proneness Scale – the pros and cons of it. Koerth-Baker is a journalist, so

I would want more primary or scholarly sources than this one.

Lindley, Jennifer. “Never a Dull Moment.” Real Simple, vol. 16, no. 2, Feb. 2015, pp. 102-05. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=100298082&site=ehost-live.

Lindley looks at boredom from a parenting view, mostly. She does offer references to experts and their

publications as well as some research studies. I wouldn’t use this source because it’s from a popular publication, but it

was a great introduction to the topic.

Mann, Sandi, and Rebekah Cadman. “Does Being Bored Make Us More Creative?” Creativity Research Journal, vol. 26,

no. 2, Apr. 2014, pp. 165-73. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10400419.2014.901073.

Mann and Cadman look at the research surrounding creativity and boredom. They are firm believers that boredom

is “good” and that it leads to innovation. They are both experts with doctorate degrees in psychology. I trust this source,

but I want to dig deeper into critics of boredom as positive.

McRobbie, Linda Rodriguez. “The History of Boredom,” Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Nov. 2012.

www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-history-of-boredom-138176427/.

McRobbie gives a thorough history of the study of boredom, mentioning the all-stars from the fields of

philosophy, history, and psychology. Her article ends with modern research into the neuroscience of boredom. I trust

Smithsonian Magazine and would definitely use it for background information in a final paper.

Weinerman, Jason, and Cari Kenner. “Boredom: That Which Shall Not Be Named,” Journal of Developmental Education,

vol. 40, no. 1, Fall 2016, pp18-23. EBSCOhost, doi:10.10400419/2014.901073.

Weinerman and Kenner are English teachers from St. Cloud, and I’ve heard them speak on this topic at a

developmental education conference. In fact, they inspired me to use the topic in ENGL1101. I’m not sure I’d use this

source in a research paper, but it was a great place to get ideas for the classroom.

“Why Do We Get Bored?” YouTube, uploaded by Michael Stevens, Vsauce, 18 Aug. 2013,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwd25JV-jnU.

Unit 3: Curiosity and Exploratory Research / 17

Stevens’ video was a great introduction to boredom from many perspectives, but it was just that – an introduction.

I probably wouldn’t use this in a research paper, though I have no reason to doubt the contents as reliable.

Williams, Caroline. “Bored? Well, Don't Be.” New Scientist, June 2017, pp. 102-07. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=123618573&site=ehost-live.

Williams’ article is a lot like Maggie Koerth-Baker’s, but Williams includes more information about the negative

effects of boredom, specifically addiction and mental health issues. Like Koerth-Baker, Williams is a journalist, so I might

want more scholarly/primary sources for a final paper.

Part of Unit 3 is a conference with me to go over your research process, the discovery writings, annotated bibliography, etc. I’ll give more specific guidelines about the conferences in class.

The goals with this unit are to build your confidence and give you opportunities to practice the basic skills in research writing: intensive reading, searching for sources, writing summaries, responding to sources, citation and documentation, and exploring a topic before writing a final paper.

Once you’ve completed the final drafts of the Discovery Writings and Annotated Bibliography, please respond to the following questions in a unit reflection:

Task 6: Unit 3 Reflection:

• Review the ENGL1101 Course Learning Outcomes (see our course syllabus in the Introduction to ENGL1101 module in D2L or look up the ENGL1101 Course Description on the MState website). Which of the competencies have we addressed in Unit 3?

• How confident and comfortable with the competencies are you now? How comfortable were you before the reading and assignments for Unit 3?

• What was your greatest challenge with completing the Discovery Writings and Annotated Bibliography? Where, when, and how did you seek help?