teaching with writing

social sciences assignments

Informal and formal writing activities can contribute vitally to each part of the investigative processes used in social science. Informal writing activities like note taking and brainstorming can initiate and expand students' understanding of target material by forcing them to probe presumptions, apply new information to old, and keep track of detailed data. A sequence of formal or finished writing assignments, on the other hand, will give student writers equally valuable opportunities to describe their research methods and findings in a structured and persuasive fashion.

assignments typical to all social sciences:

• Summaries and Abstracts: assignments requiring students to synthesize documents down to their essential theses and basic organization.
  
  

• Annotated Bibliography: an assignment for which students create short annotative descriptions after each citation. The description should be brief and include full bibliographic details: a sentence stating the purpose of the study, a description of the research questions, data, and method, and often, key phrases from the original text.
  
  

• Literature Review: an assignment that expands students' summarizing skills by requiring not only a pithy summary, but also a brief evaluation of the text's success or usefulness. Here the student writer should attempt to question the relevance or logic of a work and highlight its merits and shortcomings according to an established criterion or set of criteria.

economics

• International Trade, Economic Analysis: a 10-15 page sequenced writing assignment appropriate for upper-division students. The description sequences the assignment into four parts, includes a time schedule, topic suggestions, grading criteria, and suggested writing techniques.
  
  

• Macroeconomics, Writing Assignment: a 1-2 page writing assignment that asks introductory-level students to apply historic concepts of wealth to current standards.

geography

• Human Geography: an introductory course requiring students to complete the following research projects:
  
  

  • Cultural Landscapes: an assignment that begins with primary research into a local urban neighborhood and culminates in an ethnographic analysis.
    
    

  • Environmental Debate: an assignment requiring students to persuasively position themselves on a specific issue of resource preservation and allocation. A Grading Criteria Sheet and student Self-Evaluation Assignment are also available for this assignment.
    

linguistics

• The Analysis of the English Language, Formal Paper: a 10-page paper built on sequenced proposals and research. Grading criteria are included.
  
  

• Gender and the English Language, Three Paper Options: Traditional Major Paper, Experimental Paper, Three Short Papers: an assignment offering three ways to address the connection between gender and language, including a formal 10-page paper, a creative writing piece, or three shorter papers.
  
  

• Discovering Linguistic Knowledge, Formal and Informal Writing Assignments: an overview of several assignments designed to stimulate critical thinking about linguistics concepts and connected to stages of the writing process.

philosophy

• Philosophy and Cultural Diversity, Formal Paper: a paper with a guided outline questioning theories and definitions of "self" in readings by minority authors.

psychology

• Introduction to Psychology, Weekly Writing Assignments: a schedule of weekly essay-style writing assignments designed to prepare students for class meetings in an introductory course.
  
  

• Introduction to Abnormal Psychology Research Paper: a collection of handouts pertaining to an upper-division research paper:
  
  

  • General Instructions: a list of suggestions for writing and organizing the assignment.
    
    

  • Description of Paper Components: an explanation of objectives and research requirements for the assignment.
    
    

  • Paper Topics: a list of possible paper topics.
    
    

  • Research Guide: a set of instructions for conducting research with PsychINFO.

sociology

• Education and Society, Reflection Papers: a series of informal reflection papers related to the service-learning component of this upper-division sociology course.
  
  

• Introduction to Political Sociology: a course requiring a five-step research assignment:
  
  

  • Short Reflection Paper 1: a one-page summarized response to an assigned reading.
    
    

  • Short Reflection Paper 2: a one-page essay involving the concept of "recurring polarity" and social organizations.
    
    

  • Preliminary Research Assignment 1: a two-page paper summarizing research on political organizations, designed to help students assemble research and narrow the topic for their final research papers.
    
    

  • Preliminary Research Assignment 2: a two-page paper identifying a course concept (such as "class conflict") and describing its application to Preliminary Research Assignment 1. This assignment is designed to further narrow the final paper topic while relating ideas to the course to the organization being researched.
    
    

  • Final Research Paper Assignment: a six-page paper expanding students' research and discussion. The assignment includes a general outline of the primary components of the paper.
    
    

• Race, Class, and Gender
  

  • Interview and Essay Assignment: an essay analyzing the findings of an interview about a "lay" person's understanding of class and social reproduction.
    
    

  • Final EssayTopics: three topics for a six-page essay on course readings that addressed the incorporation of race, class, and gender into the wider system of social stratification.

social sciences assignment resources

• Psychology Writing Center: a compendium of handouts including advice on scientific writing and citation.
  
  
• Academic Info: Social Science Gateway: a collection of resources grouped by discipline; includes reference desks, libraries, and tips for teaching.
  
  
• Research Methods in the Social Sciences: An Internet Resource List: a list of research methods in the social sciences including links to research and writing in the social sciences, tests and measures, qualitative and quantitative methods, surveys, primers, calculators, and dictionaries.
  
  
• CourseLib: a service provided by University of Minnesota librarians that enables instructors to build and post customized, course-specific research pages.

10 Nicholson Hall
216 Pillsbury Drive SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455