Contributed by JenniferDiGrazia

This is an exercise to accompany Anne's "Adding to a Conversation" exercise for Unit 3 (a.k.a. the documented essay). I've used it often and find that it works really well! It's taken from Bruce Ballenger of Boise State University.

To begin with, arrange the desks in a circle, so everyone has access to each other. I begin by telling the students that one of the most important components of research is to cultivate the ability to ask questions that can help guide their research. I tell students to choose a topic that they have some interest in, one they might consider researching. I ask them to write the topic on the top of a clean page.

I, then, ask them to pass their papers to the right. Each student asks a question of the topic that is at the top of the page. Once they have asked the question, they pass the paper to the right. You can go around the room as long as you want--until the paper is returned to the owner, or until the students (or you) get bored.

Once the students get their papers back, ask them look over their questions.

Next, discuss the process. The following are helpful questions/comments for getting the discussion going:

• When it comes to research topics, what might you conclude about the value of lots of feedback early on in the process of writing?
• Did anyone get any questions they hadn't thought of?
• You can get insight about what others already know from the questions listed on your page, as well as insight into what might interest an audience, what their questions might be as you go about researching this topic.
• You get insight about what your audience knows or doesn't know, what it might be safe to assume and what you will have to explain.

Now, after the students have looked over the questions and thought about the nature of the questions, as well as considered what they want to learn from their research, I ask them to form five focusing questions about their topic. They then use these questions to help guide (but not to limit) their research. I explain to them it is a recursive process, as they go about searching, they may find stuff they hadn't yet considered and/or known. They can always change their questions later. Thus, their topic and angle is shaped not only by their interest, their audience's knowledge and desire for it, but by the resources available to them.

Let me know how it works!