Step Two: Do a short, controlled paper before a long one
After 4 years of struggling to get papers that included all the conventions and critical thinking a review is supposed to have, we finally took our own advice: SCAFFOLD. Break the assignments into smaller tasks. The question then became, what are the tasks? The single biggest challenge to writing a review paper is crafting a point of view from which to write as this forms the basis for everything from article selection to analysis to the subheadings used. Forming a good POV is not a writing problem: it’s a thinking problem. So we practice a controlled version of the process before we ask students to write independently. Writing/thinking skills include:
- Analysis (a literacy/reading skill)
- Synthesis (mostly a writing skill as it’s driven by POV, which is a thinking problem)
- Format (especially, headings + citation style)
Analysis
Analysis precedes synthesis; reading precedes analysis. Choose 3-4 articles from the major genres in your field. Teach students how to read them. Then, have students analyze the articles for different points of view, e.g., what does this article have to say about patients, physicians, costs, etc.? What is the analytical strategy? How does it define some major concept? Students learn to read both whole texts and to read for specific bits of information, so-called “opportunistic” reading.
If students take notes in bulleted lists instead of sentences, it takes care of unintentional plagiarism.
Synthesis
Having analyzed the articles, provide pre-planned headings, e.g. “Pros/cons of X for patients”, “Pros/cons of X for Providers”, and “Pros/cons of X for administrators”. The student’s task is to analyze for that information and synthesize a statement about each, using all the readings. If students created lists, then when they work from the list, they will not plagiarize the original. Since technical terms do not have synonyms, we’re not worried about them using those terms: they are supposed to, it’s what practitioners do.
Perform the synthesis in 2 parts. During part one, students generate content and mark where citations need to go. (Label articles A, B, C and have them use those shortcuts.) In part 2, students will revise, and add in the correct discipline-specific format.
Format
Provide a style guide and a model for how the paper should look. Insist on correct style. Decide whether you will allow software that generates bibliographies/citations. (Personally, I love software:-)).
Page 2 — Step One: Teach the literature in your field
Page 3 — Step Two: Start with a short, controlled paper
Page 4 — Step Three: Teach students how to craft a point of view
Page 5 — Scheduling and Scaffolding