Nadia Franks
6/1/03
Per. 6
Research Paper DAR
Description: Research papers are meant to allow utilization of the various
information/media resources available to students, coupled with the idea
of effectively incorporated the information into a self-processed research
paper; not to regurgitate information but to learn how to filter through it
accurately to make a concise, well-written summary. The research paper
itself is much like a factual essay, arranging the information into
paragraph form and essay format; i.e. intro, body, conclusion. The major
difference is not only the call for seeking information, but the burden of
citing sources and showing research
Analysis: Dr. Lachman’s chemistry reports are notoriously detailed and
time consuming, needless to say, difficult. The report itself was close to 20
pages in length, and I spent a great deal of time on the internet finding
information; which was easy since I chose a rather current topic, hybrid
cars. I wrote the report hap-hazardly, composing new pieces of it as I
found more and more information. I also secured an interview with one of
the scientists working around the hybrid cars, and derived a portion of the
report from that as well. I did this report over the entirety of my spring
break that year.
Reflection: I met enough of Dr. Lachman’s criteria to earn an A on this
report, and this maintained my C in his class (I’m nothing for math, so the 2
big writing projects kept my grade in there alive). However, he did
comment that I could have used the information from my interview in
greater detail. I would do that differently…I think the reason I did not was
because by the time I did my interview I’d been sifting through so much of
the same information that I’d become somewhat desensitized. Also, most
importantly, I would not have procrastinated into spring break; lesson
learned that waiting until the last minute rushes the job and makes all
aspects twice as hard as they have to be on their own.