Designing Assignments That Work

Research Paper Alternatives

annotated bibliography

literature review

bibliographic essay

identify a primary and a secondary source relevant to a specific event or person

write an entry for a dictionary or encyclopedia

evaluate and edit an article in Wikipedia

for a given topic, compare & contrast one or more of the following:

• a reference book and journal article
• an article and a book
• a popular article and a scholarly article
• disciplinary approaches (e.g. psychology and sociology)

creative projects

• video
• photography
• performance
• painting/drawing/prints
• fiction/poetry
• creative non-fiction
• music/sound recording
• web site

grant proposal or research funding request

• identify appropriate agency/funding source
• conduct literature review
• assess current state of the field
• identify next steps

poster sessions

• students take turns presenting their findings and “making the rounds”

mini-conference

• program with abstracts
• panels organized by broad topic areas
• brief oral presentations
• question and answer period

curate an exhibit (actual or virtual)

• research objects in an given collection
• decide what to display
• write labels and/or wall text
• write catalog entries and/or essays
• create metadata

recommend the purchase of an object (work of art, book, manuscript, etc.)

• research an existing collection
• study current auction catalogs and market conditions
• justify recommendation

stage a debate

• teams research and argue opposing viewpoints

write a rebuttal

• read an article and identify a viewpoint that is not represented -- research the topic and argue from that perspective

predict the outcome of an election or auction

project the impact of new or proposed policies or legislation

develop a communications strategy for a political campaign or activist organization

analyze key journals and decide where to submit an article

• editorial board
• submission guidelines
• circulation/distribution
• indexing/aggregating sources
• trends in content

propose a new topic for the course

• suggest readings
• relate new topic to others in the course

consult data/statistical sources to support an argument

track reports/uses of scientific research in the popular press

collect original data and compare findings to results in relevant literature