Writing A Research Paper
Usha Arya
Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School
1290 Ivey Ranch Road
Oceanside, CA 92057
Introduction
Writing research papers are essential
learning experiences in every student life.
You are taking first steps towards learning
to do research and writing a successful and
meaningful paper.
 Web Page
http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~uarya/index.
html

Expectations
This Internet based lesson will take
approximately two weeks to complete. It is
expected that by the end of the unit all
students will:
 Use technology as a stimulus for learning
 Improve web searching skills
 Write a meaningful research paper

Actual Learning
It took longer than two weeks to complete
this lesson plan. At the end, students :
 Learned to navigate through various web
sites for relevant information in a
meaningful way.
 Knew how to take notes, write an outline
and bibliography.
 Learned to use Excel and Power point for
their presentation.

Successes
Most of the the students appeared to be
engaged throughout this activity and were
successful in:
 Using search engines in a meaningful way.
 To read and take notes on the web and write
a paper.
 To cite sources they used.

Shortcomings
Lesson was too long for two week
implementation.
 Not enough or fast enough computers.
 Low interest in writing.

Students At Work
Student data 1
Student data 1
25
20
Score
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Pre-test
Post-test
Improvement
Student data 2
Line Graph
25
Scores
20
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Pre-test
11
12
13
14
15
16
Post-test
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Improvement
24
25
26
27
28
Data Analysis
20 multiple choice questions (pre and post test)
were taken by 28 students.
 All students participated in six activities during this
lesson.
 Not all students completed writing the research
paper.
 All students showed improvement in post testing.
 Students showed an average increase of 3.8 points.

Reflections
Not enough computers for student to work
on.
 Students were more excited about searching
the web than in writing the paper.
 Difficulty in engaging low achievers. They
did not complete the research paper.
 Lesson plan took longer to complete.

Revisions
More time is taken in instructing students in
basic computer skills.
 More time is needed to complete the
research paper.
 Incentives to complete the project will help.

Conclusion




I learned many new skills and feel more confident
about using technology in lesson planning
Students were motivated by web-based lesson
plans and seem to learn more from it
I plan to create more lesson plans integrating
technology
Working with this class was challenging and I
enjoyed all of it