"Dr. Toffee's" Introduction to Her Own Research Project

NOT my school!  Students at a table in Muscatine Community College courtyard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I teach first-year composition at a community college in Illinois.  My students in English 102 (the research paper course) have to keep a research journal all term, and I've given them the option of doing this as a blog for a few points extra credit.  Few of them blog, so I got some requests for examples.  Unfortunately, when I searched, most of the research blogs I could find were by experienced researchers, not first-year college students.  I'm kind of surprised by this, since I know instructors all over the world are giving this kind of assignment.  My guess is that most of the students who are blogging on assignment are just doing as much as is required, and they are not going in for frills like pinging Google.  As a result, searches tend to ignore them.

The way this is going to work is that I will be writing as a fictitious student developing an English 102 research project.  Yes, I'll actually be doing the work, which I am sure will be good for me, sort of like eating your vegetables.  At the very least, it'll keep me humble.  I may occasionally add comments as an equally fictitious teacher (hence the "Dr. Toffee" pseudonym) from time to time.  Keep in mind that all opinions expressed are Rhonda's, and she is NOT based on a real person.  Rather, she is a composite of hundreds of students I have taught over the years.

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