The ability to differentiate between reliable and untrustworthy sources helps writers hone their critical eye and choose appropriate texts to substantiate their writing, according to the University of Nebraska's Faculty Leadership for Writing Initiative -- a resource for teachers. To encourage this discernment, provide one example each of an authoritative online and print resource, as well as a problematic online and print resource. Point out the characteristics that make each source credible or questionable. Assign your students the task of finding one source in each of the four categories represented in your example, providing a choice of topics to narrow down the search. Encourage your students to discuss their strategies for distinguishing reliable sources from those that lack authority.
Although picking apart a 20-page journal article may be second nature to a seasoned researcher, it helps to allow novice writers the chance to wade into research analysis that is a little less intimidating. Provide access to research sources that you are familiar with and that are no longer than five pages in length. Instruct your students to choose one of the research articles and write a one-page summary. This gives student writers experience analyzing and summarizing data, which serves as a valuable tool in research-based writing. Research summaries can help support claims or provide relevant examples of conflicting viewpoints in research papers, according to Purdue University's Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Instruct writing students to choose an essay topic and find five relevant sources. Have the students read the sources and provide a two- to three-sentence summary for each source. As the writers gain experience with research methods, you want to stress that students formulate their own arguments prior to research so that they learn to think critically and independently. However, during initial research training, the main idea is to teach students the skills they need to identify, analyze and integrate research.
Learning to incorporate research into an essay often proves to be the most challenging step in developing and honing writing skills. Inexperienced students may insert irrelevant points, rely too heavily on research or cover too broad a field. However, practice leads to improvement. Provide examples of essays with well-integrated research. Explain the importance of developing original ideas about the topic and using research to back up an argument or even to demonstrate an opposing viewpoint. At this point, assign a three- to five-page essay, offer to answer questions during the process, grade the papers fairly and offer students a chance to revise their work based on your feedback.