Describes a writing assignment for business writing courses in which the class investigates a problem that affects them not as students but as members of a larger community. The assignment is a feasibility study for developing Athens, Ohio, as an arts and entertainment center. (HTH)

Proposes two methods for gathering information outside the library to help students understand the full context in which research activities are carried out. Offers theoretical support for the methods and gives examples of their application. (HTH)

Diagrams a research or bibliographic loop that gives order and direction to the research process by enabling students to go beyond the usual unsystematic reliance on such limited and elementary resources as "The Reader's Guide." Includes a general explanation of the loop, illustrating its use in recent research. (HTH)

Describes the use of a succession of freshman English assignments that begins with a paper not based on research and concludes with a paper based on extensive research, designed to prepare students for term paper assignments. (HTH)

Suggests that using sociolinguistics as the subject of a semester-long course leads to real and exciting research rather than technically correct but lifeless "dummy runs" for real research in freshman composition courses. (MG)

Describes a course that resulted from the interest and need of the academic-advising office to serve undecided students more efficiently, preferably in a group-advising format. Finds that the resulting atmosphere seems to help students make significant progress in writing and in understanding their indecision. (MG)

Recommends that students conduct ethnographic studies of language in their own communities. Emphasizes that the focus ought to be conventions of speaking and writing, as well as conventions that govern the conduct, the "texts," of a culture. (RAE)

Presents an assignment where students are asked to read, speak, role play, and write on ethical questions, which sharpens and strengthens the research paper component of English composition, while setting the student free in the world of ideas. (RAE)