In this post I am summing up the reading assignment of chapter 1 in The Bedford Research 4th edition.  This chapter is largely about picking a topic for research.  The also said to remember not only the audience, but also the format of the final report. The final report could be an interactive PowerPoint slideshow or a website on the selected topic.  Research papers are no longer the only format around.  The chapter also talked about brainstorming, free-writing, and other exercises to use in order to help synthesize a topic.  The important issue that the chapter discussed was the use of a research log and an outline/timeline for doing the entire project, so as to stay focused and on time.
The concept behind the research log is a good one to use this quarter because I have never had a quarter-long research project before.  Combining that with a blog is also helpful for the students and professors to easily view all our work and communicate feedback.  The last part of the chapter dealing with brainstorming on topics and polishing research ideas is a big help.  I feel, though, that the middle of the chapter when the book discussed different formats of presentations was distracting with all of the possibilities, since we are only writing papers.  Correct?