Research Proposal Planning Table

This asynchronous activity helps students thoroughly examine their research proposals with a rhetorical approach. Students not only look at different components of the research question itself, but also critically reflect on their audience and the purpose of their research to prepare for an excellent oral delivery of their research proposals.

Activity title: Research Proposal Planning Table

Author(s): Valerie Kinsey

Course: PWR 2

Activity length and schedule: This activity, typically assigned in Week 2, takes students a few hours to complete; it is suggested that instructors give students at least 40-50 minutes of asynchronous work time. It pairs well with discussions of the RP genre, Bizup (BEAM), research questions, research review, PWR 1 review.

Activity goals: This activity invites students to critically reflect on and engage with their intended audience in order to create meaningful oral deliveries of their research proposals. The activity is designed it to scaffold the Research Proposal because many student RP drafts focused entirely on what Bizup calls “background” information without actively engaging with their audience or intending to create meaning.

Activity details: This activity requires asynchronous work done by students individually.

Rather than a formal assignment, this is a planning activity that invites students to brainstorm various aspects of their RP and deepen the rhetorical components of their RP. Students will fill out a table as they think through the research question, audience, purpose, and controversy of their RP. Students are encouraged to jot down their thoughts in words and phrases, not necessarily complete sentences, to facilitate the brainstorming process. Students are also allowed to use hyperlinks to include multimedia components of their research.

A link to more details and assignment guide of this activity can be found here.