Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021
Consider how sources will contribute to your research paper
Supporting a thesis
Writing Papers in APA Style
The source materials you have gathered can play many different roles to support and develop your argument. As you consider using a source, ask yourself what you learned from the source and how it might function to answer your research question.
Providing context or background information
Readers need some background information and context to anchor their understanding of your topic and the debate around it. Describing a research study or offering facts and statistics, as student writer April Bo Wang does, can help readers grasp your topic’s significance.
In the United States, most public school systems are struggling with teacher shortages, which are projected to worsen as the number of applicants to education schools decreases (Donitsa-Schmidt & Zuzovsky, 2014, p. 420). Citing federal data, The New York Times reported a 30% drop in “people entering teacher preparation programs” between 2010 and 2014 (Rich, 2015, para. 10).
Explaining terms or concepts
If readers are unfamiliar with a term or concept important to your topic, you will want to define or explain it. Quoting or paraphrasing a source can help you define terms and concepts in accessible language. April Bo Wang uses a source to define a key concept, student-centered learning.
According to the International Society for Technology in Education (2016), “student-centered learning moves students from passive receivers of information to active participants in their own discovery process” (What Is It? section).
Supporting your claims
As you draft, make sure to back up your assertions with facts, examples, and other evidence from your research (see also 7f). April Bo Wang, for example, uses one source’s findings to support her claim that a combination of certified teachers and educational technology can promote student-centered learning.
Many schools have already effectively paired a reduced faculty with educational technology to support successful student-centered learning. For example, Watson (2008) offered a case study of the Cincinnati Public Schools Virtual High School, which brought students together in a physical school building to work with an assortment of online learning programs. Although there were only 10 certified teachers in the building, students were able to engage in highly individualized instruction according to their own needs, strengths, and learning styles, using the 10 teachers as support (p. 7).
Lending authority to your argument
Expert opinion can add credibility to your argument (see also 7f). But don’t rely on experts to make your points for you. State your ideas in your own words and, when appropriate, cite the judgment of an authority in the field to support your position.
Horn and Staker (2011) concluded that the chief benefit of technological learning was that it could adapt to the individual student in a way that whole-class delivery by a single teacher could not. Their study examined various schools where technology enabled student-centered learning.
Anticipating and countering objections
Do not ignore sources that seem contrary to your position. Instead, use them to state potential objections to your argument before you counter them (see 7g). Readers often have objections in mind already, whether or not they agree with you. April Bo Wang uses a source to acknowledge that some teachers oppose student instruction driven by technology.
Some researchers have expressed doubt that schools are ready for student-centered learning — or any type of instruction — that is driven by technology. In a recent survey conducted by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Moeller and Rietzes (2011) reported not only that many teachers lacked confidence in their ability to incorporate technology in the classroom but that 43% of polled high school students said that they lacked confidence in their technological proficiency going into college and careers.