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Having had the opportunity of being an instructor for almost thirty years, and involved in pedagogy for more than 3 decades. During that time period I have taught grades K-5, grades 9-12, college prep and most recently college and university aged students. For me, it was a constant challenge keeping educational activities fun, interactive and rewarding for each learner. As my teaching focused on older learners, making the gradual change from young to older, I noticed a common concern that each maturity level of kids became immobilized by: how to write a research paper.

Initially, I thought nothing of the reaction I received when asking for nonfiction essays to be completed. At first, I simply defined the usual groaning as a student's dislike of my love for homework. But, what I was dismissing and defining as being disgruntled, actually had much more significance; these students were sometimes downright panic stricken when they heard mention of a "research paper".

Worry about the something outside their comfort zone, being buried in heavy tomes, and not having the necessary skills to brainstorm research paper ideas was frequent. college-age students envisioning a barrier to climb, because they were clueless about how to write a research paper, rarely truly believed me that in life's big picture, completing a writing assignment, even one that was longer than they were accustomed to, was barely a blip on the radar, compared to much more significant, life impacting events they'd eventually face as full fledged adults. Those consolations fell on deaf ears much of the time.

Unable to look towards the whole essence or the long view, their immediate reality was a looming deadline that could only be met by participating in an activity they weren't interested in, that conflicted with their social calendar or that made them uneasy facing the unknown: how to write a research paper, and do it right - not just to pass or fail, but earn the marks that post-middle-school institutions, hold in high importance.

When I first began teaching at the college level I planned to give a full term assignment to write a research paper on a(n) issue of that particular student's most passionate hobby.

Our department head warned me that this would cause me more trouble than it was worth. He said that even at a college level, simply hearing that you have to write a research paper usually sent many students into a tail spin.

Determined, I ignored his wise words and ventured into research paper purgatory. The first session of the semester I handed out the syllabus for the class. This included the name of the course textbook, test dates and the expectation that everyone would write a research paper.

I explained that the tests as well as the participation in class confabs would be 66% of the grade and the research paper would be the other third. I also mentioned that possessing the researching insight seriously would better their chances to search and find a college scholarship. I handed out time lines and due dates for the dissertation. I wanted the topic they chose as well as a rough draft completed in the first two weeks and then various progress reports throughout the semester.

My agenda and execution of my set calendar dates "forced" things to be done in small increments, rather than the typical giant one, when many students, kids or adults, sit down at the last minute and try to accomplish weeks worth of work in one marathon of study. Unnecessary worry and nervousness in my way of thinking. And with the framework of how to effectively write a research paper devoured in small chunks throughout the class, semester or year depending on course and / or school, initial panic about even the most simple section: not having a research paper outline example, seemed less and less a big deal.

Whether narrowing down a long series of paragraphs formatted neat and succinctly summarizing research paper ideas, writing each necessary ingredient, keeping each research paper properly formatted for an educator who was known to be a stickler about such particulars, or pacing themselves to guarantee assignment completion by the due date, when deconstructed into smaller pieces, how to write a research paper concerns slowly, but surely go away. Look for the next article: Research Paper Ideas, the Easy Way - Finding Subject Matter That Wins Scholarships.