Sometimes it is hard to know how to get started so here are a few steps to take to get you thinking about your topic or your presentation.
The diagram below shows you that writing a paper is not a simple linear process.
There are various aspects that will affect what you look for and what you find. Half way through doing your paper, you might find something that really changes your perspective on the topic and how you want to write about it. So make sure you give yourself enough time for this.
Big Picture
|
Situational
|
Language
|
Information Gathering
|
Adapted from: Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2009). Finding context: What today's college students say about conducting research in the digital age. Retrieved from http://www.projectinfolit.org/publications.html
First of all you need to think about what interests you and then brainstorm some ideas. One technique you can use is called concept mapping or mind mapping.
Here are a couple of examples:
Example 1: At-Risk Youth
Example 2: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
University of Arizona has an online mapping tool. Just go through the steps and at the end you can send your work to any of your email accounts.
Now take a look at your concept map. If you try to do a presentation about the subject in the middle you will probably be talking for a very, very, long time.
You need to look at the ideas as the side and see which one you like the most.
So I can't write about substance abuse because it is too big a topic. I noticed that I am really interested in the prevention of it, so I am going to focus on that. Prevention is a narrower topic of substance abuse.
Prevention is still quite a big topic but I am going to think about how I can prevent it in my community which makes my topic even narrower. Maybe even too narrow but you need to start somewhere!
Take a look at this video from Las Positas College Library to see how they develop their ideas.
Here's another example:
Adapted from: ENGL 1050 Thought & Writing Research Guide: Deciding on a Topic, Western Michigan University
Using our Find It box on the library homepage, you will get access to many different types of resources.
Your results will look something like this:
Some more tips:
Use the "Tools" to email/print/ save yourself the article.
You can also see a citation if you press the Cite button. Always double check the citation is correct though!
Use the limits that are available:
Use Geography to limit to Canada (including provinces and cities)
Use Subjects to find more specific topic areas
Use Limit by Database if you only want medical articles (Medline or CINAHL) or psychology articles (PsycINFO)
|
From Melissa Wehler.
From Matthew Marmet.
From Collective Noun.
Now, how are you going to make your group work?
Okay, you don't have to make a presentation like Steve Jobs but it helps if you keep things simple for yourself and interesting for others.
The following journals are related to the discipline of child and youth care (CYC) and will provide a CYC perspective.