Exercises — Week 6: Synthesis Peer Review; Inquiry and Research Questions
1 hands-on tasks. Do them in order; each one feeds the Canvas item it names.
10 min · on-screen-scaffold
1. Research Question Quality Check
- SPECIFIC — Does the question name a specific population, place, time period, or condition? Replace vague terms like 'society' or 'students' with a concrete group.
- OPEN-ENDED — Can it be answered with yes/no or a single number? If so, rewrite it to require evidence-based argument and analysis.
- ARGUABLE — Could a reasonable person disagree with the answer? A good research question has more than one defensible response.
- MANAGEABLE — Can this question be answered with 3–5 library sources in a 1,000–1,500 word essay? Narrow if too broad; broaden if too narrow.
- RELEVANT — Does this question connect to a real problem or debate that matters outside the classroom?
Turn in / bring: On-screen reference — apply all five checks to your research question before drafting your Synthesis Essay thesis or Annotated Bibliography topic statement.