Writing Guides

👩‍🔬 What do learning, research, and writing have to do with each other? 

Your professors do two main jobs: teaching and research. While teaching happens in the classroom, research is how professors create new knowledge in their specific fields—for example, by studying cells in a lab or analyzing historical documents in an archive. 

Every academic discipline has: 

• Data, otherwise known as the objects or topics of study (what is being researched?) 
• Methods of doing research (how is the research done?) 
• Ways of thinking about the world (what values, theories, perspectives, or ideologies inform the research?) 

🧑‍🎓 Why does this matter to students? 

The way that research is carried out in a discipline informs how students learn in their major. When professors give you writing assignments, they're often asking you to complete beginner versions of the writing they do in their own work. For example:

• English professors analyze literature, so they might ask you to write a literary essay 
• Public health professors study health policies, so they might ask you to write a policy report 
• Biology professors write IMRaD-style research articles, so they might ask you to write one, too 

By practicing these types of writing, you're learning more than just how to write. You're also absorbing how experts:

• Understand their field 
• Think about problems
• Ask relevant questions 
• Find valid answers 
• Share their findings
• Determine what is important 

This process helps you develop the specific knowledge, skills, and practices that are most valuable in your chosen field.