"Something I've done since early in my teaching is use
one class period to go around the room and have each student announce
his/her research paper topic. After each person gives the topic, the
other students chime in by asking any questions they have about the topic
or the student's focus (if indicated). I then ask students to let
the person know whether they have a resource the researcher might find
useful, such as personal knowledge, a print source, or a friend or
relative who's an "expert" in the field that the researcher
might interview.
"Each time I do this activity, I have unpredictable (mixed)
results. When it goes badly, the only folks who chime in are one or
two students and me. One particular time, the feedback was better in
quantity and quality than usual, and afterwards several students lingered
after class to tell me how helpful they found the session. They'd
gotten great ideas on potential resources and on how to narrow their
focus.
"What I learned about teaching from this experience--
Due to the mixed--sometimes abysmal results--I'd gotten on this activity
in previous classes, I was considering discontinuing it altogether.
The feedback [from the session mentioned above] . . . encouraged me to
continue the practice in any class in which my students write a research
paper.
"Since the students reassured me about the value of the activity,
I now prompt more when I have classes that are hesitant or very stubborn
about providing feedback."
1999