by Martin Zehr

Created on: August 26, 2008

Term papers provide a valuable experience to students in the process of research, analysis and formulating critical approaches in regards to various topics of academia, research or public policy. Students who seek to take a shortcut undermine the educational process and lack intellectual integrity by failing to engage in a process that increases their own understanding and insight.

On a personal level, I had the honor of getting an A+ on a paper on Special Education funding in a senior seminar in 1992. After forwarding a copy to Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford, I received a response from an Assistant Secretary of Education for the state of Pennsylvania as a result of it being forwarded to their office by Senator Wofford. This was a recognition that surpassed anything that I might have expected.

But, writing that paper required the compilation of index cards with quotes, statistics and various perspectives by public officials. It meant developing an overview of my own that was based on the results of the research. Then, I had to unfold the case for the paper's thesis that the federal withdrawal of education funding resulted in local sources being unable to maintain the levels of financial support that had existed up to that time. And finally, I had to project the impact of tax cutting policies on the future of the delivery of Special Education services. I can still go through this article and find its thesis validated by the deterioration of special education and public education in the United States since that time.

Critical thinking means developing the skills needed to go beyond the rhetoric of spin doctors and glib TV commentators. It means learning about what one is talking about by learning from others. It means trying to propose alternatives in the field of policy that will not result in the same consequences. Even the process of footnoting requires one to qualify statements, put them in context and avoid simply repeating what others have already said without addressing their significance.

Researching meant digging into ERIC Digest, journals of Special Education, professional magazines in the field of education and organizational publications of school boards, educators and administrators. It meant uncovering aspects of the issue that ranged from school building maintenance issues to programs for the gifted. It meant talking to local school staffs regarding the impact at local Intermediate Units.

In short, it meant doing the legwork needed to present a case that was convincing and documented and relevant to the audience. I laughed to myself at the time when I chose the subject of funding thinking that I would put everyone to sleep with such a subject. But in the process of developing the paper, I woke up to the fact that there was much more going on then I had been aware of myself at the time.

Professors deserve the right to expect students to engage in this process without a Cliff Notes copycat in response. Students need to be penalized severely by those colleges and instructors when website term papers are turned in. It is unfair to those who have worked diligently in their own efforts and undermines the educational process.

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