Which assignment from my syllabus will students struggle with?

Due to where it falls in the schedule and the kind of paper it is, I believe that the assignment students would struggle the most with in my syllabus is the iSearch paper.  First of all, I chose to have the big research paper due after only 4 weeks in the semester.  I did this because it is a form that they understand: the essay. The other assignments in my syllabus are not essay based, so by having them write an essay first, they can use it to examine the other assignments and have something recent to compare them to. Also, it calls for them to evaluate different resources, consider their credibility, and make choices about which sources to trust and include.  But the main reason I decided to put the research paper first is because I do not think they will do well.  I want them to make mistakes so we can identify their weakness early and work on them while there is still time in the semester.  Part of my syllabus includes a portfolio with revisions and a reflection on the revision process; the hope is that the students will realize their weaknesses, learn about them and how to correct them throughout the class, and have a chance to revise thoughtfully.

 I realize that students will struggle with a number of things regarding this assignment.  They will most likely have a difficult time accumulating credible resources this early. Differentiating between the information that they are bombarded with every day will be very difficult—some advanced students struggle with this idea.  Therefore, I believe it is important to begin that conversation as early as possible. The second aspect they will struggle with is keeping this paper focused on what they know rather than on what they think.  Because this paper is called an iSearch and relies on the writer’s reflection over the research process, it may be difficult for students to separate the information they find and their own opinions—it is important to convey that this is a paper about discussing what they want to learn and how they will learn it, rather than a platform on which to preach. Finally, having something this early in the semester that relies on clear writing will be problematic for students.  The hope is that in high school they learned how to articulate their thoughts, but that is not always the case.  This may be the first time that they realize something they wrote down only makes sense to them.  I think this is an important thing to realize early so they adjust throughout the semester. 

One teachable moment that comes with this assignment is the gentle realization that to struggle and to fail is not the end, it is a chance to examine and explore mistakes in order to fix them.  This assignment will hopefully show them the difference between papers based on opinion and papers supported by credible resources.  I also hope to show them that revisions are as important as the paper itself.