Engaging Inquiry: Research and Writing in the Disciplines

Reflecting analytical processes common to all research thinking and writing, this practical composition guide offers a fully integrated study of the inquiry and writing process, and arms users with the tools they will need to successfully produce and communicate the written word in today's challenging academic environments. Blends a variety of theoretical reading and writing activities that help users explore ways that specific disciplines develop rigor in different aspects of those processes, and how the full range of thinking and writing skills can develop best through inquiry within disciplinary contexts. Presents units in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and critical applications of interdisciplinary thinking and uses a process composition approach throughout, sequencing reading, hands-on inquiry and informal writing activities toward mastery of the complex structures of disciplinary arguments and their relationships to written genres. Cumulatively builds critical interdisciplinary thinking skills through discipline-specific research and writing activities, and integrates language development (both syntactical and organizational) with inquiry processes by actively engaging readers in knowledge-making activities. For those interested in improving their academic research writing skills; also ideal for use in teaching training seminars and programs.

ENGAGING INQUIRY RESEARCH AND WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES by Judy Kirscht and Mark Sehlenz, familiarizes students with the purposes, processes, and forms of academic writing across the disciplines by introducing them to the ways that academic knowledge and writing emerge from methodical approaches to inquiry, research, and critical thinking.

The text's inquiry-based approach to academic writing arises from and incorporates cutting-edge insights of emerging composition theory. It also carries students' personal questions and curiosities through academic inquiry processes in science, social science, and the humanities to address real world problems.

Among its many features, the text includes the following:

• Topics applicable in all disciplines including cloning, pollution, violence, and population control
• Field exercises, surveys, and reading logs that promote first-hand observation and data gathering
• An array of writing assignments ranging from evaluating websites to editing a student paper
• Detailed charts that provide visual examples of the text's processes
• Appendix on MLA/APA citation and documentation

In addition to its features, the text enables humanities-trained composition instructors to prepare their students for the types of scholarship and writing that will be required of them in science and social science courses as well as in literature, history, and the arts.

Ultimately, it engages students in real inquiry and encourages them to think and write like natural/social scientists and humanist interpreters.