The I-Search Paper

The I-Search paper, developed by Ken Macrorie (1988),  is an inquiry-based approach to teaching the research process that will work for any grade level. I-Search gives students the opportunity to take an active role in the research process by allowing them freedom in choosing their own topics and encouraging the use of primary rather than secondary information sources, often requiring a one-on-one interview with a subject expert. 

The I-Search design teaches not only  the basics of research but also provides valuable information and revelations for students who are usually personally connected to their chosen topic. Common themes used in the I-Search project often deal with self-discovery, careers, hobbies or interests  -- topics with which students are already familiar, but that can be explored further. 

The culmination of the project is a paper (or an alternative display of knowledge), which chronicles students' activities in first-person narrative rather than the traditional, detached point of view often associated with research writing. An I-Search paper generally contains four components: (1) a summary of what the student knows; (2) a statement explaining why the student chose the topic along with questions to be answered by the research; (3) a record of research activities; and (4) concluding remarks about what was discovered as a result of the process. 

This Solutions Center page offers resources from NCTE and beyond that can help you shape your I-Search unit.

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What Can I Write About? 7,000 Topics for High School Students; 2nd Edition, Revised and Updated. Substantially updated for today’s world, this second edition offers chapters on 12 different categories of writing, each of which is briefly introduced with a definition, notes on appropriate writing strategies, and suggestions for using the book to locate topics. Types of writing covered include description, comparison/contrast, process, narrative, classification/division, cause-and-effect writing, exposition, argumentation, definition, research-and-report writing, creative writing, and critical writing. Ideas range from the profound to the everyday to the topical--e.g., describe a terrible beauty; write a narrative about the ultimate eccentric; classify kinds of body alterations. With hundreds of new topics, this book is a valuable resource for teachers and students alike. 140pp. 2002. ISBN 0-8141-5654-1. No. 56541. Secondary.
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"It's Our World Too": Socially Responsive Learners in Middle School Language Arts
Author(s): Busching, Beverly; Slesinger, Betty Ann.
“It’s Our World Too” is a valuable resource for middle school and high school teachers who want to use significant social issues such as race, class, and poverty to invigorate their teaching of literacy and communication skills through student inquiry and collaborative learning. Beverly Busching and Betty Ann Slesinger developed a curriculum in which students learned to identify with, investigate, and then act on the social issues that have defined our society and continue to affect human relationships as well as influence national policy. Grounded in the premise that students can learn about the world, nurture the impulse to care about others, and still meet required educational standards, this book offers teachers extended discussions of two units—the Great Depression and World War II/the Holocaust; help in planning a social issues curriculum that focuses on reading, researching, and writing skills, and advice on how to help struggling learners find the confidence and competence that active reading and writing demand; guidance on how to coach students to improve communication skills; and lists of fiction, nonfiction, and other sources for students on a range of topics, as well as resources and materials for teachers. “It’s Our World Too” blends theory and practice as it demonstrates how cumulative habits of literacy and citizenship can flourish throughout an entire school year. Teachers will find they can commit gradually to this approach and modify it to fit their students and topics. 238pp. 2002. ISBN 0-8141-3833-0. No. 38330. Middle.
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Weaving a Virtual Web: Practical Approaches to New Information Technologies. Author(s): Gruber, Sibylle (editor).
In Weaving a Virtual Web, Sibylle Gruber has gathered 20 essays by teachers who actively use the Web with their students. The contributors explore a broad range of topics, including how the Web increases students' ownership of their learning and promotes empowerment; how technology affects the messages we send and receive; how the Web facilitates communication, both within and beyond individual classrooms; and how the Web helps students focus on the concept of audience. 326pp. 2000. ISBN 0-8141-5649-5. No. 56495.
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Wilson, Heidi A.; Castner, Frank L. "From Mickey Mouse to Marilyn Manson: A Search Experience." English Journal 89.1: 74-81 (September 1999).
Describes the Multiple Intelligence search (used by the author with 6th and 9th graders) based on Ken Macrorie's "I-Search" and Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Describes the process as students conducted a search using library resources and technology; became experts on topics they are passionate about; created a professional presentation; and explored topics through multiple intelligences.

NCTE Journals (Full text available to NCTE members only)

Davis, Robert; Shadle, Mark. "'Building a Mystery': Alternative Research Writing and the Academic Act of Seeking." College Composition and Communication 51.3: 417-446 (February 2000).
Presents a series of alternatives to the modernist research paper: the argumentative research paper, the personal research paper, the research essay, and the multi-genre/media/disciplinary/cultural research paper. Addresses theoretical implications of alternative research writing strategies.

Shafer, Gregory. "Re-envisioning Research." English Journal 89.1: 45-50 (September 1999).
Describes a research paper in the author's high school English classroom which connected to the lives and interests of students, who delved into community problems with as much rigor (and using many types of research as traditional essays exploring arcane philosophical questions). Describes creating a context for exploration, and students' final projects.

On the Web

I-Search Paper Format Guide - From the English Tutoring and Writing Center at Gallaudet University, here is an outline showing how to format an I-Search paper, with samples. 

Where Do You Stand: A Research Module on Controversial Issues - Here's a step-by-step unit on the research process, which culminates in an I-Search paper and a persuasive speech. 

Make It Happen! is an approach for middle school students of all ability levels created by the Educational Development Center. The I-Search paper is at the heart of the curriculum. 

See  the NCTE Teaching Ideas Center page on Plagiarism for ideas for teaching about and dealing with plagiarism and links for help in citing sources.

I-Search Paper - From Teacher.net, here's a letter to parents explaining the I-Search process.

Evaluating Online Resources - This page is a meta-site, providing links to guidelines for validating online resources.

Additional Print Resources for the I-Search Paper

Macrorie, Ken. (1988). The I-Search Paper. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers.

A freshman composition text (or "contextbook") that invites readers to take the initiative in their learning, this book is a revised edition of a 1980 work. It consists of the following chapters: (1) "Free Writing"; (2) "Loopy Learning"; (3) "Throwing Back the English"; (4) "Truthtelling"; (5) "Cutting Wasted Words"; (6) "The I-Search Paper"; (7) "A Topic Choosing You"; (8) "Locating Sources"; (9) "Tell It as Story"; (10) "Talking Animals"; (11) "Interviewing"; (12) "I and the Others"; (13) "Objectivity and Subjectivity"; (14) "Five I-Search Papers"; (15) "Bad Words"; (16) "Getting the Point"; (17) "Editing Day"; (18) "Filled with Books"; (19) "Issued Periodically"; (20) "A Profundity of Learning?"; (21) "Sam and Noah"; (22) "Historical Lexicography"; (23) "Spellynge, Spellyng, Spelling"; (24) "Can I Become a Writer?"; and (25) "The Larger Context."

Zorfass, Judith M.; Copel, Harriet. (1998). Teaching Middle School Students to Be Active Researchers. Alexandria, VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

This book offers middle school educators information about inquiry-based, interdisciplinary learning, highlighting the I-Search process. I-Search offers a powerful mix of ingredients (e.g., respecting curiosity, supporting independence, and fostering creativity) to capture students' and teachers' imaginations. It makes research more learner centered and encourages students with diverse needs to collaborate. It provides a natural context for using technology, media, and materials. Based on 10 years of work with middle schools and interdisciplinary teams, this book shows how teachers and students asked real-life questions and presented their new understanding of overarching concepts. Teachers and students explored community resources, read varied materials, conducted interviews, and used new technology to keep track of their work, which culminated in I-Search papers and exhibitions. Chapter 1 defines active research and the four phases of an I-Search unit. Chapter 2 describes how teachers guide students to pose I-Search questions. Chapter 3 explains how teachers help students learn to access various materials. Chapter 4 discusses how teachers help students integrate and process information they have gathered. Chapter 5 illustrates how teachers help students represent their knowledge via written papers and exhibitions. Chapter 6 describes what is needed to successfully design, implement, and reflect on I-Search units. The appendix's 10 sections describe planning and assessment criteria--from planning immersion activities to creating guidelines for student peer conferences, developing rubrics for assessment, and to evaluating the implementation of an I-Search unit.