The I-Search Paper

Overview

Ken Macrorie published his book, "The I-Search Paper", in 1988. The book was a success and still is recommended by the National Council of Teachers of English. Though the process may be used at any grade level, high school English teachers have found that the I-Search Paper works well for students with learning disabilities or students with different learning styles. The I-Search Paper is different from the traditional research paper, but is not meant to take the place of traditional research. It is another avenue of research that engages the child. It has had tremendous success for children who

struggle with organization, secondary resources, MLA and APA formats, and writing a formal paper in the third person point of view.
The Format

The I-Search Paper is written in first person as the name indicates. It is actually a record of a student's journey of discovery. Instead of students writing on a subject chosen by the teacher, they write on careers, hobbies, interests, and other self-discovery topics that interest them.

The paper is divided into four parts:

Part 1: Students write about what they already know about their chosen topic. This is usually one to two paragraphs.

Part 2: Students tell why they chose the topic and list all the questions they want answered.

Part 3: This is the body of the paper and is the recording of their journey. It tells about what they did to find out information.

Part 4: The last part or conclusion is a discussion about their discoveries.

The I-Search Paper encourages the use of primary sources for most of the information. Students learn the interviewing process
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and how to record acquired information in a first person account. Secondary sources are used as well, but are not emphasized as much as the primary resources. This paper has the added benefit of boosting a student's self esteem by the realization that their thoughts and processes are important and worthy of documenting.

The I-Search Paper: Inquiry-based Research
If you've ever sat down with a pile of research papers and groaned, you know how horrible a task it is. The I-Search Paper is much more interesting to read because students enjoy finding out about topics they find interesting and telling the story of their discoveries.