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#ERLM Write the Research Impact section. Clearly describe for your research what will be the the broader impact. Does the work offer societal benefits? If so, be clear about what those benefits are and who they serve. How will you advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching and learning? How will you address under-represented groups? How will you reach out to under-represented groups?
The Review
The thing you are trying to determine are the questions to the Heilmeir question:
Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make?
In class, we discussed how to define a meaningful link between your objectives and the person who cares, who I called the `beneficiary.' The writer should make this connection, and articulate clearly how the outcomes of their research relieve the pains and create gains for the beneficiary. The more clear you make this, the more well received your proposal will be.
Read the Broader Impact. When you do, you are assessing the success at communicating the impact of the research. To avoid bias in your review, read the proposal and Broader Impact section before answering the questions below.
- Does the writer clearly describe the beneficiary, who cares? If you think something is missing or unclear, explain how so.
- Does the writer clearly articulate the difference their research will make? Can you idenify the gain makers and pain relievers. If not, explain what you think is missing.
- Is the writing clear and understandable? Explain why or why not.
- Does the writer tell a coherent story? Can you follow thread of the story? If it is confusing, explain how so.
Writing Critique
In this exercise, for each paper you were to review, you will be critiquing and rewriting part of it with an eye to identifying the point of paragraphs in the writing. You will also be doing the same for some of your own writing.
A Paper Being Reviewed
Read the Broader Impact and choose for analysis a paragraph that is four to five sentences long. A longer one is okay, but try not to choose one shorter. Longer paragraphs offer a large number of rhetorical choices, possibilities for problems, and more to work with. For best results, avoid opening and closing paragraphs, which function somewhat differently from the others.
It is generally the case that readers expect that a paragraph will be "about'' what ever shows up first. What ever shows up first provides a context for all that follows.
- Underline the first one, two, or three sentences of the paragraph, indicating that part that you think is the issue for the paragraph.
- Do the sentences you underlined tell what the paragraph is "about'' and provide context for what follows? Explain why or why not.
Readers delight being told what the point of a paragraph is --- clearly and explicitly. They are grateful when that clear point is presented in a single sentence. They also what to know that sentence when they see it. The extensive investigation of thousands of professional paragraphs has made it evident that readers expect that point to appear at particular structural locations. Readers expect the point to either come at the end, as the final sentence of the paragraph, or as part of the issue that you underlined before. Everything else is part of the discussion of the paragraph.
- Read the paragraph and decide what you think is its point. What is the the main message of the paragraph. Underline the sentence that states the point.
- Where does the point appear? Is the point clear and explicit? Is it confusing to you (on your first read through)? Is the point of the paragraph in the right structural location or is it buried in the discussion? Explain.