This chapter uses findings from a mixed-methods study of undergraduates’ research experiences in a developmental writing course at a small, private university to suggest that writing bad research questions is a necessary part of the research process and that students can learn valuable lessons from the struggle to pose effective questions if given the necessary support. It offers a set of rubrics that can be used to evaluate the debatability, researchability, and feasibility of students’ research questions to help students turn failed research questions into successful ones.
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