Tip 4: How to read (and write) an abstract

This week’s topic is how to teach your students to read, and later write, an abstract.

Instructors, give a 20-minute lecture to your students on what an abstract is, what types of documents usually accompany an abstract, and how an abstract can help them quickly eliminate irrelevant sources during the research process. Then, ask your students to write on a slip of paper (they can tear a piece of notebook paper, etc.) a topic they are interested in writing a research paper about. Next, ask them to fold up the paper and place it in a bowl or a container provided by you.

Once everyone has added their topic to the bowl or the container, shake the bowl or the container and then ask each student to randomly choose a topic from the bowl or the container. It’s okay if a student picks their own topic. Now, tell your students to find at least three research articles (you can decide the length of the articles) that provide background information on said topic and that include an abstract; this process can be done as a class trip to the library or as a homework assignment.

After your students have chosen their articles, use the Reading and Understanding Abstracts (PDF, 437KB)opens in new window handout to help them analyze the articles’ abstracts, and then ask them to read the shortest of the three articles—in its entirety—during class. Once they have read the article, tell them to rewrite the article’s abstract in their own words—either by hand (i.e., written on notebook paper with a pen or a pencil) or type it on an electronic device. Do inform them that the document will be shared with a classmate, so they should choose a writing method that will make it easier to do so.

When your students finish their abstract rewrite, ask them to exchange it and the article that it is based on with a classmate (you can choose their partners if you’d like). For homework, ask each set of partners to read the article and the rewritten abstract provided to them by their partner. Then, request everyone evaluate their partner’s abstract (i.e., “Good,” “Okay,” or “Needs More Work”; feel free to use your own rating system) based on the information they learned about reading abstracts.

During the next class meeting, weather permitting, find a nice area around campus for your students to share their ratings and to explain why they rated their partners’ rewritten abstracts in the manner they did. Finally, discuss as a group what makes a good abstract and what components of abstract writing everyone should keep in mind to ensure they write effective abstracts in the future.

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