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Having had the opportunity of being an instructor for almost three decades, and involved in education for more than 36 years. During that time I have taught younger students, high school, college preparatory and most recently at the college level. For me, it was a constant challenge keeping lessons fun, interactive and rewarding for each pupil. As my lessons focused on older kids, making the gradual leap from young to older, I noticed a consistent issue that each generation of kids became nearly terrified by: how to write a research paper.

Initially, I thought nothing of the response I received when asking for nonfiction essays to be completed. At first, I simply defined the usual groaning as a student's opposition of my love for homework. But, what I was dismissing and defining as being disgruntled, actually had much more substance below the surface; these groaners were sometimes downright overwhelmed when they heard the word "research paper".

Worry about the unknown, being buried in dusty books, and not having a clue how to brainstorm research paper ideas was frequent. older teens envisioning a brick wall to climb, because they didn't know how to write a research paper, rarely truly believed me that in the wider scope of things, completing a writing assignment, even one that was ten to thirty pages long, was barely a grain of sand on a beach, compared to much more significant, life impacting challenges they'd eventually face as grownups. Those ideas fell on deaf ears most of the time.

Unable to look towards the bigger picture or the long overall result, their immediate reality was a looming turn-in date that could only be met by participating in something they weren't interested in, that conflicted with their extracurricular activities or that made them uneasy facing unexplored territory: how to write a research paper, and do it right - not just to pass or fail, but score the grades that post-middle-school institutions, hold in high importance.

When I first began teaching at the college level I planned to give a full term assignment to write a research paper on a(n) topic of every individual's most passionate pursuit.

The dean of our department warned me that this would cause me many headaches. He said that even at a post high-school level, simply hearing that you have to write a research paper usually sent many students into a downward spiral.

Determined, I ignored his wise words and ventured into research paper territory. The first class of the semester I handed out the syllabus for the semester. This included the title of the text book we would be using, the dates of the tests and the requirement that everyone would write a research paper.

I explained that the reviews as well as the participation in class confabs would be a majority of the final score and the research paper would be the other third. I handed out calendars and due dates for the essay. I wanted the topic they chose as well as a rough briefing completed in the first 14 days and then various updates on progress throughout the semester.

My agenda and execution of my set schedule "forced" things to be done in small steps, rather than the typical giant one, when many students, kids or adults, sit down the night before and try to accomplish weeks worth of work in one all-nighter. Unnecessary worry and anxiety in my mind. And with the basics of how to effectively write a research paper tackled in small manageable pieces throughout the class, semester or year depending on subject and / or school, initial panic about even the most simple section, research paper ideas, seemed less and less an issue of worry.

Whether narrowing down a long series of clauses formatted neat and succinctly summarizing research paper ideas, writing each necessary ingredient, keeping each research paper properly formatted for an instructor who was known to be extremely precise about such details, or pacing themselves to guarantee assignment completion by the turn-in date, when deconstructed into smaller pieces, how to write a research paper concerns slowly, but surely disappear. Watch for for the next article: Research Paper Ideas, the Easy Way - Without panicking.