Getting Organized: A Pragmatic Tool for Writing Graduate Papers

Abstract

This article describes the contents of a successful Teaching Assistant workshop. The workshop introduces the "Notebook Method" of writing scholarly papers. The notebook method is viewed as a pragmatic tool of inquiry. It transforms writing a paper into managing a project. The project management aspects of writing a thesis or dissertation are emphasized. In addition, the method is linked to the pragmatic theory of inquiry developed by Charles Sander Peirce and John Dewey.