Need an Interesting, Sweet, Awesome, Unique, Different Research Paper Ideas! - Page 2

I can tell you from the point of view of someone who has read a lot of papers written about the same topic over and over again, that most instructors would rather read a familiar topic covered in a well-written paper than a novel topic done atrociously or with an eye toward being obviously new and different. One of the basics of writing a good paper is choosing a topic that can be researched fairly and thoroughly. Topics that are too different frequently lack enough solid background work to make the presentation truly objective. When you're overreaching, it shows, badly. When you're rehashing, fudging or synthesizing data, it looks even worse.

As a faculty member, I totally agree. It takes far, far longer to grade a paper that is "different" or one that is on a topic unfamiliar to me than it does to grade a standard paper on a familiar topic. When I am grading a couple dozen papers (while also juggling preparing classes, writing and grading tests, etc.) -- I need to be fast and efficient with my time.

I don't read student papers to be entertained -- or to be educated. I read the papers to assess whether the student has demonstrated the mastery of the skills the student was supposed to learn. It's far easier to do that if I am familiar with the topic and can see at a glance whether or not the student has surveyed the literature properly, come to reasonable conclusions, etc. If I am unfamiliar with the topic, I may have to do some extra research myself to educate myself so that I can adequately assess the student's work. That takes extra time -- time I don't have.

I do give some students the freedom to be creative with some of their projects -- but only if the student is an "A" student and they have indicate a real interest in the special project they want to do. As the OP doesn't have a special interest in a particular topic, I would suggest he/she focus on impressing the teacher by doing a great job with a conventional topic rather than cause extra work for the probably overworked and underpaid teacher by choosing a more risky topic.