In this FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS series located on my Resources Page, I will be looking more closely at three interconnected values that form important components of my course rubrics and help me to assess, evaluate, and grade a range of assignments (from simple group discussions all the way to research papers).
In three separate posts, I will discuss: 1) SYNTHESIS; 2) ORGANIZATION; and 3) UNDERSTANDING.
What is Synthesis?
SYNTHESIS is just a fancy word taken from the world of science to describe the process of creating complex chemical compounds from simpler ones. In other words, at the heart of synthesis is the idea of combining sources and ideas to create a new whole.
You can imagine yourself as the chemist, and your chemical compounds are the different kinds of content you are provided in any course (lectures, readings, visuals, videos, and demonstrations). Your science experiment then is to create new papers, presentations, and other forms of written, spoken, and visual assignments that showcase the unique way you are processing course content. In the video below from GCFLearnFree.org, the idea of synthesis is explored in its most simplest terms.
How to Achieve Synthesis?
To achieve synthesis, it is your job to:
A) pay close attention to what you are learning from multiple sources on a given topic
B) identify the important, relevant, and interesting aspects of what you have learned from those sources
C) demonstrate that you understand what you have learned on a given topic by coming up with your own broad conclusions that bring together relevant aspects of the sources you have looked at.
What does synthesis look like in action?
In university writing, discussion groups (in person and online), one on one conversations, and even in art-making and performance, the ability to demonstrate synthesis comes down to moving away from simply restating or re-presenting the information from the sources on a given topic, and moving towards providing new insights or evidence of thinking through the ideas in your own way.
Some qualities of synthesis in action can include:
Actively reading, annotating, thinking, and making new connections when engaged with a new class topic
Expressing ideas that are also making an argument or stating and supporting your opinion and unique insights
Showing how and why you arrived at your opinion on a topic by pointing to the sources (from lectures, readings, other course content and research) that you learned from
Referring to notes you made or ideas that struck you when learning about a topic and putting your own spin on them
Using your first person voice to take ownership of ideas and differentiate your point of view from your sources or others in the discussion
Offering a comparison or contrast of ideas you have encountered on a topic
Why is Synthesis Important?
Synthesis encourages critical thinking, engagement with ideas, active learning, and the formulation of independent thought. These are important values in higher education as you move away from simple memorization, passive listening, and restating or copying what has come before, to becoming more fully and independently engaged with the ideas and concepts you encounter in a course. Synthesis is also part of a wider practice in academia to properly reference and give credit to the many ideas you encounter and learn from. Ideally, you will be finding ways to contribute to the larger conversations that are taking place in the field you are studying.
In these two writing examples taken from the Purdue Online Writing Lab, you can see why synthesis is so important when creating written responses and preventing plagiarism.
The first example shows where synthesis is NOT utilized well:
Example 1:
Parents are always trying to find ways to encourage healthy eating in their children. Elena Pearl Ben-Joseph, a doctor and writer for KidsHealth, encourages parents to be role models for their children by not dieting or vocalizing concerns about their body image. The first popular diet began in 1863. William Banting named it the “Banting” diet after himself, and it consisted of eating fruits, vegetables, meat, and dry wine. Despite the fact that dieting has been around for over a hundred and fifty years, parents should not diet because it hinders children’s understanding of healthy eating.
Why is this not an example of good synthesis? As you can see, the paragraph strings together a number of different facts (none of which are properly cited) and fails to offer any personal expression, strong argument, or clear conclusion.
An example of improved synthesis could look more like this:
Example 2:
Parents are always trying to find ways to encourage healthy eating in their children. In my analysis, I have found examples of scientists and educators that have different strategies for promoting a well-rounded diet while still encouraging body positivity in children. David R. Just and Joseph Price suggest in their article “Using Incentives to Encourage Healthy Eating in Children” that children are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables if they are given a reward (855-856). Similarly, Elena Pearl Ben-Joseph, a doctor and writer for Kids Health, encourages parents to be role models for their children. She states that “parents who are always dieting or complaining about their bodies may foster these same negative feelings in their kids. Try to keep a positive approach about food” (Ben-Joseph). Martha J. Nepper and Weiwen Chai support Ben-Joseph’s suggestions in their article “Parents’ Barriers and Strategies to Promote Healthy Eating among School-age Children.” Nepper and Chai note, “Parents felt that patience, consistency, educating themselves on proper nutrition, and having more healthy foods available in the home were important strategies when developing healthy eating habits for their children.” By following some of these ideas, I have found that parents can help their children develop healthy eating habits while still maintaining body positivity.
In this second example, the author brings together a number of different sources into conversation with one another. There is a move away from merely describing the sources to the author showing the connections among the sources (and properly citing them), along with indicating their own position using first person voice.
To conclude, when an Instructor is evaluating for SYNTHESIS—be it through a simple discussion board or in-class conversation, all the way to a long form research paper—what they are looking for is how successfully a student has taken what they have learned from a variety of sources on a topic and offered their own insights, thoughtful reflections, and/or opinions on that topic.