The most important question to ask yourself before beginning a research project with students is "why." What are some of the reasons that we ask students to research?
Learn about a topic
To find an answer to a question
Teach them how to teach themselves
Student-centered learning
Proactive learning
Make an argument
Be responsible for finding information on their own
Presentation for class (contribute to a larger topic)
Develop research skills with guidance
Background information to be able to understand another topic
If you asked your students why they are required to do a research paper or project, what would they say?
Requirement to pass the class (% of grade)
Teacher just doesn't want to teach for a few days
This is a class, why do I have to do research?
Feels like an added on piece
Prepare them for college
What do students learn during a research project?
Another important question to ask yourself as you begin to create a new project is "what kinds of learning experiences do I want my students to have?" In other words, what do students learn when they undertake various research tasks?
Five Kinds of Learning: Information Literacy, Metacognitive Learning, Content, Social Skills, Literacy
Evaluation of material/sources
Synthesis
Searching strategies
Annotation skills
Summarize
Flexibility
Time management
Exploration (learning how to explore)
Patience
Organization
Separate fact from opinion
Reflective
Collaboration and team work
Social skills
Taking ownership/making learning personal
Content
Student expectations
Many studies have shown that students' expectations early in the research process have a lot to do with how they progress. Louise Limberg has shown that students did one of three things while researching:
Fact finding where relevance was determined more by ease of access
Balancing information to find the right answer where (1) relevance was determined by what would allow students to answer each subtopic correctly and (2) bias in information was handled with difficulty and usually the immediate choice of one side
Scrutinizing and analysing where students did not restrict relevance to sources that answered a subtopic but instead tried to place information in a wider context; they also tried to uncover the bias in sources
How we set up a project can determine the focus of students; furthermore, we can create interventions along the process to help student move beyond fact-finding and looking for the "right" answer.
Why do we ask students to research?
The most important question to ask yourself before beginning a research project with students is "why." What are some of the reasons that we ask students to research?
If you asked your students why they are required to do a research paper or project, what would they say?
What do students learn during a research project?
Another important question to ask yourself as you begin to create a new project is "what kinds of learning experiences do I want my students to have?" In other words, what do students learn when they undertake various research tasks?
Student expectations
Many studies have shown that students' expectations early in the research process have a lot to do with how they progress. Louise Limberg has shown that students did one of three things while researching:
How we set up a project can determine the focus of students; furthermore, we can create interventions along the process to help student move beyond fact-finding and looking for the "right" answer.