Goals and Outcomes

• Brainstorm effectively to focus a search and generate effective search terms.
• Use advanced search engine techniques to reduce retrieval of inappropriate hits.
• Distinguish search engines as retrieval instruments from the actual producers of information.
• Analyze retrieved information for credibility and relevance to the research question.

Essential Questions

• How can I save time by focusing my search before going online?
• What distinguishes a casual, speculative search from investigative research?
• Who produced the information I find on the Internet? How do I know if that person or group is credible and authoritative?

PRE-SEARCH PLANNING

Goal: To model search planning to help manage distraction in online research

Summary: Students will brainstorm to generate an open-ended research question and practice strategies for finding relevant keywords.

Getting Started

Before the lesson, confer with a librarian to find basic background articles on the overall subject of research. This might be a print or online encyclopedia or a series that covers controversial issues, such as CQ Researcher or Opposing Viewpoints in Context.

Procedure

1. Model the difference between open-ended research questions and those that can be answered “yes” or “no” or with a single number or other fact. Use a familiar, contemporary topic such as sports, music, or a controversy in the news.
2. Form small groups of students to brainstorm additional open-ended questions. Have them circle the key terms in each question and brainstorm alternate search terms. Are there terms that would be used by experts or scholars, rather than in casual conversation?
3. Ask individual students to generate an open-ended research question on a topic of interest or as assigned by you, circle the key terms, and generate alternatives.
4. Assign a brief reading on the topic as recommended by a librarian, and ask students to add new terms to their list.

Bibliography

Heine, Carl. "Turning Questions into Queries."

http://21cif.com/resources/features/leadarticle_v1_n0.html

Additional Resources

FreeMind. Free mindmapping tool

http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Kraemer, Beth. “Literacy Boot Camp.”

http://prezi.com/upn26vciufvj/information-literacy-boot-camp/

STOPWATCH SEARCHING: ADVANCED SEARCH ENGINE SKILLS

Goals: To master advanced search engine skills to limit searches by terms included, type of site, and type of document.

Summary: Students will practice advanced search engine skills in brief, very specific tasks followed by reflection on the results either individually or in small groups. Students reflect briefly on the outcomes of each search strategy. This lesson plan takes students through brief searches using specific strategies. The fun of a 5-minute time limit using a stopwatch may encourage focus and generate excitement.

Please note: Google features are used as an example here for clarity; other search engines (e.g., Yahoo!, Bing, Ask) may be used, or a metacrawler such as DogPile.

Procedure

1. Explain to students that Google is one Web database of many, and it is not comprehensive. Search results retrieved are driven by popularity and advertising payments, and they may not be from credible sources. You may need to stress that Google does not produce any information, so students should never cite Google as a “source” of any particular fact or quotation. For more information about Google, see http://21cif.com/rkitp/features/v1n1/leadarticle_v1_n1.html
2. Discuss the differences between fun, casual “speculative” searches where credibility might not matter much, and investigative searching that is expected in school projects. See http://21cif.com/rkitp/newRkit/gettingstarted/searchtypes.html for more on this concept.
3. Ask students to develop search skills that put them in the driver’s seat with Google, rather than accepting any results that advertisers in Google might want to deliver. Point out the many options available in the Advanced Search and emphasize the following:
   1. Using “plus” (+) before a word to make sure the search includes that word.
   2. Using “minus” (-) before a word to make sure the search SKIPS sites with that word.
   3. Using quotation marks to find an “exact phrase” – any time they have a search term with more than one word and want to make sure the words are in the correct order and next to each other.
4. Using either terms you have pre-tested or lists of terms students developed in Activity #1, have students plan ahead at least 3 search strategies before going online using these techniques.
5. Allow students 5 minutes, timed with a stopwatch, for each strategy. From the list of hits on the first page, ask students to identify the LEAST related hit and reflect in writing – why did this result come up?
6. Explain to students the differences between URL domains (see http://21cif.com/tutorials/micro/mm/urls/page4.htm) and ask them to compare resources on the same topic from different domains. Explain how to limit to a particular domain using either Advanced Search or including in their search strategy site:org or site:gov or site:edu.
7. Again, allow students 5 minutes to find a relevant site using their best search strategy so far and limiting to a particular domain.

Bibliography

Heine, Carl. “Speculative and Investigative Searching.” 21st Century Information Fluency.

Online: http://21cif.com/rkitp/newRkit/gettingstarted/searchtypes.html

“Where Are These New Domain Names Coming From?” 21st Century Information Fluency.

Online: http://21cif.com/tutorials/micro/mm/urls/page4.htm

Additional Resources

Google Docs for Educators. Free shared document management tool.

http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html

Kraemer, Beth. “Evaluating Websites.”

http://prezi.com/6t3uq0jhz9a5/evaluating-websites/

Kraemer, Beth. “Literacy Boot Camp.”

http://prezi.com/upn26vciufvj/information-literacy-boot-camp/

PRESENTING RESEARCH TO VARIOUS AUDIENCES

Goal: To identify relevant sources and critically evaluate their usefulness in different genres of writing for different audiences.

Summary: Students will present an argument on a controversial topic in several genres, such as a debate, a poem, a news report, a public service announcement, or a rap song. Students will share findings as they go to encourage response from peers.

Getting Started

Read “Teaching Writing through Multigenre Papers” (Romano 2002) as background on this technique.

Procedure

1. Identify a topic of interest to the whole class or allow students to choose an individual topic. It should be an open-ended research question (see Activity #1) that is debatable among reasonable, educated people. A complex topic with more than two perspectives may be more rewarding (e.g., Arizona immigration law, arts education in schools, future of fossil fuels).
2. After pre-search planning, use the techniques in Activity #2 to create a paper or virtual “gallery walk” of preliminary findings. Each group or individual will post 5 sources on the board or to Google Docs or a folder in Zotero.org.
3. Ask students to exchange lists of sites and “rank” or “grade” the resources in order of credibility and explain why. If using a Google Docs, NoodleBib, or shared Zotero site, the teacher can review notes and add comments: is it relevant, is it valid, is it timely, what kind of site is it?
4. Ask students to reflect in writing on comments before conducting a second round of online searching. Students are now required to include at least six different types or resources, such as .gov, .edu, newspapers, interviews, books, journals or encyclopedias.
5. Using the resources identified, students will write or present a poem, a slanted essay from the view of a biased narrator, a white paper for a specific organization, or other creative product showing their knowledge. Students may select the genres but must write at least three different types using the research identified.

Bibliography

Carr, Nicholas. 2010. The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York:

W.W. Norton. ISBN-10: 0393072223

Holston, Valli, and Carol Santa. 1985. “RAFT: A Method of Writing across the Curriculum That Works.”

Journal of Reading 28 (5): 456-457.

Romano, Tom. 2002. “Teaching Writing through Multigenre Papers.” In Teaching Writing Teachers.

Ed. Robert Tremmel & William Broz. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook. ISBN-10: 0867095113

Additional Resources

Google Docs for Educators. Free shared document management tool.

http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html

NoodleBib. Subscription software.

http://www.noodletools.com/tools/index.php

21st Century Information Fluency. Tutorials, web challenges, lesson plans, and background articles.

http://21cif.com/

Zotero. Free Firefox add-on to collect, organize, cite, and share research sources.

http://www.zotero.org/

Managing the Flood of Information and Distraction Built into the Web

• Take time before starting a search to help students understand the scope of a topic before they begin and focus on a specific question. Consider techniques such as K-W-L-H , mindmapping on poster sheets or software such as FreeMind, or question stems (who, what, where, when, how, why).
• Ask a librarian to recommend sources for pre-search reading, to explain search strategies for specific resources (and how such resources differ from commercial search engines such as Google).
• Consider asking students to find one resource at a time and respond to each in writing. This may prevent the fallback strategy of taking the first 5 Google hits and shaping them into a report without reflection.

Identifying credible, quality sources

• It may be counterproductive to give “type” limits (e.g., 1 book, 1 encyclopedia article, 1 magazine article, 1 web site); students may fill their quota mechanically without recognizing the value of different resource types. In addition, the boundaries between print and online sources are increasingly blurred. Ask a librarian to recommend a list of relevant authoritative sources.
• Ask students to save all sites to a citation management application (e.g., Google Docs, NoodleBib, or Zotero) or have them print the “About us” page for each site for teacher or peer review. Peer assessment of one another’s sources may engage more critical thinking than evaluation of their own selected resources.
• Model review of credibility using a game related to a spoof web site such as Save the Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus: http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
  1. Try to identify the author or publisher
  2. Use the links feature to see what web sites point to the resource: links:zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

Preventing plagiarism

• Explain the concept of intellectual property and how real people are injured by the theft of their expressions. This may be compared with illegal downloading of music or movies.
• Actively teach paraphrasing skills and use peer review to point out instances of copying.
• Use chunking/scaffolding to guide students through the research process and give separate grades for each small assignment in addition to an overall grade for the project.
• Assign a variety of final project formats and media so students will not be able to download a research paper.
• Ask parents and tutors to commit to specific roles in assisting students, such as giving feedback but not doing the actual keyboarding. That is, what are the teacher’s specific expectations for students doing their own work?
• Give students a sense of the value of learning through writing, rather than using an adversarial approach of “catching” them at plagiarism. Require an in-class written reflection by students to show what they have learned from the resarch project.
• Use NoodleBib, EasyBib, Google Docs, or Zotero to track sources in a shared location where the teacher may review for inappropriate copying.

Engaging critical response

Students need directed learning goals to spur reflection and assessment rather than scanning for facts and compiling a “crazy quilt” report. Carl Heine’s article “Speculative and Investigative Searching” is useful background for this concern.

• Use the Role Audience Format Topic (R.A.F.T.) technique to encourage students to work from a specific perspective, rather than taking facts for granted as set truths.
• Start research projects with exercises to express personal interest in the topic: guided questions, pre-research exercises (graphic organizer), or statement of personal connection (e.g., give at least two reasons why you want to do this topic).
• Assign a section of the final paper to show how the research has informed the student’s personal opinion.

Resources

EasyBib. Free bibliographic management software.

http://www.easybib.com/

Google Docs for Educators. Free shared document management tool.

http://www.google.com/educators/p_docs.html

NoodleBib. Subscription software.

http://www.noodletools.com/tools/index.php

21st Century Information Fluency. Tutorials, web challenges, lesson plans, and background articles.

http://21cif.com/

Zotero. Free Firefox add-on to collect, organize, cite, and share research sources.

http://www.zotero.org/