This document provides guidance on how to effectively conduct research. It discusses finding credible resources, teaching digital citizenship, including a biblical worldview, compiling work aesthetically, evaluating online sources, citing sources, and more. Specific tips include using databases and search engines wisely, evaluating websites, developing an essential research question, incorporating primary and secondary sources, and ensuring work is properly cited and presented. The overall message is that research can be done safely, ethically and in a way that brings glory to God.
Using social media to enhance your research and professional development
Research Skills Guide: How to Effectively Find and Evaluate Resources
1. Research Skills
2013
HOW TO RESEARCH EFFECTIVELY USING WISDOM,
GRACE AND STYLE. PIPPA DAVIES: HCOS ONLINE
LIBRARIAN.
2. “Thy word is a lamp unto
my feet, and a light unto
my path.” Psalm 119:105
How can I effectively find resources for my project in a
safe and ethical way?
How do I teach digital citizenship?
How do we include worldview?
How do we compile our work in an aesthetically
pleasing way?
How do we evaluate resources online?
How do we cite effectively in our bibliography?
3. Creating your digital
footprint!
Create filters when your students are young, and
monitor time spent online.
Start by learning how to be Webonauts. Grade
4-7. If high school students , grade 8-like
Commonsense Media12 use the UBC Digital
Dossier files.
Discover Commonsense Media and Media
Smarts
Teach your students how to define research
terms using Google Lesson Plans
4.
5.
6. That essay
topic?
Once we have decided on our research topic
we can choose to do our research using
primary and secondary documents.
Brainstorm thesis statement..
7. Essential
Question!
Provokes deep thought.
Solicits information-gathering and evaluation of data.
Results in an original answer.
Helps with problem-related research.
Makes students produce original ideas rather than
predetermined answers.
May not have an answer. REALLY!
Encourages critical thinking not regurgitation of facts.
Use Who, Why, Where and How questions to brainstorm.
8. Essential Question
Example
In the 2010 Vancouver Olympics examine how Biblical
stewardship was practiced by; officials, citizens,
athletes and other members of the community, and
whether this contributed to the overall success of the
games?
Basic Question?
Write some facts about your favorite athlete who was
represented in these winter Olympics.
9. Tame the Web?
You will need at least 2 books to add to your bibliography, and or 4-6
websites. Use databases like Ebscohost and Discovery Streaming to
find copyright free images and articles, academic, current and reliable.
Contact your friendly librarian!
My Folder or Evernote to store sources for bibliography.
HCOS Web Linking Library
Internet Public Library
Kids Love to Learn
Websites like Bill Nye on Youtube, and ALA Great Websites
10. Digital Boundaries for
Digital Natives
Teach Bookmarking tools like Diigo and Symbaloo.
Younger students Printing Press.
Older students share information online using curation
tools like Scoopit, LiveBinders, and MentorMob.
Reference Tools like Wolfram Alpha, and Khan Academy.
OPenUniversityonITunes.
Child friendly search engines like Sweet Search and Ask
Jeeves.
Websites like Bill Nye on Youtube, and ALA Great
Websites http://gws.ala.org/
12. Google can be
useful for
Needle in haystack kind of queries; When was someone
famous born.
Can we use Wiki’s? When?
Check side of wiki under language for Simple English
tool. Downlaod Chrome apps from Chrome webstore to
share talk features Chrome Speak and Speech
Recognizer
Images if using correct copyright formula.
Good keywords defining parameters of your topic. Keep
refining.
Knowledge of website evaluation tools.
For academic sites go to Advanced Google Search!
16. Evaluate the following
sites
http://www.dhmo.org/
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
http://www.mcwhortle.com/about.htm
Watch this Rutgers University Library video
link below to evaluate sites.
http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/lib_instruct
/riot/
17. Academic
Pathfinders for
projects!
Ebscohost including Canadian Reference
Centre and Searchasaurus. Get your
username and password to log in from your
teacher- all the academic information you will
need for projects. Plus citation links and
folders for making notes in My Folder.
Other subscriptions such as World Book,
Discovery Education Streaming Canada, and
BrainPop.
18. Worldview
Where is God in the story.
Why did God allow this to take place?
How does God use fallen characters to
bring us to Him?
How does God use Christian
characters to exemplify Him?
What does God give us that we can be
thankful for?
19. Presentation
Supremacy
Google Doc, Website, Podcast,
video or machinima
Book report, 5 paragraph essay,
combo?
If presenting in book report
format, remember the clues, T,
C, N, B. Include bibliography at
end.
Images, maps, diagrams, charts.
Bibliography a la MLA?
21. Bibliography for U is
ESSENTIAL!
How do we cite? Citation builder:
Bibliography style. MLA.
Bibliography information to be found at
Owl Of Purdue Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Bib Me or others Check weblinking library
under Library Services: Bibliographic
Instruction.
Ebscohost and My Folder.
23. Check List
Edited all work several times. Use Grammarly.
Check plagiarism using Viper http://www.scanmyessay.com/
or Turnitin.
http://turnitin.com/
Bibliography checked.
Work neatly presented and collated.
Know subject well to answer questions for presentation.
Thank God for what you have learned about His wisdom in
using the resources we have, to write and share honestly, and
give credit to Him.
Hinweis der Redaktion
We know that the Bible is a guide for us, as to how to lead our lives but there is no manual on how to surf the web with wisdom? The net is a large and lumbersome tool for younger students to use and do you think going to Google is the answer? Why or why not?
Google is good for looking for needle in a haystack kind of query, like the age of someone, a book that was written or the name of a famous person, but for academic information we need to use the net selectively and wisely. If we decide to use Google we must make sure that we know how to evaluate sites effectively.
Webonauts teaches kids to be responsible, honest and respectful online. It also shows kids how to treat others when researching, cite correctly and share appropriately. Having a Nanny net will help protect children from adult oriented sites.
Respect, honesty,(don’t steal other peoples’ thoughts or ideas by plagiarizing and protect your personal information.
We need to find ways to help them research which supports their style of learning!
Primary sources are an original article or book created by an individual or sometimes a group of people. What types of primary sources are available? It might be surprising to know that a novel is a primary source. Other types of primary sources are paintings created by the artist. If it were a photocopy of the painting, then it would be a secondary source. Some other primary sources are letters, films, short stories, plays, poems, photographs, court cases, journal articles, newspaper events, and speeches. For instance, a speech by President Bush would be a primary source.
In simple terms primary sources come firsthand from the source or person. Diaries would be a primary source because it is written directly by the individual writing in the diary. Interviews are great primary sources because the individual talks about the topic directly from what he/she knows about the topic. Primary sources are usually firsthand information about something such as diaries, court records, interviews, research studies about experiments, and information that has been stated but not interpreted by others.
Some examples of primary sources are e-mails and letters. They are directly written about one person. If this letter was written during World War II and analyzed by another person then it would be a secondary source. Debates, community meetings, surveys, and observations are some different primary sources.
Secondary sources are Secondary sources are sources that are written about primary sources. Secondary sources analyze, interpret, and discuss information about the primary source. If a magazine writer wrote about the speech President Bush gave on September 11th, it would be a secondary source. The information is not original, but it is an analysis of the speech.
In simple terms, a secondary source writes or talks about something that is a primary source. For instance, if a person were to write about a painting hanging in the art gallery, this would be a secondary source discussing the original art.
Secondary Sources include journal articles, books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, reviews, newspaper articles, specific essays, etc. Most research papers are based on secondary sources as they build on the research or studies others have done.
Other types of secondary sources are reference materials, books, and CD Rom, magazines, videotapes, and television shows.
Books are still the first choice when looking for information because of the academic authority. They have gone through the publishing process, which includes editing, and this may be a long process before something is published. Books may be vetoed because they are not objective or good enough. Anyone can write on the internet and blogging has taken hold so that everyone is now an author Online resources are great but you need to further evaluate if using Google.
Teach bookmarking skills at an early age. Most are app friendly. These search engines are child friendly and easy to use. Results will cater to age level and no adult content.
Gogooligans set at child level and google format for younger students. Sweet Seach set for all age students with great note taking and subject headings.
Wolfram it’s a real know-it-all, instead of sending users to another source for information, this “computational knowledge engine” answers questions as completely as it knows how. It’s particularly good at math problems, since the site is built on Mathematica, but it will take a stab at answering anything.
ALA Great websites are handpicked by librarians for your daily use, child friendly and academic in nature.
Make sure you refine your search with safe search, and exact keywords otherwise you will get too many hits with non-specific finds. Look at all the criteria you can refine your search and see what is needed.
Is the website current with regular updates.
Is the source reliable? Is there an author of this work. Are his credits included in his work? Does his domain represent a body, organisation or company? /org or .com or .ca. .gov are often reliable as URL’s. How can you contact this person? If no-one stands behind the creation of the site then why should we believe it?
Is this a peer reviewed publication? Are there footnotes and biblographic entries? Dead links?
Is the page free of advertising? If there are ads are they separated from the content? Is there bias? Is there use of inflammatory use of language?
Is the site complete or still under construction?
Purpose? Is the site a hoax? www.snopes.com to check it out.
Currency refers to the updates on the blog. Are they updated on a regular basis. Relevancy- is this relevant to my topic, are there good links on the site that might help with further research. Authority- does the author of the site have a specific authority on the subject, ie is he or she a teacher, professor, doctor, author etc. Accuracy- is the site accurate or is there content on there that is untrue and possibly a hoax. Check snopes.com of you are unsure. Read and do more research before following a site blindly. Information can be biased and unreliable. Purpose: What is the author’s purpose, what is his worldview? Is it biased from a particular standpoint? Is is a Christian or secular worldview?
Ebscohost is highly recommended for all students at HCOS for any kind of research project. You will find articles that are current, academic, peer reviewed, authoritative and accurate. You can refine your search times by publication type, and lexile level (which is the amount of words a student can read and normally goes like this 100 words = grade 1, 200 words = grade 2 and so forth. Canadian Reference Centre is a wonderful academic database that can be used for referencing Canadian projects with Canadian magazines, periodicals and newspapers. Netrekker is also good for Canadian links.
Title page, contents sheet, number your pages and BIBLIOGRAPY.
The research process can take different forms using digital skills. If you are doing any of the above remember to attribute correctly. If you are working in a group remember to collaborate within your team. Peer review and help assess before handing in your assignment.
Title page, contents sheet, numbered pages and bibliography. If you are using someone else’s thoughts or quotations remember to cite correctly, otherwise you are plagiarising. You would not steal someone’s car- so someone’s thoughts or sayings need the same respect and honesty.
All presentations have a list of references even techie tools like Glogs. Make sure your student reflects what sources they have used in the appropriate MLA format using tools like Bib Me for ease of use.
Biblical evidence is wonderful when incorporated into writing, as God is our final author. Use the bible to give support to your answers.