Tis the Season to Do Research!

 Tis the start of the TRUE research season! (Fa-la-la-la-la, La-la-la-la!)

How can we research? Let us count the ways! First, EPQ students are beginning this journey for the EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) that will be presented next school year. This means discussing ways to narrow topics, find sources and so forth have begun. Yesterday was a lesson with 50 students who are interested in this process!

Next is the Reading the World Fascination Papers! These students are in the Reading the World course and are finding topics of interest and completing university level research on that topic. We are exploring databases and other authoritative resources for the topics. (This year some topics include: aging and genetics, sustainable farming, probiotics, the economic effect of women in the workplace, and much more!)

Then we head down to junior school for the research process (years 5 and 6) and exploring Encyclopedia Britannica School for years 3 and 4. Now that they have all explored some web resources, students will be completing a BINGO scavenger hunt during library lessons to practice skills AND to learn how to avoid the "copy and paste" technique of note-taking. (This is also referred to as avoiding plagiarism.)

While this portion of research finishes before the term break in December, we will not be finished with research. In January, I will be teaching an EPQ skills session each week to a class of students - I am one of 6 instructors guiding students through the process of researching and writing their dissertations. Year 6 students will be doing the junior school version of the EPQ with a research essay. For this, we will look at ways to effectively use the internet for information. Research will begin for year 2 students as we use PebbleGo to determine the difference between facts and opinions. 

My overall goal through all of this is to take the fear of research away and replace it with the knowledge that, when done correctly, research is just a fun scavenger hunt for information, and putting the facts together is just like assembling a puzzle! (Every fact belongs in just the right place when you complete the project.)

Tis the season to do research

Fa-la-la-la-la, La-la-la-la!

Using Jstor and Explora

Fa-la-la-la-la, La-la-la-la!

Don't forget to cite your sources

Fa-la-la, La-la-la, La-la-la!

Write the facts, don't copy and paste them.

Fa-la-la-la-laaa, La-la-la-la!