2.+Creating+the+Research+Task

== = Creating the Research Task =

In chapter 3 Carlson and Brosnahan addresses the topic of how do we choose topics for research projects. Factors that we must consider are: A great way to motivate students is to give them choice in choosing their own research topics. They suggest having students create a research project proposal. Before students write the proposal they have to do some initial research and come up with some guiding questions. This will force students to think about the topic and help them narrow down their guiding questions. They also suggest getting parents involved by having them sign the proposal and reviewing it.
 * **Motivation** - will students be motivated to work on the project?
 * **Information** - is there to much or too little information on the topic and is it at the student's comprehension level?
 * **Student Choice** - if you are allowing students to choose their own topics, how should you guide and limit their choices?

Macrorie's I-search model is a research project model that focuses more on the process versus the end product. It is based on the premise that students select their own topics so that they are motivated, develop their own guiding questions and research plan and then the teacher guides them through the research process through a series of lessons. Lessons include how to access and use a variety of resources, how to prevent plagiarizing, citing sources, organizing and synthesizing data and creating a final product that demonstrates their own ideas and opinions. Students are evaluated on the process as well as the final product.


 * After reading chapter 3 and spending some time exploring the following website. [] Please share your thoughts on the I-search model. What advantages and disadvantages do you see to **** using this model with students? What age groups do you think it would be appropriate for? What advantages do you see to creating research proposals? **

Chapter 4: This Sounds Hard!
Carlson and Brosnahan remind us that students often find large research projects intimidating because they do not know where to start. There are so many different resources out there and so much information, that they feel overwhelmed and need to be guided through the process of collecting and organizing information. To help alleviate these feelings Carlson and Brosnhan make a number of suggestions.

The first suggestion is to make sure that students are clear about what the final product will look like. This can be done by showing students exemplary examples of the final task, whether it is a report or some other form. Have students look at the examples, analyse them and break them down compared to the rubric.

Students also need to know what is going to be assessed and how. Teachers have to make sure that they are assessing the objectives of the assignment and that they use a variety of assessment types. They suggest using rubrics because they help to keep students focused and are a good way of keeping parents informed.

Teachers also need to make sure that they assess the process as well as the final product. This way students spend more time working on the process and developing their information literacy skills.

Another way to alleviate the overwhelmed feeling, is to model the process and work step by step through the process with students. By chunking the information and teaching the skills and then giving students the opportunity to practise those skills, it is not as overwhelming.