research skills – Seoul Learning

Guided Inquiry Design: An initial perspective

Ramberg, M. (2006). Questions? [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/40021607@N00/185508448

Disclaimer:

Oh no! I wrote out this rather lengthy post in response to a prompt in Module 5. However, it’s only now that I realise I was supposed to use my TL hat in doing so. But my hat is only in the design stage at the moment, as I’m such a newbie and always seem to revert to my classroom teacher space. I’m sorry Liz, I don’t want to delete it so here it is:

The subjects closest to my heart are MYP Individuals & Societies (I&S) and DP History. Both have heavy research components. As I have taught vertically through the MYP and DP, I notice that those students who have not grasped effective research skills really struggle in DP History, particularly in their Internal Assessment papers and their Extended Essays. MYP I&S’s Criterion B (Thinking Critically) provides the rubric we use for assessment. By the end of Year 10, students should be able to:

Formulate a clear and focused research question and justify its relevance
Formulate and follow and action plan to investigate a research question
Use research methods to collect and record appropriate, varied and relevant information
Evaluate the process and results of the investigation (Individuals & Societies Guide, p. 38)

Criterion B was pretty daunting to teach towards when I first started in the MYP. It seemed like a mountain to climb – how to provide the steps? I was in an IB MYP workshop when a fellow delegate shared a document with processes he had put together in order to reach the above listed goals. I took this document, thanked him profusely and after many modifications, still use it. It’s called the Research Booklet (yes, I know, scintillating title). I’m pretty attached to it by now! The best thing is that it keeps all of the student processes (including the evaluation) in ONE document. It’s then easy to check up on where kids are at, without having to sort through many papers (physical and digital) per student.

After reading through Module 5 about Information LIteracy Models (ILM), I had a bit of a revelation. I was trying to scaffold kids into better research skills with my humble booklet. Great, but without any framework or base to guide me.

I have just started reading about the Information Search Process / Guided Inquiry Design Process (ISP/GID). I absolutely love the fact that the GID is embedded in the research of the ISP, giving it a very strong evidence based practice leaning. The stages of Kuhlthau’s ISP make total sense to me – I have seen it over and over again in students (and myself!) without ever putting a name to it. It was so refreshing to read about the ISP – because it acknowledges the affective component of researching – which if the frustration becomes overwhelming – stops the research process altogether. To see student’s thoughts, feelings and actions captured in one model and how they “interplay across time within the context of a traditional research assignment” (Kuhlthau & Maniotes, 2014, p. 10) was very powerful. Finally, someone was listening to the kids and trying to see and understand the process through their eyes!

I obviously need to read deeper about GID. My initial thoughts in regards to it include an appreciation that the GID stages are thoughtful and don’t skip straight to formulating questions. Too often I have seen this with students as they rush to ‘nail’ their research question – often having to revise it later (and not due to further deeper research, but due to the rush at the start!)

I could definitely adapt my booklet to reflect the steps provided by GID. I feel then that I would have a solid research base behind me for the sorts of questions others ask – why are you doing it like that? For me, I can see an easy switch. The challenge would be to convince others. This wouldn’t be too hard in my own subject area (especially if I did all the work to prep a unit based on GID as an example!) BUT introducing this across the whole middle school or high school would be much more difficult. I’m not sure how I would even start to do that. Maybe here is where the role of the TL could come in? Would a presentation/information/invitations to Heads of Departments and the Principals be effective? It would definitely have to involve the MYP and DP coordinators, although I think they would be very much on board. We are a very inquiry orientated school, but we lack consistency in our approaches. So why hasn’t this already been done? For years we have struggled with some subjects teaching research skills, and others not, and the ones that do – all do it differently. I’d love to see a consistent approach, with the TL driving this supported by a well researched ILM.

References

FitzGerald, L. (2001). The twin purposes of guided inquiry: Guiding students inquiry and evidence based practice. Scan, 30(1), 26-41.

International Baccalaureate. (2013). Individuals and Societies Guide. International Baccalaureate Organization. https://resources.ibo.org/myp/subject-group/Individuals-and-societies/resource/11162-32902/?lang=en

Maniotes, L.K., Kuhlthau, C.C. (2014). Making the shift. Knowledge Quest. 43(2), 8-17.

Information Literacy: Who is responsible for what?

I’m trying to wrap my head around the TL’s role here. As my subject (MYP Individuals & Societies) has embedded research skills into its criteria, I have actively taught research skills for a long time. I think I’m one of the odd few who absolutely love teaching them, so I have not requested help from a TL to do this. I’m not saying this is a good idea, or that the TL has little to offer – in the moment I just didn’t feel like I needed help AND I didn’t really see the TL role in that light, beyond a ‘stand alone’ research session. (Of course this is now beginning to change.) I have seen TLs do ‘stand-alone’ lessons on how to reference or what databases are available to students, but if they are not linked to the unit specifically, I rarely see the information sink in. Kids switch off as soon as you say “Here’s how to reference properly….” particularly if they have not developed a relationship with the person who is delivering this information. In other subjects that have research components, (but the skills aren’t mandated to be assessed within the criteria) – I see a “brush off” and have heard teachers say “oh, you should have learnt that in English or I&S”. There doesn’t seem a consistent approach.

Who is responsible for what? If your subject has skills embedded and assessed, is this solely the teacher’s responsibility then? If your subject doesn’t have these skills embedded, and there is no pressure then to ‘assess’ them, how do your students progress in research skills in that particular content area? Does the TL become more involved in these subjects then? I don’t think we can isolate research skills just to one subject. I guess, in a perfect world, these questions would be considered and addressed at a school wide level, with the role of the TL highlighted. Although I would say that at my school, we are highly collaborative and inquiry focused, but in our setting, we have not utilized the skills of a TL to their full extent. We are not there yet. And – if this is not an expectation from senior management – what happens then? I also think the personality and drive of a TL has a big role to play here. I’m guessing that a TL who feels content and ‘safe’ within the physical walls of the library will not push for a change in that perceived role. Other TLs, who have the drive and desire to push the school forward will be out and about, being visible, making connections outside of the library. (It’s the same with classroom teachers too!) So there are many factors to consider here.

The right TL for the job + an open minded leadership + teachers willing to collaborate = better research skills for our students?

Literacy and its meanings

Wilson, S. (2013) Digital Literacies Peacock. [Photograph]. Flicker. https://www.flickr.com/photos/52926035@N00/8506818215

I enjoyed reading the Module 5 material on literacy. That list of different types of literacies seems ever growing! I stumbled upon one more (not on the list), that of “global literacy”. I found it in a thesis paper, with the title of “The Qualities that Inform Global Literacy Teaching in the U.S.” (Olabisi, 2020). Within it, Olabisi cites a definition from Reimers et al. “global literacy is the information and skills a person needs to successfully function in a globalized context”. I’m presuming this would have elements of international mindedness/intercultural awareness, global citizenship etc.

In the above context, it would seem that the word ‘literacy’ refers to a descriptor – in terms of competency. I don’t think the use of the word ‘literacy’ in this way means a dilution of the term. I think it adds depth and richness to the more traditional meaning of literacy (reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing). However, it is really important that we use ‘literacy’ as it befits our context and purpose, so we need to be more intentional, more nuanced when using the word. This seems like a simple point, but the more I think about it, the more important it becomes. Maybe we should start challenging each other when we hear the word ‘literacy’ used in an ill defined manner. For example,

What does the assistant principal mean when she says literacy rates have flattened when looking at the latest round of Grade 7 MAP scores?
What goals, skills and concepts is another teacher referring to when he says that he wants to create a new “visual literacy” unit for Individuals & Societies?
When collaborating with the English teacher on an interdisciplinary unit, what do we mean we want to assess “critical literacy”?

On another note, I am concerned with the pervasive idea that students are so comfortable with technology, that therefore they must know how to use it. Yes, they use it very well in social networking and gaming (I see my son gaming online with friends, two computer screens plus one phone propped up so he doesn’t “miss anything!”) When it comes to research skills, it is a completely different matter and I seem to see the same patterns year after year with the next group of students. I totally resonated with Coombes’ (2009) article in which she outlined the popular perception that just because our students are ‘tech-savvy’ doesn’t necessarily mean a correlation between being comfortable with the internet and exhibiting strong information finding skills. I’d like to extend these thoughts in my next post, once I have read about information literacy and the various models we can use.

References

Coombes, B. (2009) Generation Y: Are they really digital natives or more like digital refugees? Synergy, 7(1), 31-40.

Olabisi, J.E. (2020). The Qualities that Inform Global Literacy Teaching in the U.S. [Dissertation, University of Phoenix]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.