MYP Research Packet

7/29/2019 MYP Research Packet

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Believe it or not, a school

research project is a lot like life.

Every day, were faced

with choicesthatrequire

informed

decision

making.

Should I

buy a new

iPhone? Is

another

phone

better? Is thisnew computer

game really worth

$100? Which college should I go

to? How can I convince my

parents to give me my own car?

Information helps us to analyze

the choices, draw conclusions,

and make decisions. In the old

days, finding the information was

pretty easy: Youd go to the

library, check which books andmagazines were available.You

might ask your parents, or

someone else who had reliable

knowledge, but thats about it.

Today is a whole new world. You

have not only books and

magazines, but also the WWW,

databases, archives The web

consists of over eleven billion

web pagesso youll have tosearch through a lot of garbage

to find the information you

need. Thats whatinformation

literacy and the research

process are all about!

Todays informationliterate student

consults as many

different, reliable

sources as s/he

can find, asks

questions, takes

notes, then

develops an

opinion based on

solid information.

Information literacy

isnt just knowing how to

set up a Facebook page.

It is knowing how to find,

evaluate and use information

from many sources: books,

newspapers, magazines,

databases, videos, or the web. It

is a set of skills that you develop

over time, a way of thinkingabout problem-solving that will

work whether you want to

research the latest video game

or the Middle Ages.

According to the Bureau of

Labor and Statistics, 70% of 21st

Century jobs will require

workers to find information,

evaluae its worth and use it

creatively. Thus, students mustdo more than learn library

skills. They must manage

information.

The Research Paper

H A N D L I N G I N F O R M A T I O N O V E R L O A D I N T H E D I G I T A L A G ERESEARCH

So what is this information literacy stuff, anyway?

Knowing where to

find information

(and what to do

with it o nce youve

found it ) is half the

battle...

Good researchers are:Inquirers: Showing naturalcuriosity and take the initiative tolearn.

Knowledgable:About availableresources and organizinginformation.

Thinkers: Asking criticalquestions and evaluatingsources.

Communicators: Sharing theirfindings with a larger community.

Principled: Using othersmaterial ethically.

Reflective: Consistentlyevaluating their information ANDtheir process, in order to furtherdevelop ideas and understanding.

Research and the

Learner Profile


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THE RESEARCH PROCESSLike any multi-dimensional task, good research is a

circular process. Following this process will

increase the likelihood of not only finding useful,

relevant information, but of using it in meaningful

ways.

What is this process?

PRE-SEARCH

Define your task/topic

Determine your information needs

Develop your research question

Determine your information sources

FIND INFORMATION

Organize material

Evaluate sources/information

Analyze

Extract relevant ideas

Focus topic/research question (ifneeded)

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

Connect ideas

Think through dissenting information

Order the ideas logically

Evaluate: Do I need more info?

CREATE/EVALUATE

Complete your task

Judge the final product (is it effective)?

Evaluate process:

What worked? What didnt work?What would you do differently?

Lets explore each of these stages.

PRE-SEARCH

Lets say your teacher gives you an assignment.

Your first step is to decide what you need to do in

order to complete the task. Ask yourself these

questions: What is my final product? An essay? A

poster? An oral presentation? A video?

Does it have a required size, length, or

time limit?

What is the topic? Do I need to focus it?

Of course, if youre working on your MYP personal

project, you may not have an answer to any of

these questions yet. Other assignments may

answer none, some or all. In any case, heres what

you need to think about.

FOCUS YOUR TOPIC

Sometimes the teacher will give you a topic,

sometimes youll come up with your own. Most of

the time, you will still need to decide how to focus

or narrow your topic and make it your own. You

need to have a broad enough topic that you have

something to talk or write about, but narrow

enough that you can discuss it thoroughly in thetime/space allotment.

FOCUSING YOUR TOPIC

This is an important point in yourresearch process. A well definedtopic guides everything else youdo, from framing your research

question to finding information to

writing your thesis.

General Topic: European Politics

Narrower: Russia and World War I

More Narrow: Russian politics and WW I

Focused: Russian involvement in WWI and its

effect on the revolution.

NOTE: This is still not a research question.; it is just yourTOPIC.


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RESEARCH QUESTION

The research question lies at the heart of any

extensive research project. If you dont know

much about your topic, you may actually need to

spend a few days (or weeks!) research learning

enough to be able to frame a good question.

The question guides everything you do, fromfinding information to writing your thesis

statement, so its important to spend the time it

takes to write a good one.

The research question is not the same as your

topic. For example, your topic might be healthy

eating. The research question is what you want

find out about that topic. It asks for analysis, and

usually has more than one answer. A good

research question also asks you to do more

than just list your answers. It forces you to takea stand, develop an argument and defend your

position.

Thus, What makes a healthy meal? is NOT a

good research question. It may require analysis

to determine what it includes and you may even

argue over that, but in the end, all you have to

do is list ideas.

A better question would be, If theyre given

healthy options, do teens make good eatingchoices? See the difference? This is going to

take some analysis, and youll have to decide

which side youll take, then prove it! You cant

just list.

A GOOD RESEARCH

QUESTION IS:

ANALYTICAL: Answering it requires

you to prove a point and provide

evidence, not just answer yes or no.

ARGUABLE: There is more than one

side to the issue. You could argue for

against, and still have good points to

make.

FOCUSED: The question is broad

enough to give you plenty to discuss, but

narrow enough to allow you to do a

thorough job.

RESEARCHABLE: You can find

enough good, authoritative material to

material to be able to do a good job on

your final product.

FRAMING A RESEARCH

QUESTION

If focusing your topic is important,

writing a good research question is

essential to your entire research

process, so be willing to spend a

considerable amount of time on

this part. Writing a good research

question is HARD! You will

probably write several before you

(or your adviser) is happy!

TOPIC 1: NUTRITION

Weak: What makes a nutritious meal?

Better: Which fast food restaurant serves the

healthiest options?

TOPIC 2: FITNESS

Weak: How can I improve my fitness level?

Better: Which works best to improve strength

levels: machines or free weights?

SUPPORTING QUESTIONS

Of course, your research question is not the

only question youll be asking! You will need to

develop support questions to develop your

understanding. These are the questions that

help you answer the research question.


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Information literacy

is the process of

turning information

into meaning,

understanding and

new ideas.

Terry Crane, VP of AOL

TELLING QUESTIONS

These questions move past the broad range of

your research question to zero in on importantinformation. These look for specific answers.

What kind of machines will I use? How many

reps at which weight? Which menu items

contain over 25% fat?

ANALYTICAL QUESTIONS

Whatever youre reading, its important to ask

How? and Why? Good analytical questionslook for patterns, connections, contrasts or

dilemmas. They consider the implications of

your findings and develop them. If students

arent choosing available healthy foods, is itbecause of taste or cost? How does the

cooking process improve nutritional value? Is

grilling better than frying? (Be careful not toplay guessing games with this kind of

questioning. Ground your research in specific

details!)

ELABORATING QUESTIONS

These questions look at the information and

make sense of it. Typical questions might beWhat does the author mean by...? Or What

does this statement imply? What effect wouldthis have on the average person? More

importantly, you should always ask: How does

this connect with other information Ive found?

What information is the author NOTdiscussing?

Of course, like the research process itself,

question generating is cyclical. Youll writequestions to start the research process, but

others will arise as you research, which in turnprompt yet more questions. Embrace the

process!

PLAN YOUR SEARCH

Nothing is more frustrating than typing a search

into Google and staring at the resulting 3,650,

483 results! Thats why PLANNING your searchbefore you being will make your life a lot easier.

USING THE PLANNER

KEYWORDS: Use the nouns and verbs in

your research question to start a list ofkeywords. From our fast food example, you

would choose fast food restaurants

healthy options for example.

Then, for each of those, generate a list of

similar or alternative words. For example, forhealthy options you might list nutritiouslow fat high fiber, etc.

As you research, you can add other words toyour list. Using a variety of search terms

helps you find a wider selection of sources.

SOURCES: Think of all the places you can

find high-quality information: books,

databases, websites, interviews, etc.

Remember, too, that research is social now,

and everyone curates! Check resource-

sharing sites such as Scoop.It, Delicious,Twitter, Slideshare, Sribd and other.

Just remember, that on these sites, you needto be very aware of the source of the

information, and to verify their credibility.
http://www.scribd.com/http://www.scribd.com/http://www.slideshare.net/http://www.slideshare.net/http://www.twitter.com/http://www.twitter.com/http://www.delicious.com/http://www.delicious.com/http://www.scoopit.com/http://www.scoopit.com/


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KEEP A SOURCE LIST!

Document your resources AS YOU GO! Books,

websites, articles, interviews--log them all into

NoodleTools so youre not struggling later to

figure out where you found your information!

EVALUATE YOUR FINDINGS.

Forgive the acronym, but everything you read

should pass the CRAAP test!

Currency: How recent is theinformation? Has it been updated or

revised? Will older resources work as

well, or do you need recent information?

Relevance: Does the informationfit your topic and research question? Who

is the audience? Is it at an appropriate level

(not too easy or advanced). Is it

appropriate to cite in your paper?

Authority: Who is the author orpublisher? What are his/her credentials?

Affiliations? Is this person qualified towrite about the topic? Can you find contact

information?

Accuracy: Is the informationsupported by evidence? Is this a peer-

reviewed source? Can you verify the

information elsewhere? It is unbiased? Are

there spelling, grammar or typographical

errors?

Purpose: Why was this sourcecreated? Is it informational? Persuasive?

Entertaining? Does the author make his/

her purpose clear? It the information fact,

opinion or propaganda? Are there any

biases, whether political, cultrual, religious

or personal?

Try to collect both primary and secondary

sources. Teachers (and the IBO) are impressed

when you use and discuss intelligently sourcesdirectly related to your topic (primary)

CREATE/EVALUATE

When you think youre finished, its time to put all

that information to use.

Formalize the sorting you did in the last step by

organizing the information. organize it.There are

many ways to do this, whether its graphically,

through a mind- map, or more formally, throughan outline.

Youll also need to think about the best structure

for presenting the information: Movie? Book?

Pamphlet? Dance? This is the project part of

Personal Project. Whatever you decide, ensure

you have solid, research-based reasons for

choosing that! Why is it the BEST option for

showing your research findings?

Once you have finished your project, Quitefrankly,YOU should be the first person to

evaluate your work, not your mom and not your

teacher, though they can be helpful! Ask yourself

these questions as you evaluate what youve

created.

Is my task finished?

Did I complete the assignment?

Is everything in the proper order?

Did I include every element?

Did I do my best?

Good writing?

Thesis Statement? (if needed)

Logical order?

Cited sources appropriately?

Neat?

Correct spelling?


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It may sound goofy, but once youre finished, take time to reflect about the entire process. What worked

very well for you? What wasnt all that helpful? How would you do things differently next time? This is

called metacognition, which means thinking about how you think and how you learn. The more you

understand about your own processes, the easier it will be next time!

Research and the Personal Project

Lets take a hypothetical project. Omar wants to create a video for his peers about skateboarding

safety, linking it to the Health and Social Education AOI. He spends a lot of time researching

skateboarding hazards and good safety practices and protective devices. Omar thinks he is ready to

begin, and is surprised when his supervisor tells him hes nowhere close to ready. Why isnt he ready?

Remember, the focus of your project is not the project itself, but the process you go through in

researching that project, and the reasoning behind the decisions you make.

So, for example, aside from the questions about skateboarding and safety, here are a few of the questions

Omar should have been asking and researching.

Education:

If my goal is to educate my peers, what are the best ways to do that? Workshops? Brochures? Videos?

How do teens learn best? What factors affect my decision? What tools or skills can I draw on to help?

How will I reach my audience? How will I measure what they learned? How will I know if I was

successful or not?

Video Production

What makes an effective educational video? What format should I use? What do I need to do to get

ready to shoot a video? What are the basics of video production?

Moreover, for each source of information you need to ask yourself the questions above in the CRAAP

test, because in your final assessment, youll need to 1) explain why these were good sources for you

and 2) how the information you learned from them affected your project (in other words, how did you

APPLY the information?)

Thus, throughout your research, your should link to or document your resources in your blog AND

write a short explanation of why its a good source why its relevant to your research.

Works Consulted:

Mackenzie, Jamie. The Questioning Toolkit. From Now On:The Educational Technology Journal.Vol7. No 3,

1997. Web. 28 Sept 2010.

Meriam Library, Chico State University.Applying the CRAAP Test. Chico: Meriam Library, Chico StateUniversity, 2010. Web. 29 Sept 2010.

Documents

MYP Research Packet