KIS MYP Humanities Research Journal Based on the Middle School Research Planner by Andrew McCarthy, Digital Literacy Coach, UWCSEA Dover http://www.uwcsea.edu.sg See UWCSEA Research Skills for more tips on Researching an essay. Step 1: Formulating a clear and focused research question With the help of your teacher, clarify which concepts you will be inquiring into. Unit focus (topic) Concept focus My Research Question (should be an engaging, relevant, open-ended and concept-based question) Justification of Relevance (explain why your research question is important to study)
Step 2: Planning your investigation Keywords are the key to unlocking information on the Internet. Instead of searching for long phrases, try using commonly used words. Once you have found a good source, use the Find Tool (Command + F) to find words within the page. Keywords Generate narrower and more focused guiding questions that will help you answer your larger questions. Guiding questions may be open or closed questions, and a variety of both would be useful. Generate as many questions as you can to support your plan. Guiding Questions (indicate which concepts the questions connect to) The next important step is making an action plan for the days that you will be investigating. List the day, the description of your action, and then check off when you have it completed. Add rows if needed for extra days. Planned date to complete Description of what you will work on Check when completed
Step 3: Recording your information The following research grid is a recommended format for compiling the information you gather throughout your investigation. It is always a good idea to cross-check your information (in other words, see if the same information can be verified in another source). You need to consider a range of sources: Academic Articles, Websites, Surveys, Interviews, Statistical Databases, Books, Magazines, Encyclopedias. Whatever source you choose, ensure that you analyse the source for reliability. See the Source Analysis checklist below. Put the name of the source (title of book, magazine or article;; or URL) in the columns below. Guiding Question (From step 2 above) Source 1 Source 2 Summary of information in own words (Use bullet-points to list summaries)
Step 4: Evaluating your investigation At the end of the investigation process, it is important to self-evaluate your work. Consider the following questions: Process Were you able to find the information you were looking for? Did your guiding questions change as the investigation progressed? Did you make connections between sources of information? Could you verify your information among different sources? Was your investigation clearly focused on the concepts? Results What was surprising or interesting about what you discovered? Was it easy to interpret the results of your investigation? Why (not)? Are you satisfied with your product? What was done well? What could have been done better? Approaches to Learning: Information Literacy Did you use a variety of source types? Did you use non-internet sources? Did you use both primary and secondary sources? Could you easily analyze the reliability of your sources? Self-evaluation of investigation process and results
Step 5: Citing your sources As a writer it is your ethical responsibility to give proper credit to sources. It is also very important that you give credit in accordance with a style of citations. You must use MLA style formatting, and should use EasyBib.com for help in the process. If you fail to give proper credit to a source you have committed plagiarism. 1. The Works Cited page should always be the last page of your essay, report or presentation. 2. Sources should be organized alphabetically by the first word or name in the entry. This first word or name is what you use in the paper when making a direct citation or quote from the author. 3. You should include every source that is in your research above. 4. Use Easybib.com to create your Works Cited page. Remember there s a difference between a Works Cited page and a full Bibliography. Please check with your teacher which one is required for this assignment. Bibliography = An alphabetical list of every source used in your investigation, whether or not information from that source ended up in your final product. Works Cited = An alphabetical list of all the sources that you specifically used in your product by including an in-text citation. In-text citations = An indication of where information has been obtained and has a full citation in the works cited list. Normally the citation includes just the author s last name and the page number. For instance (Anderson 58). For on-line sources, see the examples below:
Source Analysis For some assignments your teacher will require a separate source analysis document where you have analyzed your sources in detail. Consider the following questions from the CRAPPY source analysis template. Currency: How recent is the information? Is it current enough for your investigation? This will depend on the nature of your topic. Reliability: Is the information primarily fact-based or opinion? Has the author listed their sources? Can you verify the information somewhere else? Is this from a well-known organization? Authority: Who is the author? What are their qualifications? Do they include their contact information? If there s no author, does it come from a reputable news source or organization? Purpose: What is the intention of the source? To inform, persuade, or sell you something? Is the information organized clearly? Perspective: What is the particular point-of-view of this source? Consider the purpose of the source. Could there be any bias? Is the source balanced and give both points of view or just one? Your research: How is this source useful for your research? Does the information in this source support and extend what you already know about the topic? Or does it challenge your research? Source (Proper MLA citation) Analysis (Approximately 5-8 sentences)
Rubrics for Evaluating Research and Source Analysis (Grade 9-10) Criterion B - Investigating 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 formulates a research question that is clear or focused and describes its relevance formulates and follows a limited action plan to investigate a research question or does not follow a plan collects and records limited information, not always consistent with the research question makes a limited evaluation of the process and results of the investigation formulates a research question that is clear and focused and describes its relevance in detail formulates and somewhat follows a partial action plan to investigate a research question uses a research method(s) to collect and record mostly relevant information evaluates some aspects of the process and results of the investigation formulates a clear and focused research question and explains its relevance formulates and follows a substantial action plan to investigate a research question uses a research method(s) to collect and record appropriate relevant information evaluates the process and results of the investigation formulates a clear and focused research question and justifies its relevance formulates and effectively follows a comprehensive action plan to investigate a research question uses research methods to collect and record appropriate, varied and relevant information thoroughly evaluates the investigation process and results Criterion D.iii - Thinking Critically (Source Analysis) 1-2 describes a limited number of sources/data in terms of origin and purpose and recognizes few values and limitations 3-4 5-6 7-8 analyses and/or evaluates sources/data in terms of origin and purpose, recognizing some values and limitations effectively analyses and evaluates a range of sources/data in terms of origin and purpose, recognizing values and limitations effectively analyses and evaluates a wide range of sources/data in terms of origin and purpose, recognizing values and limitations