Quality research or inquiry-based learning go beyond hunting and finding information. In fact, projects that ask students to do find and regurgitate information often result in plagiarised reports that students and have cut and pasted from the Internet.
Students need to be taught how to ask deep questions, and find information that will help them to make decisions, solve problems and possibly lead to actions in classrooms, schools and/or communities. They need to learn to find the right resource for their information needs, they need to record their findings and make connections between various sources of information and their own ideas. They need to synthesize this information into new understandings that allow them to take action. It is these types of projects that allow for critical thinking, a skill that is necessary for learners of the 21st century.
In additon, all students need to be successful in larger scale projects. One of the best ways to ensure this is to 'chunk' projects into manageable stages that allow for formative assessments along the way and plenty of opportunity for quality feedback. Students need to complete projects in school with the assistance of the TL working in partnership with the classroom teacher. School completed projects allow for formative assessment (feedback, observation, monitoring of work completion) and it is well documented that timely, specific feedback that is given to students as they work is the best way to boostb student achievement.
Schools in the GECDSB have a number of resources that can help with the process of completing a project. Some are linked on this wiki:
Just Research
Other resources are purchased and cannot be attached to the wiki. These can be found in the TL Conference on First Class in the folder TL Resources.
Imagine the Learning - a resource for teachers and students at the elementary level
Research Success @ your library - a resource for teachers and students at the secondary level
Here are some other resources to help you when designing your projects:
Assignments Worth the Effort Questions Are the Key.pdf
Designing Quality Research Projects 7 - 12.ppt
Below are some quality research projects. We invite you to post your project so that we have a bank of inquiry based projects for all teachers to use.
Elementary Projects
Canadian History in the 19th Century.doc (Here is a list of suggested novels for this project:Historical Novels Elementary.doc )
Secondary Projects
SNC 1D Electricity Performance Assessment.doc
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.