How Do We Research?
We use a research model - the "Ready, Set, Go....Show" model.
READY (Preparing for Research)
- What do you already know?
- What do you need to find out?
- What answer(s) do you need to your question(s)?
- What will help you solve your problem?
- Where should you look for the answer(s)?
- Write down what you need to find out and keep updating it as you go along
SET (Accessing Resources)
- Find materials (books, magazines, encyclopedias, videos, CD Roms, etc. that relate to your subject or question
- Keep track of where you found these resources
- Use tables of contents, indexes, glossaries, and other helpful tools to make the best use of your time
- Keep track of the information you get from them, using graphic organizers, worksheets provided by the teacher, mindmaps, etc.
GO (Processing Information)
- What books, magazines, people, or other resources have been the most useful?
- Are you still needing answers to some of your questions?
- Does all your information fit, or can some of it be thrown out?
- Have you chosen the best information?
- Have you organized it in a meaningful or easy-to-understand way, so that you can actually use it easily?
- Have you come to a conclusion (or found the main answer to your question), or do you need to redirect or start over? (If so, go back to “ready” or “set.”)
SHOW (Transferring Learning)
- How can you best show what you’ve learned?
- What’s the best method to demonstrate your findings?
- Will everyone understand what you are trying to say?
- Can you show your work in a bunch of different ways (graphs, words, charts, etc.)?
- Did you do your best work?
- Looking back, could you have done something a different way, to get a better result?
- Does all your work show in your final product? Did you miss anything important?
- Did you answer your question the way you intended?
- Does your finished product match what you set out to do in the “ready” step?
- Are you proud of what you learned?