Changing the Questions: Improving and Elevating Student Research

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Changing the QuestionsImproving and Elevating
Student Research

• Joyce Kasman Valenza

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Dig back in your memory

• Describe the best (most exciting, pleasurable,
  useful) learning experience you ever had?
• (in or out of school)

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Criteria for meaningful learning
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The experts tell us meaningful learning involves
common characteristics

• Creativity
• Hands-on
• Multisensory
• Authentic
• Solves real problems /legitimate useful questions
• Audience
• Life-long relevance

• Choice (time, topic, place)
• Small groups
• Self paced
• Useful / Applied
• Personal / intrinsic motivation
• Uninterrupted
• Active

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What will the work force expect of our students?

• to research possible causes of problems.
• to isolate factors that are possible causes of
  problems.
• to arrive at resolutions to problems by
  brainstorming with other people.
• to search for information stored in computer
  files by using electronic data research skills.
• to write clearly to convey complex information to
  other people to describe situations or events and
  to make recommendations.
• to interpret correlations by comparing two sets
  of data
• Disney Learning Partnership http//www.thirteen.or
  g/edonline/concept2class/month6/index_sub6.html

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Why writing is important

• NPRs Morning Edition on History Essays (Real
  Media - 336).

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Approaches to learning (and researching)

• Sponges
• Absorb information passively
• Rely on concentration and memory
• Print a lot!

Browne, M. Neil and Stuart Kelly.Asking the right
questions. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice Hall,
2001
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Approaches to learning (and researching)

• Miners
• Approach reading with hope of finding new
  knowledge
• Question
• Critically evaluate
• Interacttalk back to the writer even when he is
  not present
• Reach reasoned conclusions

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Three Rs

• Rigor
• Relevance
• Relationships
• Borrowed from Jim Shelton (Microsoft)

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Inquiry Good research begins with good
questions!Death to topical research!!!
(Topical research doesnt get into their
systems!)Death to so what questions!!! MA
RTEC Video
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The philosophy of inquiry Interviews with Art
Costa

• http//www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inq
  uiry/index_sub5.html (numbers 1, 7)

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• Once you have learned how to ask relevant and
  appropriate questions, you have learned how to
  learn and no one can keep you from learning
  whatever you want or need to know.
• Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner Teaching
  as a Subversive Activity

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• "All of us, young and old, learn best when we
  tackle questions which are important to us. The
  students themselves must do the work, energetic
  work which arises from engaging questions."
• Theodore Sizer, Coalition of Essential
  Schools.

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Essential Questions

• Essential Questions
• Asking the Essential Question
• Jamie McKenzie on Questioning
• History and models

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• FAT vs. SKINNY QUESTIONS
• Fat questions require thought, discussion, and
  exploration, and may not have definite answers.
• Skinny questions require little more than a
  simple yes or no, a one-word answer, a fact. They
  require little time or thought. They inspire
  little growth. Their answers are memorized
  rather than learned.
• Inquirer column on questions

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Essential questions

• Are at the top of Bloom's Taxonomy
• Are not easily answered
• Seek understandings of things that matter,
  significant
• Force students to construct their own answers and
  find meaning
• Engage students authentic, applied
  problem-solving
• Discourage cutting and pasting
• Are parent questions they spawn subsidiary
  questions, usually fitting into categories

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Start with good questions

• Which one
• How
• What if
• Should
• Why
• Brainstormer http//mciu.org/spjvweb/questbrain.h
  tml
• History Question Brainstormer

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Rethinking reports

• Learn NC offers amazing makeover ideas!

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Ambush report makeovers

• Planets
• Elements
• Presidents
• States
• Nations
• Animal

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Some examples

• American Memory Lessons
• NARA Digital Classroom
• ReadWriteThink
• Access Excellence Mysteries
• Five Kinds of Slam Dunk Lessons (McKenzie)

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Some Springfield examples

• Lessons on information literacy
• Springfield Townships Lessons
• What I Did During the War
• Recipe for a Global Issue
• Senior Art Unit
• Some of Joyces favorite lesson portals
• 50 Ways to Leave Your Book Report
• Questions for lit crit

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More ideas!

• WebQuest Page, Matrix of top examples
• Best WebQuests.com
• Lubbock ISD sample problems, sample scenarios
• Missouri WebQuest examples
• San Diego Schools

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About Inquiry

• 13 Inquiry-Based Learning
• Eduscapes Project, Problem and Inquiry-Based
  Learning
• Inquiry Page
• Understanding by Design
• From Now On (Jamie McKenzie)
• The Essential Question, Making Good Lessons
  Quickly

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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
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Good research projects should not only teach
information literacy skills. They should also

• Make school more meaningful and relevant for
  students (motivating, intrinsic!)
• Help students develop higher level thinking
  processes and exercise creativity (motivating,
  intrinsic!)
• Allow teachers to improve delivery of the content
  area curriculum.
• Doug Johnson

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The Extrinsic FactorPractice We are always
looking.

• All research is inquiry-driven
• Expect perfect bibliographic format
• Expect quality, balanced sources? Holes? Defense
  of source choices in annotation
• Variety of access tools--ask students to list
  access tools
• Attack on plagiarism
• Grade-dependent strategies

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Teacher Responsibility for thoughtful, ethical
research Evaluating our own assignments

• Best practice for research-based instruction
• Clean hand
• Planning checklist
• Research rubric
• Research conference
• Rubric makeover workshop

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Librarians Responsibilities

• Pathfinders
• Style sheets
• Websites
• Guides to research
• Meeting students where they live!
• Importance of our Websites // What the kids
  think

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Teacher response video
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OrganizingRole of scaffolds and organizers

• Gathering
• Note-taking
• Synthesizing
• As in-process assessments
• It doesnt come easily!
• Current events organizer
• Debate organizer
• Middle East / Middle East WebQuest
• Questions for lit crit
• Scaffold sites
• Reception Scaffolds

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Thoughtful research

• Moving beyond the topic!

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So, whats the big deal about research?
Its just another project!
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Research is a real - life skill

• Research projects are training grounds for adult
  problem-solving and decision-making
• Which car should I buy and how much should I pay?
• Which candidate will best represent my interests?
• How can I convince my boss to accept my proposal?
• How should we work together to rebuild Iraq?
• Who do I believe?

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No more reports!

• The . . .
• country
• state
• president
• animal
• report has already been done (very well) by any
  number of encyclopedias.
• Why should we ask you to waste your time?

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Thoughtful research asks students to

• Analyze
• Judge
• Support or reject or critique
• Prioritize
• Evaluate
• Plan

• Debate
• Conclude
• Recommend
• Justify
• Argue
• Propose
• Invent

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We are asking for . . . more meaningful, and
more interesting research!
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What exactly do we expect?
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Searching as inquiry

• Three tips
• Focuswhat is your mission? your question? Be
  specific!
• Strategizeselect search tools and search terms
  with precision
• Refine--attempt to improve your search results
• Evaluatewhich results to visit, which documents
  to use? Did I do good work?

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What our teachers expect (consistently!)

• All research is inquiry-driven, based on good
  questions (even though learning may be
  differentiated)
• Perfect bibliographic format
• Defense of source choices in annotations
• Quality, balanced sources. No research holes!
• Variety of access tools--search engines, subject
  directories, databases, books
• Original work, your own voice. No plagiarism!

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Evaluation

• Middle Ages Pages to Evaluate
• WebQuest About Evaluating WebSites
• Use CARRDSS to evaluate your sources
• Evaluation PowerPoint

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Synthesis

• Weaving Quotes into your Writing
• Plagiarism vs. documentation  
• Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting
• Red Wheelbarrow
• X-Men

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Focus on inquirythe thesis

• Thesis development http//mciu.org/spjvweb/thesis
  .html
• Thesis Role Play http//mciu.org/spjvweb/thesisro
  leplay.html
• Inspiring Higher Level Thought in Student
  Research http//mciu.org/spjvweb/blooms.html

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Process for developing the thoughtful thesis
topic
questions
tentative thesis
thesis
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How do I know if I have a solid tentative thesis?
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What does a thesis look like?
2 Simple equations Specific topic
Attitude/Angle/Argument Thesis (or 3 Ts
Topic Tude Thesis) What you plan to
argue How you plan to argue it
Your thesis
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Attributes of a good thesis

• Contestable--proposes an argument with which
  people could reasonably disagree
• Provocative--takes a stand and justifies the
  discussion you will present.
• Coverable--could be adequately covered in the
  format of the project assigned.
• Specific and focused--proves a point without
  discussing everything in the world about
• Provable-- asserts your own conclusion based on
  solid evidence.

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Dont rush your thesis!

• A good tentative thesis will help you focus your
  search for information.
• It dont come easy. You must do a lot of
  background reading before you know enough about a
  subject to identify the key or essential
  questions.
• You may not know how you stand on an issue until
  you have examined the evidence.
• You will likely begin your research with a
  working, preliminary or tentative thesis which
  you will continue to refine until you are certain
  of where the evidence leads.

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Be flexible!

• The evidence may lead you to a conclusion you
  didn't
• think you'd reach.
• It is perfectly okay to
• change your thesis!

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How will you find a thesis?

• As you read look for
• Interesting contrasts or comparisons or patterns
  emerging in the information
• Something about the topic that surprises you
• Ideas that make you wonder why?
• Priorities you can weigh
• Something an "expert" says make you respond, "no
  way! That can be right!" or "Yes, absolutely. I
  agree!"

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Why, a thesis?

• A thesis statement declares what you intend to
  prove.
• A thesis gives your work focus.
• A good thesis statement makes the difference
  between a thoughtful research project and a
  simple retelling of facts.
• It makes the work worth doing!

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Try these five tests on your own tentative thesis
1. Does the thesis inspire a reasonable reader
to ask how? or why? 2. Would a reasonable
reader NOT respond with "Duh!" or "So what?" or
"Gee, no kidding!" or "Who cares?" 3. Does the
thesis avoid general phrasing and/or sweeping
words such as "all" or "none" or "every"? 4. Does
the thesis lead the reader toward the topic
sentences (the subtopics needed to prove the
thesis)? 5. Can the thesis be adequately
developed in the required length of the paper or
project? If you cannot answer "YES" to these
questions, what changes must you make in order
for your thesis to pass these tests?
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Thesis coaching
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Are these are good thesis statements? (Use the
five tests to decide.)

• Terrorism should not happen.
• The causes of the Civil War were economic,
  social, and political.
• The Simpsons represents the greatest animated
  show in the history of television.
• The Simpsons treats the issues of ethnicity,
  family dynamics, and social issues effectively.
• Often dismissed because it is animated, The
  Simpsons treats the issue of ethnicity more
  powerfully than did the critically praised All In
  The Family.

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Now you are ready!Go forth and do powerful,
thoughtful research!

• Remember, you are not alone. Check frequently
  with your teacher-librarian and classroom teacher
  for guidance!

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About the thesis
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In other schools
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New types of products focus on evaluation
Student-developed pathfinders http//www.springfie
ld.k12.pa.us/shs/quest/pathfinders.htm Reflection
as part of the product http//mciu.org/spjvweb/re
flecting.html
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Some wisdom

• Change takes time, even when you know you are
  right
• Demonstrate, do, dont tell
• Reflect
• Collect evidence (senior exit interviews/focus
  groups, before and after project, student
  reflections on the process)
• Decisions are made by those who show up. You
  cannot be too busy to show up.

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Whats a parent to do?
Letter to Parents about the changes
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For the MARTEC Videos

• Joan Pasternak, Program Development and
  Implementation Specialist
• email joanp_at_temple.edu
• (w)phone [phone]
• (c)phone [phone]

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Contact information

• Springfield Township HS Virtual Library
  http//mciu.org/spjvweb
• Neverending Search http//www.joycevalenza.com
• joyce_valenza_at_sdst.org
• The tools referred to in this presentation are
  located at
• http//mciu.org/spjvweb/jvles.html
• Presentation located at
• http//mciu.org/spjvweb/laworkshop.html