Research

Ask the Right Question!

Research Skills Using the Computer

Students in third and fourth grades are working on research projects throughout the district. Research using the computer has changed in the last few years due to accessibility to computers, interactive CDs, the Internet, and other pieces of software for collection and storage of information.

Throughout the research process, students are meeting with Mrs. Martin, our Library/Media Specialist and Mrs. Carter, our Computer Teacher, along with their classroom teachers to complete research following the Big 6 Research Model.
To find out more about the Big 6 model, you can go to this Internet site: http://www.big6.com/kids

As students delve into their search for information it is important for them to think critically about the information that appears on the web site.

Kathy Schrock, in her book, Writing and Research on the Computer, writes about using the traditional who, what, when, where, and why questions to easily begin to evaluate a site.
Students should consider these questions when doing research on the Internet:

Who

Who wrote the pages and are they an expert? Is a biography of the author included? How can you find out more about the author?

What

What does the author say is the purpose of the site? What else might the author have in mind for the site? What makes the site easy to use?

When

When was the site created?
When was the site last updated?

Where

Where does the information come from?

Where can I look to find out more about the producer?

Why

Why is this information useful for my purpose? Why should I use this information? Why is this page better than another?

After examining the information found, students should assess if the information is useful for the purpose of their research paper. Does the information found help you to answer the question that you are researching? This can only be accomplished by widely investigating web sites and print information.

After completing a research project, students will be expected to site the sources used to access the information. Here is the form we are using for web sites:



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