RESEARCH CHECKLIST

Use the steps below to guide you through the research process. 1. 2. 3. Write 5 researchable questions about your topic. TEACHER CHECKPOINT Read and take notes from an encyclopedia article on your topic. Write the notes on the appropriate question card. Bibliographic citation. TEACHER CHECKPOINT Brainstorm synonyms and related terms for your topic. Use the OPAC to locate books on your topic Take notes from at least two book sources. Bibliographic citations. TEACHER CHECKPOINT Use Digital Databases to locate newspaper & magazine articles on your topic. Print out any articles that help answer your 5 questions. Take notes. Bibliographic citations. TEACHER CHECKPOINT Use relevant web sites to locate information on your topic. Take notes. Bibliographic citations Look over all your notes. Did you answer your 5 questions completely? Did you stick to the theme? Have you used primary sources for information? Organizing your notes before writing the rough draft copy. Name Topic Block

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Student Research Guide

Winning Research Projects!

Producing Evaluating Synthesizing

12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Sorting Gathering Planning Questioning

20.

ANALYZE THE ASSIGNMENT

Describe the assignment.

Consider TAPF T TOPIC A AUDIENCE P PURPOSE F FORMAT Is this a group project? Yes No If yes, what is each members responsibility? What are the checkpoints for this project? Date What is due?

The final project is due: What must be turned in with the final project? Note Cards/Graphic Organizer Bibliography Rough draft Printouts of Internet resources

BRAINSTORM
What do I already know about this topic? What are some related topics I could research?

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STEP 1 QUESTIONING
DEVELOP QUESTIONS
Research questions must go beyond the Who? What? When? & Where? level. Research questions need to address issues, trends, impact consequences and beyond. Use the Question Creator below to begin to develop your questions. Remember questions can be modified later if needed. would impact Why Who Which How What can is consequences did will effect(s) cause(s) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. value might influence trend

What is my thesis question?

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STEP 2 PLANNING PLANNING

Circle the keywords in your research questions. List them below with synonyms that may help you locate information if you are not successful with the keywords. Use a thesaurus if necessary.

KEYWORDS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

SYNONYMS

SELECT PRINT RESOURCES

Brainstorm which resources might have information on my topic? Check off the resources you think will have the information that you need and explain your reasoning. Encyclopedias Non-fiction books Magazine and newspaper articles People / Places / Artifacts

STEP 2 PLANNING (CONT.)

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Circle the keywords in your research questions. List them below with synonyms that may help you locate information if you are not successful with the keywords. Use a thesaurus if necessary.

KEYWORDS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

SYNONYMS

SELECT DIGITAL RESOURCES

Brainstorm which resources might have information on my topic? Check off the resources you think will have the information that you need and explain your reasoning OPAC or Patron Catalog Reserved materials in the library A school focused webpage Proquest Online Grolier Encyclopedia Online Search Engines (eg. Google)

At Home Database Info

Customer # Password See your media specialist Account Name Password See your media specialist

SIRS Knowledge Source http://www.SIRS.com Proquest Junior http://proquest.umi.com/login

Grolier Online See your media specialist for the registration url. You will need to complete the necessary information and submit it to Grolier. You will receive an email message with your assigned username and password. Then you should visit http://go.grolier.com Use your assigned username and password for all future access. Username Password

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STEP 3 - GATHERING CHECK FOR RELEVANCY

Check for Relevancy Does the information answer my question or does it give me important new information to add to my questions? Check for Authority Do I recognize the author? Where are the authors qualifications to provide this information? What organization, company, government or university supports this information? Check for Currency Is this information up to date? Check for Objectivity Does the information inform, persuade, or both?

USE SEARCH STRATEGIES

To help you search for facts to answer your questions use . . . Table of Contents Subject search strategies Indexes Keyword search strategies Boolean search strategies Skimming Scanning

RECORD SOURCES
Use the Standard Bibliography Form to record the necessary information for your bibliography. (See the following page for the proper format.)

RECORD INFORMATION
Use the note cards or graphic organizer required by your teacher. Dont forget to include the resource where the information was found on each card. For example, (S1) means the fact was found in source number 1. Your teacher will check the bibliography card for details on the source.

Write one research question on the top of each note card. Fact that answers the question above (S1) = source #1 Fact that answers the question above (S1) Fact that answers the question above (S2) Fact that answers the question above (S3) Fact that answers the question above (S5)

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STEP 4 - SORTING ORGANIZE NOTE CARDS

Here are some tips to help you organize your information: 1. Lay out all of your note cards on a table. Separate them so you have your note cards in one pile and your bibliography card or source card in another pile. 2. Group together note cards by topic or related questions. 3. Read your cards critically. Do you have enough information to write a well-supported paragraph for each category? Do you have enough details? Examples? 4. Put your cards in the order you plan to use them in your paper.

OR

CREATE A CONCEPT MAP

Using the information that you have gathered, begin sorting out your ideas by creating a concept map. Feel free to add headings and subheadings if you need them.

Subheading Subheading

Subheading Subheading Subheading

Heading Subheading Heading Subheading

Subheading Subheading

Heading

Topic
Heading Heading Subheading Subheading

Subheading Subheading Subheading Subheading

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STEPS 5 & 6 - SYNTHESIZING AND EVALUATING PUT THE PUZZLE TOGETHER

"As you combine your notes, does all the information come together to answer your questions and make sense? If not, what should you do next? Ask yourself these questions: Have I answered all my questions thoroughly? Do I need to throw away what is repetitive or not useful? Do I need to ask new questions? Should I rearrange the information for clarity? After evaluating your information you may decide that you need to go back to find more information. Now is the time to do it. You will need to return to Step Two: Planning or Step Three: Gathering. Putting your information into outline form can help you to see the patterns and logic of your presentation. (See the sample below) Research /Thesis Question:

Heading 1 Subheading a) Subheading b) Subheading c) Heading 2 Subheading a) Subheading b) Subheading c) Heading 3 Subheading a) Subheading b) Subheading c) Heading 4 Subheading a) Subheading b) Subheading c)

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STEPS 5 & 6 - SYNTHESIZING AND EVALUATING SELF-ASSESSMENT

Questioning: I have developed questions that helped me to answer my main research/thesis question. Planning: I have selected sufficient keywords and synonyms. I have identified resources relevant to my questions. Gathering: I have recorded bibliographic information correctly. I have used note cards or a graphic organizer to record my information. Sorting: I have organized my information under appropriate headings and subheadings. Synthesizing: I have enough information be thorough. I have organized the information in a logical way. Product: (To be answered after the product is finished) I have use correct grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. I have produced a presentation showing originality. I have completed the task requirements.

Y/N Y/N Y/N Y/N Y/N

Y/N Y/N Y/N Y/N Y/N Y/N

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STEP 7 - PRODUCING CHOOSE A PRODUCT

When choosing the form of your presentation consider Audience Purpose to inform, persuade, entertain, explain, or a combination of these Equipment, materials, and space available Time necessary to complete

WRITTEN FORMS OF PRESENTATION

NARRATIVE: stories, essays, character portrait, script, story endings, first person narrative EXPOSITORY: research report, magazine article, newspaper article, book, biography, business letter PERSONAL: personal letter, journal, diary, log, autobiography, resume PERSUASIVE: editorial, advertisement, letter to the editor, proposal GUIDELINES: rules, instructions

NON-WRITTEN FORMS OF PRESENTATION

TECHNOLOGY: multimedia presentation, slide show, newscast, computer graphic, video, audiotape, commercial, filmstrip DRAMATIC: role play, tableau, play, dramatization, skit THREE-DIMENSIONAL: sculpture, construction, display, diorama, collage, collection, scrapbook, game, model VISUAL: drawing, cartoon, diagram, painting, poster, photograph, postcard, map, design VERBAL: interview, speech, debate, discussion, oral presentation, poetry reading, teach a lesson, dialogue, song, Readers Theater, rap GRAPHIC ORGANIZER: concept map, storyboard, outline, T-chart, KWL chart, venn diagram, note taking, chart, timeline, graph, data table, grid/matrices

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Standard Bibliography Form Middle School

for a book citation Last Name, First. Title of Book. City: Publisher, copyright date.
example:

Remember to put citations in alphabetical order indent the second line spell out the names of the month If there is no author given, skip Last name, First and proceed with all other information in order.
for a computer software or CD citation Title of Software. Computer Software. Publisher, copyright date. Type of computer, format.
example:

Smith, John G. Mammals. New York: MacMillan Inc., 1998. for a magazine citation Last Name, First. "Title of Article." Name of Magazine, vol (date of magazine), pages. example: Roberts, Susan. "Animal Rescue." Science Digest, 13 (December 1999), 32. for a magazine citation - online Last Name, First. "Title of Article. " Name of Magazine, vol (date of magazine), pages. [Online] Provider.
example:

The Animals. Computer Software. Broderbund, 1996. MacIntosh, CD. for a personal interview citation Interviewee's last, first name. Personal Interview. date of interview.
example:

Goodall, Jane. Personal Interview. February 5, 2000

Roberts, Susan. "Animal Rescue." Science Digest, 13 (December 1999), 32. [Online] Proquest. for an encyclopedia citation Last Name, First. "Title of Article." Name of Encyclopedia, year ed.
example:

for an e-mail citation Author of e-mail message, Subject of Message. [Online] Available e-mail: name@domain name, date of message.
example:

Biggs, William. "Elephant." World Book Encyclopedia, 1998 ed. an encyclopedia citation online Last Name, First. "Title of Article." Name of Encyclopedia, year ed [Online]. example: Biggs, William. "Elephant." World Book Encyclopedia, 1998 ed [Online]. for a World Wide Web citation Last Name, First. Title of Site. [Online] Available http://internet address, date you visited site.
example:

Webb, Robert. Ocelot. [Online] Available e-mail: rwebb@ccps.org, January 12, 2000. for a video cassette citation Name of Program. Videocassette. By authors name. Dir. directors name. Network, copyright date.
example:

Incredible Human Machine. Videocassette. By John W. Harris.

Dir. Glen Pl Wilde. PBS, 2000.

for a television program citation Title of Episode. Prod. producers name. Dir. directors name. Program. Network, date of air. example: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp. Prod. J. R. Tielle. Dir. M. Norris. Goosebumps. FOX, June 17, 2000.
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Adams, Elva A. The Cheetah Spot. [Online] Available http:www.neocomm.net/~eadams/cheetah.thml, April 20, 2000.