Inquiry-Based Research

In our inquiry-based research unit, students ask their own questions, find and evaluate their own sources, organize and complete their own close reads, and basically drive their own learning, at their own pace.

This is our capstone, where everything that's been learned all year comes together to allow students to take their learning beyond the confines of the classroom.

Materials

Description

Discussion

Learning Target: I can ask an open-ended research question.

NextGen Learning Standards: 8SL1, 8SL4, 8SL5

Students are accustomed to learning information from the teacher, and then using that information to pass a test. My inquiry-based research unit is very different, so the discussion questions to the left get students in the right mindset for success in this unit.

Question Creation

Learning Target: I can ask an open-ended research question.

NextGen Learning Standards: 8W6

The important part of inquiry-based research is to start with questions worth answering. The question stems to the left and the high-interest topics we brainstorm as a class help prevent students from picking answers that are closed-ended: "how many people lost their job last year?" or that carry obvious bias: "why are people so mean to dogs when dogs are better than people?" The questions submitted to the form we use will be evaluated to ensure that students are doing real research, not just proving what they already know.

Question Selection

Learning Target: I can ask an open-ended research question.

NextGen Learning Standards: 8R8, 8R9, 8W6

This part of the unit is imperative. Students must have a good question, with many valid sources of information. What this assignment does is help students figure out if they actually want to read about the research questions they've selected. This assignment also naturally differentiates the assignment based on these initial search criteria: students with lower reading levels find themselves disinterested in deeply scientific texts, and chose simpler questions to research.

Vocabulary Review - Mind Mapping

Learning Targets:

I can recall the definitions of seven important research terms by matching them to their definitions in a response-card activity.
I can employ the research skills defined by the vocabulary terms to evaluate potential sources to answer my research question.

NextGen Learning Standards: 8R4, 8R7, 8R9, 8W4, 8SL1, 8SL4, 8SL5

You've gotta talk the talk before you can do the research, as they say. Before moving on to the "meat" of the research unit, we'll use the materials to the left to make sure that students have the schema they need to succeed in the process of inquiry-based research. We'll start with a response-card activity to learn the basic meaning of the words, and then move on to create a team-wide mind map based on all the relevant concepts.

Progress Monitoring

Learning Target:

I can reflect upon my progress compared to the project due dates and the team's completion data.
I can set personal research goals based on my self reflection.

In a student-centered project such as this, it's imperative that students can track their own progress compared to two factors: the "due" dates of assignments, and the progress of their cohort of classmates. The tool to the left will look like a series of crazy numbers at first, but with about ten minutes of study, you'll be able to see exactly what percentage of each class is at each step in the research project. This doesn't just help students monitor their progress, it helps me adjust pacing and reteach important skills when necessary.

Evaluating Sources

Learning Target: I can select and evaluate three sources to find answers to my research question.

NextGen Learning Standards: 8R1, 8R6, 8R7, 8R8, 8R9, 8W1, 8W6, 8W7, 8SL2, 8SL3

Before doing any reading, it's important to know that your sources are relevant, credible, accessible, and rich. The graphic organizer to the left helps students look at sources objectively, and to evaluate them before spending a lot of time closely reading a source that may or may not be reputable.

Reading Closely

Learning Target: I can read closely and summarize, question, and connect the text to other texts and my research question.

NextGen Learning Standards: 8R1, 8R6, 8R7, 8R8, 8R9, 8W1, 8W6, 8W7, 8SL2, 8SL3

Students will do three close-reads on text using whatever Close Read Tools they prefer. During these close reads their goal is to accumulate evidence that could possibly work to answer their research question. The trick is to look for the answers the text supports, not the answers subject to our own biases and personal experience.

Evidence-Based Claim Graphic Organizer

Making an Evidence-Based Claim

I can write an evidence-based claim to answer my research question based on the sources I read.

NextGen Learning Standards: 8W1, 8W5, 8W6, 8W7

After reading closely at least three sources, students are ready to make a claim to answer their research question, and to support that claim with evidence from the sources they've read.

Final Essay!

Writing a Final Essay

I can write a research essay to answer my original question.

NextGen Learning Standards: 8W1, 8W5, 8W6, 8W7

Students answer their own research question, after evaluating their own sources, forming their own claim, and accruing their own evidence.