Day14 : Pre-research 1

Objectives: 

We will be able to

1. Learn effective search techniques to find relevant and reliable information for the chosen topic for research papers..
2. Be prepared for a formal academic article search using library database or CQ Researcher.
3. Learn solid background information about the chosen topic by doing some research about the problems, existing solutions, new terms, and possible organizations.

[10 min] Warm-up/Research Method Survey/Discussion

• Now that we have chosen our GRP topic, what is the next step?  

• Where would you find information? Talk to your neighbor about in which place you often find information and what kind of information you find there.

• Now, let’s think about what we learned on the library day.What do you remember?

• Today, we will explore another database website, but before we find information we need to make sure why we need to do pre-research. Please talk to the person next to you again and we will discuss in class.

[5-10min] CQ Researcher Introduction: How to Use it?

Make sure everybody is on CQ Researcher database website. 

If there is nay problem with finding that, you can go there through school library website. Take a few minutes to look around CQ Researcher and find out the characteristics of it.

[20-25min] Pre-research Chart Completion (Group Activity)

Now, let’s find relevant information for our GRP topic. 

Please type in the topic in the search box. 

You can get the results of a lot of articles. 

In groups of 3-4, you will have an article to read. 

While or after you read it, 

you should work together to complete the Pre-research GRPChart. 

You should find as much information as possible for your group’s article.

[5min] Key Word Search

Based on your ‘new terms’ sheet in the Pre-research GRPChart,

find some information for a particular term or phrase. 

What key words you use will affect the results you get from database or website search.

[5min] Wrap-up

Let’s take a look at the Pre-research GRPChart. 

Now that you have learned a lot about the GRP topic, you must feel confident about your future research process. 

This pre-research chart will be a great help when deciding the research topic and doing formal research.

Sources:

·         CQ Researcher http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

·         ‘Writing Research Paper: From Essay to Research Paper’, by Dorothy E. Zemach, Daniel Broudy, and Chris Valvona, Macmillan

Homework
DUE Feb.16th, Saturday, 11:59PM 
Please come to the following Google Docs and let me know what your IRP topic is.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Av0Ji-sKFWRkdENzdEFhRGJFUDhtQVZMX09waWNQM2c#gid=0

DUE Feb.17th, Sunday, 11:59PM

Also, you need to ask *at least one* question to another classmate about the topic.
You should comment on other classmates' topics in the following aspects.

• Significant—Something that matters
• Solvable—Can you think of a number of solutions for the problem?
• Something that interests you—Do you care about it?
• Something of interest to the general public—Will others care?
• Something that focuses on community, national or international issues—A large-scale issue
• A variety of sources that are easy to find—Not a few sources that repeat the same information
• NOT argumentative—You will not be defending your side.

DUE Feb. 17th, Sunday, 11:59PM
Use this template called,  Pre-research GRP Chart to do pre-research for your own GRP.
FYI, the Pre-research Chart for IRP is coming soon. If you have some time to work on the pre-research for your IRP, then please spend some time and get ahead of the schedule.
Please stay on the top!