Critical+Thinking+&+the+Research+Process--Upper+School


 * Upper** **School** **Critical Thinking & Information Literacy Program Planning Winter-Spring 2009**


 * Carolyn Hilles, for the Program Planning Committee**

(finding, distinguishing between types of information & evaluating, using & citing information etc., rather than refining thesis statements, using presentation technology, outlining, etc.)
 * Assumptions:**
 * **this year we won’t aim to articulate the full research process, but will focus primarily on the skills involving the librarian in collaboration with classroom teaching faculty**


 * **we will articulate the __most essential__ skills we believe we need to assure are in our 9-12 curriculum, and not aim for minute completeness;** these essential skills will form the basis for any future development we may want to undertake. My dream would be to keep it so simple that we could represent it on one 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper.


 * **we will find a developmentally-appropriate home in our program for each of the skills we determine to be essential.**


 * My preference: that we base our planning (even loosely) on ACRL (American College & Research Libraries) standards rather than those from K-12 curricular approaches, while using those as a resource.** ACRL standards are not uncommon referents in independent upper schools.


 * Here’s some of the flavor of that approach using the five ACRL standards:**


 * Standard One**: **The information literate student determines the nature & extent of the information needed.**

Identifying search terms Finding an overview and using it to find terms useful to the research process.

Understanding what you need to use to find the information needed—online encyclopedia? Books? Articles? Websites?

Formulating a research question Thesis formation

Popular vs. scholarly journals Can they search for just one or the other? Can they tell the difference? Do they know what reading levels mean? Do they know what “peer-reviewed” means and how to search for these kinds of articles?

Primary, Secondary, (Tertiary) sources Do they know what a primary or secondary source is? Do they understand how an encyclopedia is different in nature and character than these?


 * Standard Two: The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently.**

Using the Gateway Page (Destiny Home Page) Can they find their own way around this page?

Using the online catalog It’s harder than it looks: It’s not Google and you can’t search it as though it is Keywords vs. subject terms “Search All” Using synonyms for better retrieval Identifying call numbers, fiction vs. nonfiction, actually finding something on the shelf

Search engines vs. online databases What’s the difference? Why would you choose to use one versus the other? Finding & using statistical sources

Using our databases: EbscoHost Proquest Specialized databases such as ArtStor, Oxford English Dictionary, etc.

Finding information in other locations Public Library catalogs

Being independent to the degree you’re able before asking for help’ approaching a reference librarian with a good question, summarizing your research question and your efforts so far


 * Standard Three: The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.**

Evaluating a website (coverage, currency, accuracy, authority, objectivity/bias) Evaluating other sources to determine usefulness—who is the audience for a print source? Again—reading level, etc.

Defining facts vs. opinions

Blogs—what are they and how do you use them in research


 * Standard Four: the information literate student, individually or as a member of a group, uses information effectively to accomplish a specified purpose**

Incorporating facts and research into a paper, PowerPoint or other


 * Standard Five: The information literate student understands many of the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally.**

What is plagiarism? How do you use paraphrasing to avoid plagiarism?

Using NoodleTool notetaking to avoid plagiarism while notetaking

Importance of citing & referencing information; what do you need to cite, and what is ‘general knowledge’?

Using MLA style on NoodleTools to: Creating book citations Cite an entry in an encyclopedia Citing a website Creating a citation for an article found in an online database The annotated bibliography and its usefulness

Other ethical use issues: copyright, downloading, etc.


 * Additionally…**


 * Other than objective goals, how do we develop characteristics like these in our research process?:**


 * Patience** with and **Critical Thinking** in the research process; assuming it will take time management, not being satisfied with the first thing you find


 * Independence** – becoming increasingly independent over the four years of upper school


 * Reflection & Self-Assessment** about the research process