One thing that I really like about The Research Quest is that it is written in kid friendly language. This sets it apart from the other models. However, I think for primary students I would like to simplify the language even further and perhaps find visual images to go along with each stage of the process. This would make it easier for younger students to conceptualize. I realize that primary students are often engaging in the research process within a group and so this helps to scaffold their learning but at the beginning stages, I believe making it a little more user friendly for the primary students will be beneficial. The first stage of The Research Quest begins with a circle shape and then the next three have arrows pointing to the next stage until you reach the final stage which again has a circular dot. This makes it appear as though after the last stage the process stops, when in many cases research can lead to more and more questions (which may be answered another time). I think I would like to add an arrow inking this final stage back to the beginning again to show that the research process could potentially continue on even though the beginning research question has been answered. The project that they are working on may be complete but it may have raised new questions of inquiry that they would still like to personally pursue. I really appreciate how certain skill sets have been grouped together to define five different stages. I think the way the information has been organized together in chunks makes sense and makes it easier for students to work with because it appears more manageable. I noticed that the “Research Process” Method by Stripling and Pitts which is discussed in the text does not chunk the information together and instead is presented in a list which at a glance looks exhaustive and overwhelming. Also I notice that choosing a topic and narrowing it down comes before setting a purpose. I would think that identifying a purpose would come first because when we are engaging in research we do so with questions in mind.
“The Big 6 Information Problem Solving” approach seems to be the most closely matched to “The Research Quest” but the “Information Seeking” approach is also quite similar. One thing I appreciate about them all is the opportunity for evaluation and reflection. It is important for students to look back to see if they answered their questions and achieved their goals. I think these three models all would work well to support information literacy skills because they address the skill of being able to locate resources and critically analyse them and use them. Because I teach grade one I use a research model that is similar to these models but we work together in groups to answer questions that we have created together. Because their reading skills are still developing there is lots of discussion and support from each other and the teacher as well. One thing I have to admit is that I have always collected the resources for them and have them in a bin in the classroom so that they are ready for them to use. I also present them with the digital resources as well. They have never had to find the resources themselves. But examining these research models is causing me to rethinking that. By doing the step of finding the resources for them, I am taking out the step that allows them to critically analyse resources. Now I think the students would be better off going down to the library and searching for the materials themselves. We could still put the resources they find into the bin to bring down to the classroom but back in the classroom we could look through them and evaluate them together. Also rather than looking for the digital resources myself, I could sit down with the students in the lab and go through this process together using the online resources that my school district has purchased, such as the World Book Encyclopedia. Overall, I believe this will do much more to help my students develop their information literacy skills.
Riedling, A. (2005). Reference SkillsFor the School Library Media Specialist: Tools and Tips, 2nd Edition. Ohio: Linworth Publishing, Inc.
Learning how to find resources is incremental and there is no harm in you providing the path for first graders. As they become more able you can design activities which allow them to do more personal searching. There is a primary version of the Big 6 called the Big 3, I think...may have the name wrong.
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