Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Teaching secondary research



Encourage students to write before they start looking for their 10 sources: what they know about the topic/problem/question, why it interests them, why it’s important, etc. It only needs to be a paragraph or so.

As they come across sources, they should stop with ones that resonate with them or provoke a strong reaction, and make a note of why (along with the citation info). Does the information support what they thought – how, why? Does it challenge it – how, why?

Secondary research/scholarship is a conversation that starts with where the scholar/researcher is, describes others’ viewpoints and information, and addresses/responds to those sources!

Primary research incorporates secondary as a literature review.
(Research/scholarship might advocate for one point of view or solution over others, propose a new solution, create something new, point out areas that need to be researched, but those come later in the process.)