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The Research Quest Model

The Research Quest was developed by the B.C.T.L.A. and Teacher-Librarians in British-Columbia.

It was adopted by the B.C. Ministry of Education in January 2001

A Student Guide to Effective Research

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A Comparison of Inquiry / Research Process Models*

Writing Process	Scientific Method	Problem Solving	Research Model
Decide on a topic�	Decide on the problem	Understand the problem	Focus
Brainstorm ideas	Write hypothesis	Make a plan	Find & Filter
Write introduction, organize information, rough draft	Design and conduct experiment	Carry out the plan	Process
Revise edit, proof, add/delete, conclusion	Formulate conclusions	Look back over the work done	Communicate
Final Copy�publish	Apply results & present information	Communicate the solution	Reflect

* Adapted from: Gauntley , Tim. ed. "Inquiry and Research." Information Studies - Kindergarten to Grade 12. 1998. The Ontario School Library Association. 01 Mar. 2005 <http://www.accessola.com/action/positions/info_studies/html/research.html>.

The very first thing you need to do when you start a research project is to FOCUS on what it is that you actually need to do.

You need to decide what your topic is going to be. Once you’ve decided on a topic, you need to think about what you already know about that topic and what you would like to find out about it.

You need to come up with a list of questions – preferably critical questions to make your topic more interesting.

You need to decide who you audience is going to be. Are you doing this research for your teacher?? Or for the newspaper?? Your writing style will change based on your answer to this question.

You need to decide what your end product is going to be. A poster?? A PowerPoint?? A speech?? In this case, we already know that …

You need to plan your time very wisely. Find out exactly how long you have to complete this project. Again in this case, I have plan this research for you. There will be 2 sessions in the library and…

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Overview

Focus
Find & Filter
Process
Communicate
Reflect

Now that you have written down questions you are wondering about your topic, it is time to start looking for a variety of resources where you’ll get answers to your questions.

It is very important to look for a VARIETY of resources. Why is that??

1. Yes you need to make sure you have enough information to answer your questions

2. Yes you need to cross reference your facts. If you find one answer in one source and then you find another answer somewhere else, well you need to find a third resource to find out what is the correct answer…

As you start looking or skimming through various resources, you will notice that there might be some questions you did not think about. So now is the time to revise your questions.

Please note that you are NOT taking any notes at this point.

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FOCUS

What is my research topic?
What do I know? What do I need to know?
What are my critical questions?
Who is my audience?
What could my product be?
How will I plan my time

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FOCUS

How do I do that?

Think about what you already know about your topic.
Write down questions to narrow your research.
Use the following question starters to help you:

What? Who? When?

Where? Why? How?

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FIND & FILTER

Locate different types of resources.
Decide which resources might be suitable.
Select most appropriate resources.
Revise research questions if necessary.

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FIND & FILTER

How do I do that?

Make sure you have at least 3 different resources to cross-reference your facts and to fully cover your topic.
Modify your questions or add new ones.

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How exactly will you do that??

Well, there is a focus template in the Public Drive >> Library >> Research Quest Templates. I’ll show you how to access it in a minute.

Once you’ve opened the template, I want you to think about what you already know about your topic and then I want you to start writing down questions about it. If you’re stuck at any point, use these 6 questions starters to help you.

Having questions before you start taking notes will help you narrow down your research. It will help take better notes because you will know exactly what you are looking and that is the answers to your questions. You won’t be writing down facts you don’t need.

Don’t worry too much about your questions at this point, you will have an opportunity to revise them in the next step.

Show students how to access template and give them about 20 min to brainstorm and write down at least 10 questions.

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PROCESS

Read, view, listen.
Interpret, record, and organize.
Look for patterns and make connections.
Check for understanding.
Review, revise, reorganize, edit.

How exactly will you do that??

I would like you to use a question-answer format. So … before you take any notes … you will need to go back to your focus questions and space them out. You should have about 2 to 3 questions per page.

Then you will start reading the resources you selected and you will write answers … underneath the RIGHT questions ….in POINT FORM and …in YOUR OWN WORDS.

Make your notes as succinct as possible – as brief as possible. A general rule of thumb is about 7 words per point. Use symbols or abbreviations if you want. Making your notes as brief as possible will help focus on important keywords and will prevent plagiarism.

Also, you need make sure that you link your answers to their source using a code. I’ll show you an example in a minute.

This is VERY important to do for 3 reasons:

If you’re like me… sometimes I can’t even read my own writing. Having a code that links your answer to its source will help you find it again very quickly. You won’t have to go through tons of books or WebPages to get back to it.
There will be times when you’ll collect contradicting information. You will then need to review your sources to make sure you’ve collected the correct information. Again, having a code that links your answer to its source will help you find it again very quickly.
I might not agree with your findings and I might want to check your sources myself. So I need to be able to get to them quickly.

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PROCESS

How do I do that?

Use a question-answer format.
Write down facts (answers) under the correct question.
Write down keywords using point form – � 7 words per point.
Link facts to their sources using a code.

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Here’s an example of what I am expecting from you.

You can see that there are frames for various TYPES of resources and for each you need to write down certain information:

For example:

For encyclopedias, you need the volume # and the page number. Circle boxes with stylus

For Internet sites, you need a title and the URL (the Internet address). Note that you’ll be able to get to this address quickly when it is time to take notes by clicking on the link. Circle boxes with stylus

Again, you are NOT taking any notes at this point. All I am expecting you to do is to simply filling out the Find & Filter form. This step is very important to complete before you start taking notes bec

I will show how to take notes efficiently in the next step!

Show students how to access template.

You can show this step to students in the classroom but they need to be in the library to actually complete it.

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COMMUNICATE

Prepare final results
Share ideas, knowledge, and product.
Act on findings.

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COMMUNICATE

How do I do that?

Write and edit your draft.
Put your project together as a report, poster, presentation, PowerPoint, etc.
Present it

Here’s the Works Cited example with the symbols used in the process example on the previous slide.

Point to symbols on the left hand side column

Even though you’ve collected facts or answers in your own words, you still to acknowledge where you got them from in a Works Cited.

Doing this shows that you respect intellectual property rights by acknowledging the original author and it also shows that you have not made up facts or answers.

It shows that you’ve actually looked at various resources, that you’ve selected the best ones, and that you’ve supported your findings by citing good reliable sources of information.

Please note that this Works Cited form is different from the find & filter form you’ve used before. The find and filter was used mainly to make sure you have enough variety of resources to start your research.

The works cited is used to show which of these resources you’ve actually used when you collected notes.

Please make sure you cite each source as soon as you are finished with it. It is much harder to do it then than to try to find your sources later.

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REFLECT

What did I learn about the topic?
What worked well?
What will I do differently next time?
What did I learn about research?

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You did it!