If you've ever taught research, you know that presenting all the steps involved in even a simple research project in a way that doesn't overwhelm students can be daunting. And if you're one of the thousands of teachers statewide who for the first time find themselves responsible for teaching this complicated skill to meet Ohio's New Learning Standards, you may be wondering where to start.
Start with INFOhio (www.infohio.org), of course. Not only will you find the research databases we've offered for years, but you'll also find online sites with comprehensive guides to help you introduce research concepts to your students. Take a look at a few of them below.
IMatrix. This site is a great place to start because it lets you search by standard or by grade level, subject area, and inquiry skill. You can easily see how standards relate to each other across subject areas and how they build on one another from grade to grade. You'll find dozens of articles, websites, and assessments to help you help your students meet research standards.
GO! Ask, Act, Achieve. Designed for 6th-10th grade, GO! helps students manage all the steps in a research project, from designing the research question to choosing the best way to share findings. Although students can use GO! on their own, you'll find a Teacher's Guide that gives you background
on recommended sites and suggestions for walking your students through the research process. Teachers who have used GO! have told us that the Teacher's Guide is as helpful for keeping their teaching on track as it is for helping their students learn.
Research 4 Success. While R4S covers the same topics as GO!, it's an actual blended learning course, complete with objectives and assessments. You can download R4S within your learning management system to use as a graded course, or you can use it straight from the website. Because it goes into more depth and covers more sophisticated research skills, we recommend R4S for juniors and seniors. As with GO!, R4S comes with a thorough Teacher's Guide to help you make the most of the tools.
Both R4S and GO! can be used from start to finish, or you can use just the sections that you need.
If you're an old hand at teaching research and want to design your own program, be sure to review these research tools, many of which provide their own research guides:
Searchasaurus, KidSearch, and World Book Kids for elementary students.
Student Research Center (6-8) and World Book Student for middle schoolers.
Student Research Center (9-12), World Book Advanced, and World Book Academic for high schoolers.
You'll find those and many other specialty research tools, such as Science Reference Center and Points of View Reference Center, at www.infohio.org.