Research skills
Research for the Future
The Research Question
Students developing research skills early on can help them quickly ascertain whether their intended research question and area will work; there are many fascinating ideas out there that have potential to make interesting projects but without a good level of research, a student will quickly struggle with essay. Likewise if they choose an area flooded with potential sources, the popularity of topic may seem appealing but it make's researching very difficult with too much choice. This is where a Literature Review is important especially if formalised in a presentation in a supervisory session. However, first of all, what will the student research and what will they have to do with the research?
Role of Specialists in the Community
Encouraging students to interview people in the community who might hold an informed, relevant and interesting perspective on the ethical issue they have chosen is an excellent way of exploring the criteria. Students having to practise their inquiry and communication skills strengthens their voice in the project itself. It also adds an authenticity to their work as it demonstrates the community link between their career-related study and the ethical dimension.
Be wary of primary research
The problem with primary research is that to be taken seriously it must be carried out on a convincing scale and scientifically valid. Creating a survey and sending it to classmates to complete in a lunchbreak only gets you so far. Using primary research that has already been conducted and peer reviewed by experts with greater resources at their disposal can be a far more rewarding experience for a student. If a student really wants to carry out their own research, make sure they fully consider who they will ask, what they will ask them and why they will ask them. Most importantly, how will this research be crucial to your research process and the project overall.
Reflect, reflect, reflect
If you encourage students that it is the quality of research that is done in each research session that is important. Taking time to read sources and use a checklist means you do not have to write long quotes down and, most importantly, you can make notes of analysis then and there; a good way to avoid plagiarism. At the end of each research session - whether five minutes or an hour - ask students to consider 'what do I think of this today?' with questions, confusion, new understanding or criticism that might have come up. Also answering the question 'Where now?' will mean they will give themselves a starting point for the next session.
Look at the criteria below and consider how it explains the purpose of research in the reflective project.
Criterion A: Focus and Method
Decide on an ethical dilemma arising from the career-related context
Use appropriate research methods and collect information from a variety of sources judicioulsy
Show an understanding of bias and validity
Criterion B: Knowledge and understanding in context
Show knowledge and understanding of the issue
Utilise a local/global example of the issue in which the ethical dilemma is embedded to contextualise the ethical dilemma and be able to analyse different perspectives on it
Illustrate an awareness and understanding of the impact of the ethical dilemma on a local/global community and demonstrate how cultural influences can effect the perceptions of the ethical dilemma
Criterion C: Critical thinking
Demonstrate logic, reason and the ability to interpret, analyse and evaluate researched material
Develop the ability to synthesise information gathered from research; make connnections as well as link ideas and evidence
Criterion D: Communication
Create a structured and coherent project; appropriate terminology is accurate and consistent; communicate ideas and concepts
Criterion E: Engagement and reflections on planning and progress
Reflect on the research process in order to refine it.
Show reactions to new understandings gained in the exploration of the ethical dilemma.
Critique decisions made throughout the research process and working practices
Learning about research and applying skills, allows for students to see how knowledge is constructed and the values that they hold. Mapping out their research visibly will allow them to see how they construct their own knowledge and find their own voice.
Research here is about construction. Therefore a metaphor of constructing a house might be used here for the reflective project with the bricks each representing an aspect of research. The purpose of research for the reflective project starts with laying the foundations in Criterion A and centres on the selection and exploration of 'an ethical dilemma embedded in an issue linked to a career-related context'. In order to do this, a student will have to 'select and apply appropriate research methods and collect and select relevant information from a variety of sources, showing an understanding of bias and validity'. The more the student gets to understand their topic through their research, the more bricks are laid down with ideas synthesising and connecting; this process of critical thinking (Criterion C) is where the project takes on a recognisable form. The gathering of relevant research and connection of ideas, helps build knowledge and understanding of an ethical issue and contextualise the ethical dilemma in Criterion B; see this as the the windows of a house which allows for multiple perspectives.
Lesson 1: Setting up the research
Aim: Understand and evaluate the pros and cons of tertiary, secondary and primary research
Key reflective project skills:
Understand what makes an appropriate research method
Understand how the type of research uses sources
Understand how a source can be relevant or irrelevant
The power of primary research and bearing witness. This TED Talk is a fascinating way of challenging how primary (and secondary) research is perceived. It explores an ethical issue in different global contexts and might inspire students to create an Option 2 photo essay as a reflective project response
Step 1 Team work: students use definitions to sort examples of tertiary, secondary and primary research
Teacher notes
What is the difference between primary, secondary and tertiary research? Pros and Cons?
Tertiary research: this work is the product of synthesis of other research. Tertiary souces have gathered and synthesised sources from other sources and are often concise and easily accessible. A good starting point and for definitions but only for that. With websites such as wikipedia, bibliographies can often be more valuable than the content itself.
Examples: encyclopaedias, online databases, textbooks.
Advantages: They may point to high-quality primary and secondary sources with closer inspection and are a quick way into your topic.
Disadvantages: There is a risk of over simplication as these sources want to be brief and give an overview. Therefore you might get the wrong idea about a topic. These sources tend to look back than look forward with new insights. n
Secondary research: this is the type of research that everyone is most familiar with as it is associated with newspater articles and journals. This is where primary resources or other secondary sources have been analysed or reviewed. Quality varies greatly.
Examples: biographies, review articles, scholarly articles, historical studies or literature reviews.
Advantages: Secondary sources can be rich in variety of expert perspectives and insights. Also, peer reviews can ensure the quality of sources such as scholarly articles. There is also an efficiency to using secondary sources as the primary research has already been scrutinised.
Disadvantages: Because secondary sources are not necessarily focused on your specific topic, you may have to dig to find applicable information so thinking critically is very important. You also have to watch out heavily for bias from the researcher themselves and be prepared to question the approach they have taken. Do not be fooled by an authoritative voice. You have to also check that the secondary sources you have are up to date and relevant.
Primary research: research that is conducted with someone directly. Often associated with scientific experiments and data, primary research can be a lot more wide reaching than you think.
Examples: diaries, narratives, memoirs, speeches, plays, works of art and popular culture.
Advantages: Primary sources can directly address your topic and often provide information that is unavailable elsewhere. For example, the questions you compose for an interview or a survey will likely target your unique interest in the topic. Also if you design your own research with a specific question, it addresses it directly.
Disadvantages: Some primary sources, such as eyewitness accounts, may be too close to the subject, lacking a critical distance and therefore heavily bias. Also, creating your own primary research with interviews, surveys, and experiments, are time consuming to prepare, administer, and analyze. Finally, unless you have been trained in accepted methodologies, can be very time consuming to prepare.
Step 2: In groups, students create a presentation that illustrates the pros and cons of each type of source (perhaps encourage a type of presentation that is not often used)
Lesson 2: Who can you trust?
Aim: Use the RAVEN system to evaluate the trustworthiness of a source
Key reflective project skills:
Identify the use of appropriate and inappropriate research methodsUnderstand how to collect relevant and reliable sources
Understand how to judge bias and whether an argument is valid
In short, you can trust interesting, diverse and useful sources that pass the RAVEN test.
This system allows you to check for: research methods and use of quality sources from well respected places, whether mistakes and inaccuracies should ring alarm bells, if the source is up to date and/or recently updated and use of bias and controversy - does it all add up?
Step 1: Discuss how you could check each step of RAVEN?
Step 2: Look at the following online article on vaccines from The Scientist and analyse it using RAVEN. Can you find an article on the same topic that might produce a different RAVEN result?
RRS Pre-research reflections: questions for students to ask themselves.
This can be completed as private reflection, in a conversation with their supervisor or interviewing their classmate. Acknowledge the feelings they might have with each question and encourage them to ask further questions about what they might do to prepare for the research process.| What is an expert and how do I become one? What is the purpose of my research? How can I keep my thinking visible? What ways of working work best for me? Do I find some types of sources more appealing than others? Could I make my research area wider/smaller by refocusing the local and global dynamic? Which assessment criteria does research link to? Do I have an opinion on the issue I am researching? Is my opinion hard to find or does it dominate everything? What does it mean to be descriptive and what does it mean to be critical? |
Specialists in the community: identifying and interviewing people in the local community
... who are already specialists in the issue your student has chosen, adds further depth to the reflective project. This could work within a CRS lesson, as a supervisory session and with students working in groups initially to grow in confidence. It can also be encouraged at any stage of the reflective project; for example if the student is struggling with their research question or the drafting process has surmised that they need more dynamic sources. Also, you can approach the interview process in a number of ways such as:| To reflect on their existing research in order to create questions to ask specialists Create an explicit focus on the learner profile attribute of inquirer and communicator To gain specific insight into different perspectives surrounding their chosen issue To explore the relationship between the local and the global context |