Title 3 Technology Grant
7^th Grade Endangered Animal Project Learning Experience

June 1999

Beth Geatrakas

Morrisville-Eaton Middle/Senior High School

Information Access in the Library for Electronic Resources

Learning Context

To succeed with this learning experience, a student must know how to:

1. Determine his or her information needs
2. Identify the resources which will contain this information, using both hard copy and electronic resources
3. Locate the various resources within the library and on the computer
4. Access the information within these resources
5. Evaluate the validity and applicability of the information found
6. Use the accessed information to create a meaningful finished product

These skills are directly related to learning standards in each of the subject areas. For the purposes of clarification with this particular product, the Math, Science, and Technology Learning Standards will be considered.

Standard 2. Benchmark 1: Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.

Procedure

The students are introduced to the various resources available to them by the teacher. While the hard copy material (books from the circulating and reference collections, newspaper and magazine paper indexes, and magazines and newspapers) are shared, the emphasis of instruction is placed on the electronic resources. These resources include the search engines and browsers which allow access to the Internet, electronic encyclopedias, and commercial electronic databases available in the library. Special instructional time is given to the following:

1. Web browsers such as Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Explorer-the purpose of the browsers is explained to students, so that they understand the browser is what allows them access to the World Wide Web.
2. Search engines such as Yahoo, Webcrawler, Dogpile, Altavista-the students are introduced to the idea of using a search engine to search an internet index, allowing sites relevant to their search topics to be located. Careful differentiation should be made, so that students understand the difference between using a search term and using a URL.
3. Internet site evaluation-this is very strongly emphasized, as the Internet is completely unregulated, and just about any material can be found. The students are instructed to consider the sites they access in the following ways: 1. Credentials of the author; 2. Reputation of the institutional affiliation; 3. Copyright or last update of the site
4. Electronic encyclopedias

Specific URL’s should also be located and bookmarked for students, providing a starting point for them to research their animals. Further searching on the Internet can be pursued after they have accessed some of the bookmarked sites.

Instructional/Environmental Modifications

There are several modifications which need to be made in order to successfully accomplish this learning experience. While some of the instruction can be accomplished in a large group setting (the broad concepts of the browsers, the search engines, and Internet site evaluations), some of the instruction is much more effective when done in small groups, or even one-on-one. The internet lends itself very nicely to individual instruction at the computer, where the teacher is able not only to show the student the intricacies and quirks of each database interface, but also to help the student to customize the search for their own animal, as each one tends to differ slightly in its approach.

Materials and Supplies

Students will require citation sheets which have been customized to the various kinds of resources which they will be using. These sheets are extremely useful for allowing the students to collect all the facts they need from the source, as well as the data they will need to cite the source, something they must do in order to use the information they found in that source. The rule in this project is: "If you can’t cite it, you can’t use it", and the teacher always looks for proof of citation when looking at facts.

Assessment Tools and Techniques

The following techniques should be used to monitor progress:

A regularly scheduled interview with each student should be conducted. This need not be more than 5 to 10 minutes, allowing the student and teacher to touch base and ascertain that the student is on the right track, finding relevant and useful information. If this, is the case, the student can be instructed to continue with his research. If no, the teacher has the opportunity to redirect the student and help them begin to find good material.

The following tools should be used:

Data necessary to properly cite their resources.

The student from the beginning of the project should use a checklist, helping the student to stay on task and on schedule. Once a student begins to fall behind, it is very difficult for him to catch up.

Time Required

Planning should begin a few weeks before the project actually starts, as there are quite a few faculty members (science teacher, library media specialist, reading teacher, writing teacher, and the computer room teacher) who are involved in the project and must coordinate their efforts. This particular learning experience, within the learning unit, must be an integral part of the unit, as the entire finished product is dependent on the quality of the research.

The implementation of this experience will require about one to three days of classroom time. Instruction requires one half of and instructional period. In this school setting, there is block scheduling. The periods are, therefore, 75 minutes long. One half of an instructional period is approximately 35 to 40 minutes of actual instruction time. This leaves approximately two and a half days or 185 to 190 minutes, for intense research, with plenty of individual instruction time, divided between the library and the computer lab. Each student should be able to get a good start on finding some valuable information.

Assessment of this experience is observational in nature, using the rubric as a guide, and is ongoing from the time the large group instruction has been completed and the students are allowed to begin their individual research.

Student Work

Student work derived from this learning experience is found in the final product of the learning unit. This will be found on the MECS web page.

Reflection

More opportunity to work with students on individual research techniques would be beneficial. At times, a blanket approach is all there is time for, and with such varying research topics, this approach is not entirely satisfactory. The learning standards met in this experience are more universal in nature than many of the units and experiences, in that they are found in all the subject areas in one form or another. Research and investigative skills are needed in any field, both in the academic world and in the work place, and the skills these students are learning will serve them not only in other subjects, satisfying other learning standards, but also as they leave school and become contributing members of our culture. This experience, I believe, reflects the vary best current scholarship in the information field, as it teaches not only research skills for the present need, but also helps to create individuals who understand the mechanics of research, enabling them to become lifelong information seekers and users. This is a skill they will continue to need in an ever-increasingly information directed-world.

Rubric to be used for monitoring progress on research is found in the Library Unit

Attachment #1 (Citation sheets)

Citation Information/Books/Entry Within a Book/Special Encyclopedias

Notes from this source

Citation Information/Internet

Notes from this source