Author

Darnell Young

Title

Keeping Courses Current with Online Research Projects

Grade Level

All Grades

Subject Area

All Subjects

Overview of unit/lessons/activities (assumptions of prior knowledge/learning)

Students should know how to use a program such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Publisher or FrontPage, or other similar programs. If the student doesn’t have access to a computer then the work can be completed using a scrapbook – but teachers should try to book a computer lab to have some of the work completed at school.

Correlations to ICT and curriculum outcomes

Students are learning to use technology for their learning, especially internet searches and presentation applications. Students are also learning about current events, in their communities, at a national level, and globally. Student collaboration is an additional benefit from using this lesson plan.

Projected timeline for preparation and for carrying out activities

This is an assignment that can be completed in class, but students who do not complete it can finish it at home or the local library. The timeline will depend on the students’ knowledge of the applications they are using and the number of articles that the teacher assigns.

Equipment Requirements: (computers, software, etc)

Access to the Internet, online newspapers, magazines and article databases.

Please Note: The EBSCO Periodical Database (http://seach.ebscohost.com) is especially useful for this activity. Teachers in public schools in Nova Scotia can access the materials in this database from their schools without needing a login or password. In order for you or your students to access EBSCO from home, you must request the school’s user name and password from your principal or technology leader.

Teaching materials provided (Blacklines, worksheets, templates, teacher materials)

Resources available for teacher/student use (websites, references, etc)

I prefer to have students compete this project in Microsoft PowerPoint, and then have them share their product with the class. A good tutorial on how to use PowerPoint can be found at: http://www.bcschools.net/staff/PowerPointHelp.htm. This tutorial was created for Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, but the basic activities are the same for PowerPoint XP or 2003 as well.

Notes about citing articles and references:
A good source to help students learn about citing references is http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
A useful online citation creator for MLA or APA formatting can be found at:  http://www.bibme.org/
It is essential that students learn how to use APA format for citations, especially if they are continuing their studies after high school. Also, by teaching them how to cite their references properly, they tend to not plagiarize their projects.

Detailed instructions for each activity or lesson (teacher notes, activity information, learning strategies, teacher role, student roles)

Assign students to research a topic in your course, or it can be an overview of the course in general – such as “science” or “social studies”. Have students search through web pages to find relevant articles. Good sources of information are online newspapers. Have students answer questions regarding the article, I like to use the following questions in my science classes:

1. In APA format, cite the article.
2. Write a short summary of the article.

You can alter the rest of the questions to suit the topic or course. I like to use the following in science:

3. What technologies are discussed in the article?
4. How are humans and the environment impacted by the information given in the article?
5. Based on the information provided in the article, what impact on the environment and humans may occur in the future?

Student products expected

Students will pass in final products that are representative of their technology skills. One way that a teacher can help students develop these skills is to have students work on this project in a computer lab. In a lab students can work collaboratively, teaching each other computer skills that will assist them in finishing their assignment.

Samples (include teacher notes, assessment information, student work if available)

Logistics (organization, grouping, management issues, access to technology)

If a teacher is going to work in a computer lab, then he or she must be able to control the class in this setting while keeping the students on task. Teachers may want to provide students with some specific web pages that they can search for their articles (e.g., EBSCO – http://search.ebscohost.com).

Assessment information (e.g., rubrics for products and/or process)

Possible extensions

This project can be used to have students learn about a topic of interest to them or maybe as a prelude to a field trip. Much classroom discussion arises from student presentations.

Adaptations for students requiring additional support

Teachers can adapt this lesson plan to fit their courses, and make it relevant to the academic level of the students.