2.8 Information literacy and research | Mrs Mitchell's English Class

Achievement	Achievement with Merit	Achievement with Excellence
Use information literacy skills to form developed conclusion(s).	Use information literacy skills to form developed conclusion(s) convincingly.	Use information literacy skills to form developed conclusion(s) perceptively.

Use information literacy skills involves completing a systematic exploration into a valid area of inquiry in order to form conclusion(s). The steps taken include:

framing the inquiry within an authentic, relevant context based on carefully considered information needs. This involves identifying an area or direction for investigation, or posing a question(s)
selecting and using appropriate strategies for locating and processing information
evaluating the reliability and usefulness of selected information in relation to the inquiry.

Use information literacy skills to form developed conclusion(s) involves creating and building conclusion(s) that are connected to the purpose of the inquiry and based on information gathered in the inquiry. This includes expressing an opinion or judgement, reaching a decision, or suggesting a solution.

Items required for submission
Research booklet
Draft report
Final report
Bibliography

TASK 1: CHOOSING YOUR TOPIC

Think of a topic that relates to your written text. This will help you because: a) it gives you an excellent extra source to which you can anchor your findings; b) this will help you in the external; and c) it helps provide an authentic English language context for your research.

You need to choose an issue to investigate which has enough scope to allow you to find a range of information or viewpoints about it. By choosing an issue that is controversial and supports several viewpoints, you will have a richer source of material from which to form your developed conclusions.

Keep all your investigation material and notes in this booklet. You may:

Read around your topic at home and at school
Bring articles to class you have found related to your topic
View relevant documentaries at home
Make notes about your investigation at home and at school
Use the school and public library to find resources.

Once all your notes have been completed and you are ready to write your report, this booklet must remain in class. The report will be written under supervision in class.

Your teacher will check your work regularly to ensure you are making satisfactory progress. Discuss any difficulties you are having with this assessment with your teacher.

Themes and issues from a text I have studied:	e.g. war, disability, pity..
Other issues and topics that I am interested in generally:	e.g. how young people are represented in the media today, teen health, ISIS…
The issue I have decided to investigate is:
Reasons for choosing this issue:
Possible viewpoints on this issue:

TASK 2: FRAMING YOUR INQUIRY

What do you already know about this issue? Make notes here: (this will focus the particular area of the topic that you would like to look into)

Frame your issue as a statement or question. It should begin with “To what extent…”

Eg: “To what extent is the poetry of Wilfred Owen relevant today?” Or “To what extent has society learned from past wars?”

My topic: To what extent _________________________________________________________

Checked by teacher: Fri 19^th Feb, 2016

TASK 3: CHOOSING THREE KEY QUESTIONS

These 3 key questions are going to be important! You want good, productive questions that explore your topic. Get your questions right and you will save time in the long run.

Example of a closed question: “How many people died in the war?” X

Example of a great key question: “How did the deaths of so many young men affect Europe?”

You may need to change your questions as you develop your ideas, or modify them in some way. Think of the order of your questions, too. Some will naturally come before others. You can use the following page to brainstorm key questions and then write your final ones below if you like.

Key question 1: ___________________________________________________________

e.g. How does the appreciation of WWI poetry affect society’s view of war today?

Key question 2: ___________________________________________________________

e.g. How does war affect young people today?

Key question 3: ___________________________________________________________

e.g. How relevant is war poetry to young people?

Checked by teacher: ______

TASK 4: FINDING, PROCESSING AND EVALUATING YOUR SOURCES

Your task is to find at least 4 juicy sources of information to help you answer your key questions so that you can form developed conclusions about your topic. For each source you must:

Write down its author(s), publication date, title, place, publisher, link, etc.

Write down notes from the source that pertain to your topic and your key questions.

Evaluate how reliable your source is and how useful it may be.

Evaluating sources.

What makes a source reliable? Ask yourself: Is this source trustworthy? Can it be trusted to be presenting the facts? Is it from a reputable site? Is the author educated and a recognized authority on the topic? Does the article thoroughly cite all its sources? Does the author’s evidence support the claims made?

Is the information relevant to my topic? Can the information be applied to my particular questions either generally or specifically? Is it worth using and worth building an opinion on?

Is it valid? Is your source out-dated? Have ideas and technology changed or improved since your source was published? If so, the usefulness of your source may be compromised. On the other hand, an old source could provide a contrast to a new, more recent source to show how ideas have changed over time.

Is your source biased?

Bias is the unfair favouring of one view/person/thing over another.

Bias can distort facts.

Most reputable news outlets and academic journals strive to provide a balanced and unbiased viewpoint but even these can exhibit latent traces of bias.

If your information is coming from a highly biased source (eg: Fox news, Al Jazeera) then that bias must be understood and taken into account when assessing the reliability or usefulness of the source.

More than one point of view?

Make sure you have not only used sources from one viewpoint.

Find more than one writer, one country, one time period or one medium. Branch out.

All of these points can help you evaluate your sources.

EVALUATION section of notes checked by teacher: _____________________________

TASK 5: GATHERING INFORMATION Information Record Sheet – Text 1

Source details Text type:Author:(Date of publication): ( ___________ )Title:Place published:Publisher: Link:

Notes related to key questions:

Key Question 1:(write your first question here)______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 2:(write your second question here)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 3:(write your third question here)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Evaluation: How useful was this resource? How reliable was it? What did you learn?

Information Record Sheet – Text 2

Source details Text type:Author:(Date of publication): ( ___________ )Title:Place published:Publisher: Link:

Notes related to key questions:

Key Question 1:(write your first question here)______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 2:(write your second question here)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 3:(write your third question here)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Evaluation: How useful was this resource? How reliable was it? What did you learn?

Information Record Sheet – Text 3

Source details Text type:Author:(Date of publication): ( ___________ )Title:Place published:Publisher: Link:

Notes related to key questions:

Key Question 1:(write your first question here)______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 2:(write your second question here)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 3:(write your third question here)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Evaluation: How useful was this resource? How reliable was it? What did you learn?

Information Record Sheet – Text 4

Source details Text type:Author:(Date of publication): ( ___________ )Title:Place published:Publisher: Link:

Notes related to key questions:

Key Question 1:(write your first question here)______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 2:(write your second question here)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 3:(write your third question here)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Evaluation: How useful was this resource? How reliable was it? What did you learn?

Information Record Sheet – Text 5

Source details Text type:Author:(Date of publication): ( ___________ )Title:Place published:Publisher: Link:

Notes related to key questions:

Key Question 1:(write your first question here)______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 2:(write your second question here)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 3:(write your third question here)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Evaluation: How useful was this resource? How reliable was it? What did you learn?

Information Record Sheet – Text 6

Source details Text type:Author:(Date of publication): ( ___________ )Title:Place published:Publisher: Link:

Notes related to key questions:

Key Question 1:(write your first question here)______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 2:(write your second question here)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Key Question 3:(write your third question here)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Notes:

Evaluation: How useful was this resource? How reliable was it? What did you learn?

TASK 6: PLANNING AND WRITING THE REPORT

Now you have completed your search for information and answers to your questions, you need to put all the information together into a written report. The report needs to answer your key questions as well as form developed conclusions about the topic.

How do you write developed conclusions? This means creating and building conclusions that are connected to the topic and based on information gathered in the research. This includes expressing an opinion or judgement, reaching a decision, or suggesting a solution.

There are two aspects to this report.

The first is to report on the information you have gathered. Include references and footnotes as you cite your sources (citefast.com). Present selected information that answers your key questions and that will be important evidence for your developed conclusions.
The second important part of your report is the developed conclusions that you will form from your findings.

A developed conclusion means:

Based on your evidence, form an opinion, make a judgement or propose an argument that adds to or goes beyond the info you currently have. It must be linked to the evidence – but if you are only summarizing your info – then you are not forming your OWN conclusions.

Eg: I think 1+1+1 = g because…. (Do not do: “I think 1+1+1 = 1+1+1“ X )

Explain why you have come to this conclusion/opinion/judgement. Give specific reasons, details or examples. These will be linked to the research but will also go beyond the research by adding information from more than one source to make new understandings. Based on your research, offer solutions. Describe a model of how you think things should be and why. What are the implications of your stance? Who benefits? Who will have to change or suffer? How will your version affect the status quo? Don’t forget to utilise your existing prior knowledge and expertise to help you draw conclusions based on the new evidence.

TASK: Fill in the report scaffold below with your notes. Not all of the sentence starters will be able to be used for every kind of topic, so use the ones that suit you. Remember, this is a scaffold, a support to get you started. Modify it if you need to. Once you are done, take this information and write it up as a good copy. Remember each new paragraph is about a new key question. Develop conclusions at the end of each paragraph.

PLEASE NOTE: When writing your report, be sure to clearly indicate what information is from your source (identify the source, use quotation marks for direct quotes, use footnote markers) and differentiate it from your own thinking, conclusions, interpretations and judgements. This makes it clearer to see how you have achieved the two separate tasks of processing the information AND forming developed conclusions from that information.

You do not need to repeatedly evaluate a source. Once per source is sufficient. Continue to cite sources throughout by putting the author and date published in brackets directly after the quoted information.

Teacher Marking Guide

Use information literacy skills	These criteria must be met:	No	Yes
	Framing the inquiry: This involves identifying an area or direction for investigation, or posing questions.
	Locating and processing information. (Notes on resources.)
	Evaluating the reliability and usefulness of selected information (in the report of in the booklet).
	A minimum of 3 questions and 4 sources have been used.

Forms developed conclusions		These criteria must be met:	No	Yes
	NA	Not AchievedDoes not develop conclusions to a satisfactory level.
	A	AchievedThis involves creating and building conclusion(s) that are connected to the purpose of the inquiry and based on information gathered in the inquiry. This includes expressing an opinion or judgement, reading a decision, or suggesting a solution.
	M	Merit Use information literacy skills to form developed conclusion(s) convincingly involves formulating conclusion(s) that are reasoned and clear.
	E	Excellence Use information literacy skills to form developed conclusion(s) perceptively involves formulating conclusion(s) that are insightful and/or original.

NOTES

INTRODUCTION

I decided to research to what extent… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..because…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

I am interested in this and it relates to my studies this year because… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

My three key questions are… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

PARAGRAPH 1

My first key question is……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

This relates to my (TWE) topic because……

The first source I used to examine this issue is…

The information I gained about my first key question from this source is…

I think this source is reliable/is not reliable because…

However, another source of information about this first question is….

The information I gained about my first key question from this source is…

I think this source is reliable (or is not reliable) and relevant because…

Therefore, by examining the evidence from both my sources, my conclusion/judgement/opinion on the matter is……

My reasons for coming to this conclusion are (This will relate to evidence and then go beyond)…

In light of my opinion, I think a solution/new way of looking at this issue would be………………………..(Be specific!!)

The implications of my opinion/suggestions could be…..

PARAGRAPH 2

My second key question is……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

This relates to my topic because……

One source I used to examine this issue is…

The information I gained about my second key question from this source is…

I think this source is reliable (or is not reliable) and relevant because…

However, another source of information about this second question is….

The information I gained about my second key question from this source is…

I think this source is reliable/is not reliable because…

Therefore, by examining the evidence from both my sources, my conclusion/ judgement/opinion on the matter is……

My reasons for coming to this conclusion are (This will relate to evidence and then go beyond)…

In light of my opinion, I think a solution/new way of looking at this issue would be………………………..(Be specific!!)

The implications of my opinion/suggestions could be…..

PARAGRAPH 3

My third key question is……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

This relates to my topic because……

One source I used to examine this issue is…

The information I gained about my third key question from this source is…

I think this source is reliable (or is not reliable) and relevant because…

However, another source of information about this third question is….

The information I gained about my third key question from this source is…

I think this source is reliable/is not reliable because…

Therefore, by examining the evidence from both my sources, my conclusion/judgement/opinion on the matter is……

My reasons for coming to this conclusion are (This will relate to evidence and then go beyond)…

In light of my opinion, I think a solution/new way of looking at this issue would be………………………..(Be specific!!)

The implications of my opinion/suggestions could be…..

CONCLUSION

From researching the topic of to what extent………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I learned some useful information that applies to ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

My three main conclusions to my three key questions were………………………………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I discovered that …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

In my opinion, the best way to see/deal with this problem/issue is to ………………………………………………………………………

NOW: TAKE YOUR NOTES ABOVE AND TYPE UP A GOOD COPY. Use Footnotes to reference the sources. Ask your teacher how to do footnotes.

Check your citations, references and footnotes.

Follow the APA format to create a bibliography.

TASK 7: BIBLIOGRAPHY

A bibliography is a comprehensive list of sources that you read while researching your topic. This means you need to list all of the sources (books, websites, interviews, newspapers etc) that you used while researching, even if you didn’t quote them in your final report. It is included at the end of your report, on the last page (or last few pages).

You will find it easier to prepare your final bibliography if you keep track of each book, encyclopedia, or article you use as you are reading and taking notes. Start a draft bibliography by listing on a separate sheet of paper all your sources. Note down the author, date of publication, full title, place of publication and publisher for each source.

When assembling a final bibliography, list your sources (texts, articles, interviews, and so on) in alphabetical order by authors’ last names. Sources that don’t have authors (encyclopedias, movies) should be alphabetized by title. General Guide to Formatting a Bibliography

For a book:

Author (last name first). Title of the book. City: Publisher, Date of publication.

EXAMPLE:

Dahl, Roald. The BFG. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982.

For an encyclopedia:

Encyclopedia Title, Edition Date. Volume Number, “Article Title,” page numbers.

EXAMPLE:

The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1997. Volume 7, “Gorillas,” pp. 50-51.

For a magazine:

Author (last name first), “Article Title.” Name of magazine. Volume number, (Date): page numbers.

EXAMPLE:

Jordan, Jennifer, “Filming at the Top of the World.” Museum of Science Magazine. Volume 47, No. 1, (Winter 1998): p. 11.

For a newspaper:

Author (last name first), “Article Title.” Name of newspaper, city, state of publication. (date): edition if available, section, page number(s).

EXAMPLE:

Powers, Ann, “New Tune for the Material Girl.” The New York Times, New York, NY. (3/1/98): Atlantic Region, Section 2, p. 34.

For a person:

Full name (last name first). Occupation. Date of interview.

EXAMPLE:

Smeckleburg, Sweets. Bus driver. April 1, 1996.

For a film:

Title, Director, Distributor, Year.

EXAMPLE:

Braveheart, Dir. Mel Gibson, Icon Productions, 1995

CD-ROM:

Disc title: Version, Date. “Article title,” pages if given. Publisher.

EXAMPLE:

Compton’s Multimedia Encyclopedia: Macintosh version, 1995. “Civil rights movement,” p.3. Compton’s Newsmedia.

Newspaper article:

Author (last name first). “Article title.” Name of newspaper (Type of medium), city and state of publication. (Date): If available: Edition, section and page number(s). If available: publisher of medium, version, date of issue.

EXAMPLE:

Stevenson, Rhoda. “Nerve Sells.” Community News (CD-ROM), Nassau, NY. (Feb 1996): pp. A4-5. SIRS, Mac. version, Spring 1996.

Online Resources

Internet:

Author of message, (Date). Subject of message. Electronic conference or bulletin board (Online). Available e-mail: LISTSERV@ e-mail address

EXAMPLE:

Ellen Block, (September 15, 1995). New Winners. Teen Booklist (Online). Helen Smith@wellington.com

World Wide Web:

URL (Uniform Resource Locator or WWW address). author (or item’s name, if mentioned), date.

EXAMPLE: (Boston Globe’s www address)

http://www.boston.com. Today’s News, August 1, 1996.

There is a very good website called http://www.citefast.com/ that you could use to help you reference your work properly. Using this website, you can enter all of your source details and it will help you create a bibliography.

Well done, your report is finished. Hand it in to your teacher. Make sure it is named.

Report Exemplar > Low Achieved

The student uses information literacy skills to form sufficiently developed conclusion(s) by:

framing the enquiry and selecting and using appropriate strategies for locating and processing information from six well referenced sources
establishing an appropriate authentic context from the context of the English programme
evaluating the reliability and usefulness of some information and/or sources. For example: The writer of the book is the child in the story. He is writing about his traumatic events he went through each day. It might not be that reliable though because it is told from his point of view and also based on memories he had as a child. (Student notes)
reaching a decision based on the information gathered from more than one source. For example: I believe that the findings of both these sources are true: no one can be born bad. They have to experience bad behaviour in order for them to know what bad is, they can’t just be born a bad person, they have to know what bad and wrong behaviour is. This also shows me that abusive behaviour can affect children in a way that makes them think that they are beaten because it’s their fault. (Paragraph 2)
making a judgement based on controversial viewpoints from two different sources. For example: My view on this then, is that one society’s beliefs may led them to interpret acts as good, whereas those identical acts by another society and This shows me another side of “good” and “bad”- in that obeying authority be seen as being more “good” than actually doing a good act. (Paragraph 3)
building a conclusion from the information gathered. For example: Therefore we need to think carefully before we act what are our reasons and what our beliefs are – are we doing it because we think it is inherently right or because society does?. (Paragraph 3)

To meet Achievement more securely the work requires further development of the response to the question What leads people to do good and bad actions? Their beliefs, or are they just born to be good or bad? There are also a number of opinions given and generalisations made without any reference to research, unacknowledged quotations and unsubstantiated conclusions.

These are some articles about Wilfred Owen’s poetry from World War One. Take a look to see things from a new perspective.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3669019/Wilfred-Owen-The-soldiers-poet.html

http://crossref-it.info/textguide/wilfred-owen-selected-poems/36/2686

http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Owen.htm

https://birminghamwarstudies.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/image-and-reality-the-writings-of-wilfred-owen-and-his-role-in-britains-changing-attitudes-to-the-process-of-war/

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1998/12/owen-d02.html

https://modernism.research.yale.edu/wiki/index.php/Poems_(Wilfred_Owen)

http://www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk/war-poem-disabled-wilfred-owen

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2826810/Dark-secret-doomed-youth-Warrior-poet-Wilfred-Owen-died-hero-trenches-startling-evidence-unearthed-WWI-scholar-tells-different-story.html

http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1612&context=wwqr

http://crossref-it.info/textguide/wilfred-owen-selected-poems/36/2687

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z38rq6f