What am I doing?

Developing my research skills

How could I be doing it?

By Brainstorming to think about different aspects of researching

How well am I doing it?

Brainstorming is a technique for coming up with lots of ideas very quickly.

Image credit: http://ljhs.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/brainstorm/

It essentially requires creative thought, freedom to contribute and deferring judgement. Once ideas have been gathered, they can then be sorted and ranked.

To practise the technique, we will brainstorm the question:

IF I HAVE A RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT, WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD I BE ASKING BEFORE I START?

STORM FRONT!

A possible research checklist could be:

What do I want to know?

What do I already know?

How will I find out what I want to know?

What will I do with the information once I’ve found it?

What are the most useful resources for this search?

The library Inquiry Catalogue? CD-ROMs/DVDs Encyclopaedia? Reference books? The newspapers? Local experts?

What are the most useful methods for accessing the information?

Through an Internet search? Interviews? Keyword search? Faxing or emailing questions? Holding a phone conference?

What is the best way to group or summarise the information I find?

Do I understand the information I’m finding? If not, what can I do about it?

What questions still need to be answered?

Before our next lesson, have one or two ideas ready to brainstorm the issue of whether a website is reliable or not.