Everyday problem-solving

At this past weekend's Rhode Island Educational Media Association (RIEMA) conference I shared an old solution to teaching research skills when working in a fixed schedule library program that I call Everyday Problem-Solving, 2002. The attendees seemed to find this idea helpful, so I am sharing it here as well.

Here is what I suggested then and still believe:

Practicing information problem solving needs to be a daily activity for every student in our schools, not just a biennial “event.”

It’s easy to quickly brainstorm a whole raft of information problem solving mini-activities that can be done in either the media center or classroom:

• Use the Internet to check the weather forecast and make a recommendation about dress for the next day.
• Search and report an interesting fact about the author of the next story being read by the class.
• Email students in another class to ask their opinions on a discussion topic.
• Recommend a movie or television show to watch the coming weekend using a critic’s advice.
• Find two science articles that relate to the current science unit. Evaluate the credibility of the sources of information. Locate a place from a current news headline or class reading on an online map resource.
• Recommend a book to a classmate based on other books that classmate has read using the school’s library catalog or an Internet source.
• Update the class webpage with interesting facts from units studied and links to related information on the web.
• Estimate the number of calories and fat grams in the meal served in the cafeteria that day.
• Find a “quote of the day” on a specific topic and use a graphics program to illustrate and print it out.

Note that most of these tasks take fewer than ten or fifteen minutes for a skilled information searcher to complete. Each has direct relevance to the student’s “real” academic or personal life. Reporting the results of the research is informal and interesting. Most of these activities are meaningful ones that adults do as well.

Happily research seems to back this up as well:

Brain research shows that permanent learning only takes place when research activities are assigned frequently enough that students can exercise and develop the essential skills of critical reading, writing, higher-order thinking, and presenting ideas and opinions with a purpose.

Brain research also shows that these activities must be related to student interests about their world and provide the opportunity for them to develop their own “reasoned opinions” based on researched facts and expert opinions. This desired learning is impossible to do for all students when schools depend on the “term paper” as their only research strategy.

A recent study of Social Studies teachers indicates that the age of the term paper is rapidly disappearing and being replaced by shorter and more frequent types of mini-research.” Education Week – November 20, 2002.

So here are the new research rules:

• Daily
• Relevant
• Genuine

Oh, tech integration specialists and classroom teachers, this applies to you as well.

Have a lovely weekend.

Comments

[Patrick O'Neil]

Educators at higher levels complain that students have no concept of developing "sustained" research. Is there a connection?

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Patrick,

I worry very little about what post-secondary educators complain about. I've never felt the primary task of school is to prepare a student for the next level of schooling.

All the best,

Doug

[Elizabeth]

Fabulous. Thank you!