Step Four: Gather InformationLearners plan how to gather information needed to solve the problem. What type of information is needed to answer the questions generated as students considered what they need to know? How will this information be gathered? Students conduct research and organize information to share with their group members.
Sample: Gather Information |
To Do:Because we are time challenged, we will discuss this step as a group. We won't actually be completing research.
Cardiac Web Resources for Students Cardiac Apps for Students IPad 3D Medical Images & Animations Virtual Heart Android Bodyxq - Heart Animated Anatomy Atlas Chrome Web Store Biodigital Human |
Tools to Use:
|
Behind the Scenes
1. Re-examine and sort the Need to Know questions:
It is a good idea to work with your entire class sorting the Need to Know statements and questions. A whiteboard is a great tool for this. Drag together similar ideas into categories and give those a short title. Examine the list and determine if there is anything that has come to light now that the problem has been defined.
2. Determine how to answer the questions:
Student groups can now take the list and decide: What type of information is needed to answer this question or address this statement? How might we best collect this information? The amount of guidance you give at this step depends upon your students' level and experience.
Your students' first thought may be to Google It! They may not consider all of the other ways they might collect information:
Complete the Research:
Students will divide and assign out the research, create an action plan for completing the tasks and begin collecting data and information. Here is a sample action plan template that your students might find helpful. You might also consider an online To Do Tool or App such as Remember the Milk.
As student collect and organize information, consider what scaffolding they may need to help them. Their level of experience will dictate what you provide.
Reception Scaffolding Tools
Graphic Organizers
Consider providing an online collaborative tool so that everyone in a student's group has access to the research the student has created. Creating a scaffold in a Google Document is an easy way to do this. Create the document, make one copy for each group, set the document so that anyone with a link can edit, provide each group with the link to their document.
It is a good idea to work with your entire class sorting the Need to Know statements and questions. A whiteboard is a great tool for this. Drag together similar ideas into categories and give those a short title. Examine the list and determine if there is anything that has come to light now that the problem has been defined.
2. Determine how to answer the questions:
Student groups can now take the list and decide: What type of information is needed to answer this question or address this statement? How might we best collect this information? The amount of guidance you give at this step depends upon your students' level and experience.
Your students' first thought may be to Google It! They may not consider all of the other ways they might collect information:
- Ask an expert - in your community or online
- Survey a population
- Perform experiments and collect data
- Run a simulation
- Interview people
- Online videos
Complete the Research:
Students will divide and assign out the research, create an action plan for completing the tasks and begin collecting data and information. Here is a sample action plan template that your students might find helpful. You might also consider an online To Do Tool or App such as Remember the Milk.
As student collect and organize information, consider what scaffolding they may need to help them. Their level of experience will dictate what you provide.
Reception Scaffolding Tools
Graphic Organizers
Consider providing an online collaborative tool so that everyone in a student's group has access to the research the student has created. Creating a scaffold in a Google Document is an easy way to do this. Create the document, make one copy for each group, set the document so that anyone with a link can edit, provide each group with the link to their document.