Research: Just Do It.

This weekend my 10 year old daughter had to make a volcano for a science project. I read over the assignment handout and was intrigued by the following challenge: research how a volcano is formed and present the information to the class. I asked my daughter if she had been taught how to research by any of her teachers or by the media specialist. The answer was "no," followed by, "I just have to Google it, right?"

Since our conversation, I have been contemplating exactly how and when students learn to research. My child is in 5th grade and she has not been "officially" taught any research skills. She goes to a very good school and all of her teachers have been wonderful, so I am not bringing this subject up to bash either. However this is my area of study so I cannot help but explore the issue. I have decided to search the state standards and determine when research skills are introduced into the curriculum. I plan to be a media specialist soon and I need to know when students begin researching and what they are expected to know. I also need to understand and prepare for my instructional role of equipping students to be effective researchers.

In the meantime, I have made it my job to sit my child down and show her how to identify valid and reputable internet resources. We will work on plagiarism next. I'm actually a little overwhelmed with this issue for an elementary student, since I know that many college students struggle to understand what does or does not constitute plagiarism. I guess I will just tackle this self-imposed assignment one layer at a time—starting at the bottom...much like a volcano.