TPC 12 - Reading, Viewing, and Listening (Research I)

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

• independently develop focussed inquiry questions relating to particular topics or issues, with reference to purpose and audience
• employ a variety of research tools and resources including:
  • Internet search engines, electronic bulletin boards, information sites, and on-line services
  • library cataloguing systems
  • experts
• independently compile, with reference to particular purposes, information and ideas from a wide variety of secondary sources, including:
  • print
  • film or video
  • computer-based and on-line

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Prepare a list of 10 to 15 locally available resources related to a given topic (e.g., periodicals, monographs, videos, CD-ROM titles, Internet web sites). Assign students to research the topic, without specifying a focus or purpose. Ask them simply to:
  • select one important piece of information from each resource
  • arrange their pieces of information in order of importance
  • identify the resource they found most useful
  Have students present and explain their results. Highlight differences between students' results (even though they all used the same resources). Identify with students the underlying focus each student applied in selecting and ordering the information. Encourage students to identify links between their resource-use preferences and differences in their needs as audience.
• To develop students' understanding of research using electronic databases, have them (individually or in groups):
  • select technical or professional topics (e.g., highway construction, medicine, women in management)
  • narrow their topics by each identifying three or four subtopics to use as starting points for a keyword search in an electronic database
  • frame a hypothesis or opinion statement pertaining to one of their subtopics
  • conduct keyword searches to find materials that address their statements
  • record their search sequences and represent them in flow charts
  • list the information sources they have identified
  To debrief, use questions such as:
  • Why did you select these particular information sources?
  • What difficulties did you encounter?
  • Are there any shortcuts you could have taken in the search?
  Remind students that conducting research by contacting experts (e.g., librarians, subject experts, individuals working in given fields) involves framing inquiry questions rather than merely identifying key words for a search.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• Whenever students are asked to produce communications, expect them to request additional information on purpose and audience, once they have been taught the importance of these parameters.
• In assessing the database searches, ask students to comment on how they developed and used each of the elements below. Provide feedback on the results, using criteria such as:
  • the hypothesis statement: clear, specific, includes useful key words, consistent with purpose
  • the flow chart: logical, identifies decision points, shows options, records all important steps
  • information sources: extensive and intensive, shows awareness of a range of secondary sources and their potential use
• Assign pairs or groups of students to present mini lessons on the application of research tools, resources, and recording strategies. The lessons may be scheduled over a term (e.g., one per week). Each lesson should be brief (approximately 10 minutes), and include a practice activity. Collaborate with students to generate assessment criteria that focus on the extent to which presenters are able to:
  • clearly describe and demonstrate specific research tools, resources, or strategies
  • offer relevant and practical suggestions or strategies
  • include appropriate practice or monitoring activities
  • respond to questions with relevant, clear information
• When students use research resources, their notes and records can be assessed using criteria such as the following:
  • sources are relevant; appropriate; comprehensive, showing awareness of key features of standard references and resources (e.g., electronic databases, library sources, government or private agencies, key informants)
  • notes and records are dated, clear, easy to use, relevant, at an appropriate level of detail, and include complete and accurate source information

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

• Canadian Writer's Companion
• The Communications Handbook
• Effective Technical Communication
• Guidelines for Report Writing
• Impact
• Information Systems
• Speaking for Success
• Speaking Our Minds
• Technical Writing: Situations and Strategies
• Technically-Write!
• Tools For Technical and Professional Communication

• Extraordinary Answers to Common Interview Questions
• More Bloody Meetings

• Making Movies on Your PC
• Technical Writing, Sixth Edition

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