"Using the Web for Research" is a lesson designed to introduce students to the basic research skills necessary for effective use of the World Wide Web as an information source. It is designed primarily for high school, though some junior-college instructors have found it useful; a good teacher with higher-ability, motivated 8th-graders might also be able to make use of it.

The primary objectives are:

1. Introduce students to three major kinds of Web search tools, demonstrate the use of two in some depth and acquaint them with several others, and teach basic search strategies (Boolean operators and search operator symbol shortcuts [+, -], phrase, etc.)

2. Provide students with a basic set of Web page evaluation criteria.

3. Provide students with several style guides for citing both Web and print sources in MLA style and introduce them to two online interactive bibliography generators (one--NoodleBib--is subscription-based, but worth it!)

4. Acquaint students with and/or review the overall research process.

I recommend that it be presented in a "lab" environment (where each student has his/her own Web-connected computer) in from three to five sessions of roughly an hour each (i.e. the traditional high school 55-minute class periods), with some time at the end of each session for students to use their individual computers to put into practice what has just been taught. The learning will "stick" far better, of course, if this lesson is taught in the context of an appropriate research project which has just been assigned. This way they will perceive an immediate need for the information and can put it into "practical" practice right away (again, if in a lab setting, immediately after instruction each day.) You'll definitely want to go through the lesson yourself well in advance; depending on your audience ("information overload" factor?) and the time available, you may need to hide or delete some slides. Recommendations for which slides to hide are in the teaching instructions.

Educators are given permission to modify and use the slideshow and handouts files here for instruction only as long as they acknowledge Steve Grant as original author on the title slide/first page. I've designed this to be a "turnkey lesson"--theoretically, any good educator could download the files, review them (look over the handouts, read the teaching instructions, run through the PowerPoint slides teaching them "to an empty room" to practice timing and technique), then teach the lesson as is. However, any educator will almost certainly find things you'll want to add, delete, or modify to fit your own students and situation. My hope is that this will at least give you a fully-fleshed-out starting point, and keep you from having to "reinvent the wheel." One "gotcha" to keep in mind: If you make any modifications to the PowerPoint slideshow, be sure to make matching modifications in the student handouts (if you choose to use them.)

Equipment You'll Need

To teach this lesson, you'll need at minimum a teaching computer with PowerPoint installed and Web access, connected to a projector which can display the computer's screen large and bright enough for even "those in the back" to read text on Web pages. My experience has shown that this is critical. Displaying to a whole class on even a fairly large television--or a screen whose image is too dim or small--just doesn't work well enough.

Files

At minimum you'll need the PowerPoint file Using_the_Web_for_Research.ppt. I also suggest you get and read the Teaching_Instrs file. These are my suggestions as to how to go about teaching each the lesson, as well as a few suggested follow-up/extension activities. As an educator, of course, you'll probably want to change and adjust what you do with any of this in light of your own students and situation.

The other files are handouts to give the students if you wish. Search_Check is a student worksheet which you can have students fill out as they begin using the search tools you've introduced to them that day in the lab. They should of course be using them to research their own topic for a research assignment, but if you require them to turn in this worksheet to you at the end of the period (or perhaps the beginning the next day, if they'll have Internet access at home or later at school), it can help keep them focus and stay on task, and it gives you a way to check their progress in actually using their hands-on time to do what you've told them to. Overall-Stud_Hand contains everything in the other two student handouts (Eval_Chklst_Only-Stud_Hand) and (Steps_Rsrch_Proc-Stud_Hand), as well as the names and URLs of all the Websites used in the lesson; Overall-Stud_Hand prints to nine pages. Eval_Chklst_Only-Stud_Hand prints to two pages and thus can be a two-sided single sheet "checklist" of questions students can keep handy and ask themselves as they view Web pages and decide whether or not they're worthwhile for their research project. Steps_Rsrch_Proc-Stud_Hand prints to three pages, and can serve as an outline of the major steps in the research process so students can refer to them as they proceed. If you're actively teaching the research process, walking students through each of the steps and checking on their progress along the way (and I hope you are), then I recommend you give them this as a separate handout as well.

Note that if you don't have a word processor that can open Microsoft Word files, you'll need to download the handouts in their Adobe Acrobat format (provided your computer has Adobe Acrobat Reader--if not, click here to download it for free.) This will allow you to view and print them. To edit them, however, you'll probably need the full version of Adobe Acrobat (not particularly cheap.)

To download a file, click on its link below. If the file opens right within your browser, use the File > Save (or Save As...) command to download it. If it does not, what you do next depends on which browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) you're using on which platform (Windows or Mac OS.) In IE on a Windows platform, right-click on the link. Then from the pop-up menu, choose "Save Target As..." (Internet Explorer), browse to the folder in which you want to save it, and click the "Save" button.

PowerPoint slideshow file:

Using_the_Web_for_Research.ppt... approximately 1MB; 126 slides.

Teaching instructions and handout files in Microsoft Word format:

Teaching_Instrs.doc... prints to 7 pages.

Search_Check.doc... prints to 2 pages.

Overall-Stud_Hand.doc... prints to 11 pages.

Eval_Chklst_Only-Stud_Hand.doc... prints to 2 pages.

Steps_Rsrch_Proc-Stud_Hand.doc... prints to 3 pages.

Teaching instructions and handout files in Adobe Acrobat format:

Teaching_Instrs.pdf... Adobe Acrobat format; prints to 7 pages.

Search_Check.pdf... prints to 2 pages.

Overall-Stud_Hand.pdf... Adobe Acrobat format; prints to 11 pages.

Eval_Chklst_Only-Stud_Hand.pdf... prints to 2 pages.

Steps_Rsrch_Proc-Stud_Hand.pdf... prints to 3 pages.

A note about notetaking and citing sources...

The ability to efficiently take true notes on published information (as opposed to just photocopying or Copy-Pasting) is a critical skill for any kind of research. So is knowing which pieces of information to capture for which kind of source--so you'll have it when you need to cite it later in your text and/or bibliography. Finally, knowing how to use Microsoft Word's formatting features (including creating a header) to create a correctly-formatted MLA-style "Works Cited" bibliography turns out to be a hurdle for many students as well. For downloadable documents to help you help students with these things, see "Helping Students with Notetaking and MLA-Style Bibliographies" on my Shared Professional Resources page.

Back to Shared Professional Resources page

Created and maintained by Steve Grant
sgrant "at" sandi.net (<--anti-spam technique)
Revised 3/15/06