Introduction A hot-air balloon without a trained pilot will drift aimlessly, but a trained pilot can guide it in a planned direction. Likewise, you can plan and guide any research project if you understand the research process.

Introduction In a research project, you investigate and present information on a topic. The steps of the research process will help you find and use that information effectively. In this presentation, you will learn about some technology tools that can help you create and publish a research project survey the steps of the research process

The research process When you begin a research project, you might have a broad subject in mind. Focus your subject down to a narrow topic to make it a suitable size for your work. Nobel Prize Nobel Prize winners Marie Curie

The research process As you begin the research process, think about the purpose, audience, and tone for your project. The purpose of most research projects is to give clear, complete information on the research topic. The tone you use for your project probably will be relatively formal, as is appropriate for serious research. Your audience is made up of the people who will receive that information.

The research process Understanding your purpose and audience are important as you design the research questions that will guide your work. Topic: Marie Curie Research questions What discoveries by other scientists led to Marie Curie’s experiments? How did Marie Curie’s experiments lead to her discovery of radium and polonium? How did the scientific community receive Marie Curie’s work?

The research process Choose good sources of information to answer your research questions. Good sources have the Four Rs. They are relevant, including information that relates directly to your research questions. They are reliable, using only accurate and objective information. They are recent, meaning that sources should be as up to date as possible. They are representative, addressing more than one side of the issue.

The research process There are many types of information sources, including books, print and online newspapers and magazines, Web pages, online museums, wikis, and online databases.

Tech Tool: Keyword Search You can locate sources of information for your research topic by typing a keyword into search engines, online databases, RSS feeds, online museums, and other tools.

The research process It is important to keep track of your sources. Create a list of the sources you find and assign a number to each one. 1 Krull, Kathleen. Marie Curie. Giants of Science Series 4. New York: Viking, Ham, Denise. “Marie Sklodowska Curie: The Woman Who Opened the Nuclear Age.” 21 st Century Science and Technology Magazine 15.4 ( ): Madame Curie. Dir. Mervyn LeRoy. MGM, 1944.

The research process Once you find good sources, you will take notes on the information you find in them, recording the information in three ways. When you make a direct quotation, you use the exact words in the source and enclose them in quotation marks. When you paraphrase, you restate the information in the source in your own words. When you summarize, you condense the main idea of the source into a much shorter version, using your own words.

The research process When you take notes from a source, make sure that you write the source’s number next to all the information from that source. 6 Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre Curie, were awarded half of the Nobel Prize for Physics in They shared the prize with Henri Becquerel. 2 Marie Curie discovered the radioactive substances radium and polonium. She coined the term radioactivity.

Tech Tool: Google Notebook Google Notebook allows you to take notes online and access them from any computer. You also can create multiple notebooks and move notes from one notebook to another.

The research process After taking notes, you will create a thesis statement as the working main idea of your project—the one big idea you want your audience to understand. You can revise your thesis later as your project develops. Marie Curie overcame many obstacles to conduct research that led to her discovery of the elements radium and polonium.

The research process Next, organize the information from your notes so you can plan your finished product. You might decide to use a mind map to help you organize your notes. Obstacles Marie Curie faced Exclusion from University of Warsaw because of gender discrimination Poor laboratory facilities Initial skepticism by other scientists of her discoveries of radium and polonium

The research process Another way to organize the information from your notes is in a formal outline. Thesis: Marie Curie overcame many obstacles to conduct research that led to her discovery of the elements radium and polonium. I. Obstacles A. Exclusion from University of Warsaw because of gender discrimination B. Poor laboratory facilities C. Initial skepticism by other scientists of her discoveries of radium and polonium

The research process Now you are ready to write a draft of your research project. You will use your notes and outline or mind map as you write the draft. In your draft, you should present a clear thesis statement that answers your research questions include well-chosen support for your thesis, using information from reliable sources effectively use summary, paraphrasing, and direct quotations to present your ideas and support

The research process After you write a draft, read it at least twice. The first time you read it, focus on content and organization. The second time you read it, focus on style. Evaluate your draft and revise it accordingly. You also might seek feedback from teachers, classmates, or others.

The research process You can publish your research project in several formats. The format you choose should be appropriate for your purpose and your audience. Possible formats include a written report a multimedia presentation a podcast a Web page a wiki

The research process Once you have published your research project, you can receive feedback on it from teachers and from peers. Then, reflect on the work you have done. Use the feedback and your own reflections to help you shape future research projects.

Conclusion Just as a trained pilot steers a hot-air balloon, you can steer your research to a successful completed project. The steps of the research process help you find information about a topic and shape that information into a research project. Tech tools such as wikis and Google Notebook can help you in the process.

Talk About It Discuss these questions with your classmates. 4. Are you likely to try any of these tools in the future? Why or why not? 1.Why is it necessary to follow a structured process when conducting and publishing research? 2. What technology tools do you usually use for research? How do you use those tools? 3. Have you ever used any of the tools presented in this lesson (keyword search, Bloglines, Google Notebook, wikis)? Why or why not?

Your Turn 1.Do an online keyword search on a subject of your choice. Use the search results to help narrow your subject to a suitable research topic. 2. Once you have a suitable research topic, identify an audience that would be interested in this topic. Then, choose a method for presenting your research to that audience—as a paper, a podcast, a wiki, and so on. Explain your choice.

Your Turn: Possible Responses 1.I picked “first aid” as a subject. I typed it into a search engine and browsed through the results. The results helped me narrow the topic to how CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) was developed. 2.People taking a first aid class would be a good audience for my research project. They probably would be curious about how CPR was developed. I think a slide presentation with images and perhaps video would be a good way to present my research to this audience.

The End