You will need the following: The handouts at the door Your Animals in Translation chapter Your composition book

English 9 and 9H Research methods Topics and Inquiry Questions

Purposes for conducting research Consider what may be some of the purposes for conducting research. You already know of at least one researcher, Temple Grandin, whose research serves multiple purposes. Many of the sources you will encounter (and end up using to support their claims) will also be based in research.

The sections of a Research Portfolio: • Section 1: Defining an Area of Investigation – This section stores all the work you do exploring the topic and choosing an area of investigation (research question/problem). • Section 2: Gathering and Analyzing Information – This section stores all the information you gather throughout your investigation. It also stores your notes and analysis of sources. • Section 3: Organizing, Synthesizing, & Drawing Conclusions – This section stores your Evidence Based Claims about inquiry questions and Inquiry Paths and the personal perspective that you come to at the end of your inquiry.

Understanding Check Silently repeat to yourself the three parts of the research process – repeat them to yourself 7 times (silently, please) On the teacher’s instruction, turn to your shoulder partner and repeat them to each other. Then take turns answering what each step’s process involves.

Possible Topics Animal intelligence Autism Meat packing industry Behaviorism B.F. Skinner Ethology

This is the thought process that goes into selecting a topic.

Area of Investigation: Autism What is the history of the diagnosis and treatment of autism? What is the history of the diagnosis and treatment of autism? What have people called it in the past, and how have they worked with children diagnosed with autism? This area of investigation came from Animals in Translation, as Grandin discusses many of her own self-developed treatments that helped her cope with the disorder. For example, Grandin discusses her instinct to work with animals and how it helped her. She also describes her “squeeze machine,” which many people thought was crazy at the time but ended up being very useful in the treatment of autism.

Area of Investigation: Meatpacking Industry What are some current problems with the meatpacking industry, and what are people doing to help? The final area of investigation from Animals in Translation is: What are some current problems in the meatpacking industry, and what are people doing to help? This came from Grandin’s discussion of the inefficiency she witnessed in the meatpacking industry and the accidental cruelty toward animals. Grandin has helped many companies in the meatpacking industry become “a lot more efficient” and more respectful toward animals by reducing environmental stresses and the need for prods. However, it is still worth thinking about what more could be done, and if anyone is as actively involved as Grandin in trying to find solutions to problems in the meat industry.

Area of Investigation: Animal Intelligence Do animals think like humans? This area of investigation came from page 8 of Animals in Translation: “Animal genius is invisible to the naked eye.” Grandin writes a lot about animal intelligence, but it would be fascinating to know more about smart animals. Also it would be interesting to understand how scientists know when an animal is intelligent and how animal intelligence compares to human intelligence. If animal genius is hard to see then there may be interesting ways that researchers have developed to identify animal intelligence and compare it with human intelligence.

Inquiry Questions - Objective Students will generate and craft a variety of inquiry questions including factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions. The definitions: factual (“based on or restricted to facts”), interpretive (“serving to explain or provide the meaning of”), and evaluative (“serving to determine the significance, worth, or quality of questions”).

What is the purpose of asking inquiry questions? To guide an exploration of a topic by identifying the various aspects of a topic through questions. To use for pre-searches to find out information you want to know. The inquiry questions can allow you to identify which parts of the topic provide the most relevant and rich information, while also helping identify which parts of the topic may not be useful or pertinent.

Generating Questions Animals in Translation is a starter or “seed text” that helps generate potential topics that drive the research process. Topics that are identified in the text will be used to pose inquiry questions. These inquiry questions will help illuminate different potential areas of investigation within a research topic. When generating inquiry questions, it is often a good idea to brainstorm as many as possible before selecting and refining the richest ones. Here are several to help you get started: How is the topic defined? What are its major aspects? Where did it originate? What are its causes and implications? What is its history? What other things is it connected to or associated with? What are its important places, things, people, and experts?

What are key components of effective inquiry questions What are key components of effective inquiry questions? What are the criteria? The questions should lead to rich and relevant knowledge and information. Does the question have an appropriate scope or purpose? Does it focus on an important aspect of the research question/problem? They should be questions you want to answer. Is the question useful? Will it lead to meaningful inquiry? They are questions that can truly be answered through research. Is the question answerable through research?

What are key components of effective inquiry questions What are key components of effective inquiry questions? What are the criteria? They should be questions that are clear or easily understood. Is your question understandable or clear? The questions should lead to multiple answers or more questions. Does your question require multiple answers and possibly more questions? 6. They are questions that you do not already know the answer to. Is your question’s answer unknown to you?

Understanding Check Silently repeat to yourself the six criteria for effective inquiry questions– repeat them to yourself 7 times (silently, please) On the teacher’s instruction, turn to your shoulder partner and repeat them to each other. Then take turns answering what each criteria involves.

Use your Specific Inquiry Questions Checklist to come up with 3 (THREE) questions. (Leave #4 & 5 blank for now.) Evaluate each by the 6 criteria.

For the purposes of our exercise, we will focus on animal intelligence, but you should know you could go through the same process with any or all of the topics before choosing.

Write down for Question #4: Do animals think like humans? Criterion #1: • Does the question have an appropriate scope or purpose? Does it focus on an important aspect of the research question/problem? This question seems repetitive of the actual research question/problem; the question does not focus on an aspect of the research question/problem Criterion #2 on the Specific Inquiry Questions Checklist: Is the question useful? Will it lead to meaningful inquiry? The question is useful and could lead to meaningful inquiry but the scope feels too large.

Do animals think like humans? Criterion #3: Is the question answerable through research? It would be answerable through research. Criterion #4: Is your question understandable or clear? The question could be refined to be more specific. This question is understandable but still too large, which makes it unclear. What do we want to know specifically about how animals think like humans?

Do animals think like humans? Criterion #5: • Does your question require multiple answers and possibly more questions? The question requires a yes/no answer and not multiple answers and so it does not fit this criterion. Criterion #6: • Is your question’s answer unknown to you? Yes, the answer is unknown. At this point, there is exploring to be completed to find information about animals thinking like humans.

Tailor the inquiry question to make it more specific, to focus on an aspect of the model research question/problem, and to make it require more than a yes/no answer. A way to alter the question is to think about the type of answers you want to get. Beginning a question with the word, “Can” requires the answer to be yes/no. Changing the beginning of the question can alter the answer they will get: How do animals show they can remember information?

Use the Specific Inquiry Questions Checklist to vet the new inquiry question for #5: How do animals show they can remember information? Check off the appropriate categories on your checklist.

Generate at least five specific inquiry questions that will guide your research. How do researchers measure animal intelligence? How can animal intelligence be used to benefit humans? What characteristics do the animal and human brain share? What kinds of complex decisions do animals make? What does animal intelligence look like and how is it different from human intelligence?

Example inquiry question: How does autism affect the human brain? How is autism defined? What is the history of autism? Where did autism originate? What are the major aspects of autism? What are the characteristics of autism? Why might people with autism be able to understand animals better than people without autism? What else is autism connected and associated with? Who are famous or important autistic people? Who is an expert on autism? Are there countries that have more people with autism than others?

Topic: Behaviorism What is the history of behaviorism? Who are experts in behaviorism? What are major aspects of behaviorism? What are important discoveries behaviorists have found when observing animals? What else is behaviorism associated with besides animal psychology?