Finding good quality information to support your TeenTech Project

Transcription

1 Finding gd quality infrmatin t supprt yur TeenTech Prject When yu re ding any f the Teen Tech prjects, yu need t make sure that yu have all the infrmatin yu need t help yu t make gd decisin. This guide will help yu t becme a mre efficient and effective researcher. What yu will learn frm this guide: It will shw yu hw t be mre effective when searching fr infrmatin It will help yu make judgments abut hw useful the infrmatin that yu find is It will shw yu the research prcess frm the beginning t the end f yur prject It will suggest sme websites that yu may find useful. Key pints abut ding research: 1. It s easy t assume that yu ll find all the infrmatin yu need fr yur prject with a search engine infrmatin is nt always free and nt everything yu will need will be nline. Relying n a simple search means yu culd miss vital infrmatin. See belw fr hw t make yur nline searches mre rewarding. 2. Dn t frget t check yur schl, cllege r public library fr useful bks. They may als have nline databases that can give yu access t extra resurces. 3. Discuss what yu need t find ut with the librarian at yur schl/cllege r cntact yur lcal public library r university library staff. They shuld all be able t help yu get the access extra resurces. 4. Make sure that yu ask yur teachers and the Teen Tech cntacts t help yu make cntact with the right persn. Search strategies r where and hw t start: Once yu have an idea abut yur prject tpic yu need t find relevant infrmatin t guide yur prject. Cmmn mistake: Mst peple will simply type in the first things that cme int their head int a search engine. This apprach will nly get yu s far. Time spent as a team thinking abut what yu want t find ut, is time well spent and gd researchers create a search strategy where they wrk ut what t search fr and where t lk fr it. As a first step, identify a range f keywrds that describe yur tpic. Fr example: Imagine yu were carrying ut a prject t invent a flying car. The bvius wrds t use when searching fr this tpic might be flying car. Hwever, if yu nly search fr flying car yu might miss ther resurces where smene has described it differently. Yu can find mre resurces by using synnyms (similar r related terms). Yu can use a thesaurus, such as Thesaurus.cm t help yu find different wrds. Other keywrds yu culd use fr this search: Flying Fly Flight Aviatin Aerial Aernautical Car Autmbile Vehicle Mtr Mtr car Transprtatin TOP TIP: Carrying ut a phrase search is a simple way f imprving yur results. Yu put tw r mre wrds int speech marks s that the search engine will lk fr them tgether e.g. flying car TRY THIS: Useful Ideas fr expanding & evaluating yur search: 1) Create a wrd map (see diagram) t shw hw the terms that yu are using link the wrds tgether. This wrk is licensed under a Creative Cmmns Attributin- NnCmmercial 4.0 Internatinal License.

2 2 It might start small and then grw with yur ideas. Yu can use it t shw hw ne wrd fits with anther. It als creates evidence f yur thinking that yu can share with yur team. 2) Make a nte f hw successful using a particular wrd/phrase is in ne search engine s that yu can use it again in anther (dn t just rely n Wikipedia r Ggle!). Yu can use these ntes as evidence f yur search strategy. 3) Chse anther wrd if the first ne is nt successful. Smetimes yu may have t use a mre general ne- fr example aviatin instead f aerplane frm the example given. Dn t frget t keep recrds f what yu d fr yur research lg! 4) Make a nte f the useful websites r resurces that yu have fund fr yur team t lk at. Yu can easily create a list (r bibligraphy) f yur surces by using r and creating a free accunt. 5) Read and make ntes n the infrmatin that yu find. Yu can d this by creating a mindmap using a free nline tl (e.g. yu need t sign up fr an accunt) r by hand. Yu might discver new keywrds frm the websites yu discver e.g. frm the search flying car manufacturer = Terrafugia. The team can then research this cmpany that makes flying cars t find ut mre abut it and t make sure that it is a genuine website. Spf r fake websites d exist nline (as an example try researching the tree ctpus and yu will find a website devted t this made up creature!) Is my infrmatin any gd? Or hw t evaluate a surce f infrmatin Just because the infrmatin yu ve fund is abut yur tpic r came high n the results list frm a search engine, that desn t mean it is useful r high quality. Yu need t evaluate every surce f infrmatin yu find and decide if it is relevant t yur prject and hw balanced r biased it is. If yu are nt sure if yu ve fund the best infrmatin, ask yur librarian r teacher fr advice. Remember that anyne can pst smething nline and there is nbdy cntrlling quality n the internet. It culd be a persn wrking fr an rganisatin r business r a persn wh wants t share a fact r pinin. Yu need t understand why they have decided t share. It culd be because they want t tell their versin f the facts r they feel that ther versins miss sme facts ut. That s why finding several pieces f infrmatin that have been written by different peple can give yu all sides f an argument as mst issues invlve several pints f view. Yu then need t decide whse pinin yu trust and why. Yu can make this decisin by ding the CRAAP test n any infrmatin that yu find; that is finding ut abut its Currency, Relevance, Accuracy, Authrity & Purpse. Ask yurself the questins belw and talk thrugh yur ideas with yur team and teacher/librarian. If yu are nt sure if yu have lcated the best infrmatin, ask yur librarian r teacher fr advice. Key Questins t ask f an infrmatin surce: 1) Currency: Is the website up- t- date? Has it been updated recently? Yu can then cmpare it with ther infrmatin that yu find has the situatin changed since this website was written? This will affect hw yu use the infrmatin. 2) Relevancy: Des the infrmatin help yu answer yur research questin/supprt yur prject? It s very easy t get sidetracked when searching the internet. Can yu understand it? It s n gd using infrmatin that yu d nt understand. If yu are just starting t find ut abut yur tpic, try simple websites r bks first then mre advanced nes later. When yu re using search engines add keywrds such as High Schl r Key Stage 3 t find sites suitable fr yur age grup. This wrk is licensed under a Creative Cmmns Attributin- NnCmmercial 4.0 Internatinal License

3 3) Accuracy: Is it crrect? Yu need t check hw accurate the infrmatin yu find it. Check yur website with infrmatin frm ther surces. Once yu knw that the facts are crrect yu can think abut what the authr is actually saying abut the infrmatin (see 3). 4) Authrity: Find ut wh has written the infrmatin. Wh are they and why have they put the infrmatin n the internet? Des the persn knw what they re talking abut? This will give yu an idea f bias and hw balanced r ne- sided the infrmatin might be. Als cnsider: Is the infrmatin cuntry specific des it matter? D yu want UK r American infrmatin? Is it a named persn a business, educatinal website r charity? This will help yu make a decisin n if and hw t use it; different types f peple have different reasns fr sharing infrmatin. Check ut the authr using Ggle schlar t see if they have any ther publicatins. 5) Purpse: Des the web site aim t infrm, sell r entertain? Des it include facts r pinin? D yu think the infrmatin is impartial? If yu decide the infrmatin is biased, find alternative views n ther sites t help yu make infrmed judgments. Scial media sites give yu pinins frm individuals. They may be experts in their field, equally they may nt. Opinins can be useful, s be aware f wh has psted items nline s that yu can figure ut why they have psted a cmment. Fr example: YuTube vides can be useful, but yu will need t check their facts. A vide culd be there t advertise a business r just t prmte a certain pinin. Check the authrity f a vide, is it frm an fficial site? Tumblr persnal phtgraphs and ideas these will ften have n authrity Blgs anyne can set up a blg very easily, they are written pinins and can link t ther websites r articles. Yu need t think carefully abut wh has written the infrmatin n a blg befre relying n it and what they knw abut the tpic - try lking if ther peple mentin them, respnd r re- blg them. Twitter many peple use twitter t share shrt updates and again yu need t spend time thinking abut the reliability f infrmatin yu find n twitter. Many serius science and technlgy rganisatins use Twitter (e.g. the magazine New Scientist but it can als be used by anyne t share their pinins. Official r verified accunts have a badge n them t identify them, like s: Finally, make sure that yu d nt plagiarise (use r directly cpy ther peple s ideas, images r writing and pretend that they are yurs). T avid plagiarising, when yu use ther peple s infrmatin prvide a credit r reference t whever wrte it. Fr nline surces always give a web- link t where the image r ideas came frm. It shws that yu are in cntrl f yur infrmatin and want peple t see where yur infrmatin has cme frm. Surces f infrmatin There are lts f places t find the infrmatin yu will need t cmplete yur Teen Tech prject. Bks are great bth t give yu the basics f a tpic and smetimes fr mre advanced ideas. Infrmatin in bks is easy t find using the Cntents, Glssary and Index pages. Staff in yur schl, cllege r public library can help yu find bks n yur prject tpic. Magazines and Jurnals can als be useful t find infrmatin. Magazines are usually abut a specific tpic (cars, technlgy, gaming etc.) s find ut what magazines there are abut yur prject area and lk thrugh past issues t find articles abut yur tpic. Jurnals are similar t magazines but their articles are usually mre academic in nature. Many schls have access t Philip Allan jurnals ( which are jurnals designed fr GCSE, AS and A- Level students ask yur teacher r librarian if yur schl has a subscriptin. This wrk is licensed under a Creative Cmmns Attributin- NnCmmercial 4.0 Internatinal License.

4 4 There are sme places t search that yu can nly get access t in a library because they pay fr yu t have access t the cntent. Librarians call these types f resurces nline databases and these include surces such as Cred Reference ( and InfTrac Cllege Editin ( Yur lcal library will give yu access t many databases fr FREE. Visit the webpage fr yur lcal library. Search by using the cunty name e.g. Wrcestershire public libraries, t see what nline databases they have n their catalgue. Fr example: Newspaper databases - (InfTrac r UK Newsstand), Envirnmental infrmatin - (GreenFILE), Encyclpaedias - (Britannica, Cred Literati) and Business Infrmatin - (COBRA fr business start- up and Chamber f Cmmerce) Wikipedia This can be a useful starting place t get an verview f a tpic, but it can als be quite cmplicated and hard t read. It is ften best t g t the references listed and read the riginal dcuments t get the infrmatin first hand. Wikipedia Simple can be easier t read and understand than the nrmal Wikipedia. Other Encyclpedias Online encyclpedias are useful fr a basic verview f a tpic and fr helping t think f different keywrds. Encyclpedia Britannica is a respected and trustwrthy infrmatin surce. Q- Files files.cm/ is an illustrated encyclpedia that explains tpics using images and diagrams. BBC Science website The BBC is an internatinally respected cmpany that prduces up- t- date and general infrmatin. Data.gv.uk A cnvenient surce fr fficial UK gvernment statistics and public data. ONS: Office fr Natinal Statistics Data n ecnmy, ppulatin and sciety at natinal and lcal level. Wlfram Alpha This cmputatinal knwledge engine helps yu find answers t questins, data, statistics and expert knwledge. Chrmatik An innvative tl which allws yu t search fr images by clur and keywrd. ImageSurce Large cllectin f high quality ryalty free images. Open Clip Art Cllectin f free clip art (and where we surced the images in this dcument) Using Ggle: Ggle Advanced Search This is the mst ppular search engine. The advanced search ptin can help yu narrw yur search t specific types f infrmatin such as spreadsheets, Wrd dcuments r PDF r t search by date. Just type ggle advanced search int the Ggle search bx t find it. Ggle als has specific search engines fr news, maps and images. Ggle Schlar Aims t nly find infrmatin frm academic and schlarly surces. Be aware thugh that while sme f the infrmatin yu find will be freely available, sme will require payment t access the material. Ggle Bks If Ggle bks finds bks which match yur search terms, it will shw yu a snippet prviding details f the bk and a few sentences f yur search term in cntext. Fr sme bks a Preview is available if the publisher r authr has given permissin t view a selected prtin(s) f the bk r the Full Bk View if the bk is ut f cpyright. Frm 2016 TeenTech are launching a Research & Infrmatin Literacy Award supprted by the CILIP Infrmatin Literacy Grup. This wrk is licensed under a Creative Cmmns Attributin- NnCmmercial 4.0 Internatinal License

5 The fllwing chart sets ut the whle research prcess, which shuld help ensure yur TeenTech prject is f the highest pssible quality: The research prcess Structure f the written reprt 1. Aims, analysis & initial research 2. Planning & develpment 3. Implementatin 4. Evaluatin Chse a tpic Backgrund research Area f fcus Use t infrm Define a questin hypthesis (questin t research) Use t infrm Develp aims & bjectives Use t infrm Decide n methdlgy Primary DO THE RESEARCH Secndary Data gathering Use t infrm Practical Evaluate & draw cnclusins Internet E- mail/letters Survey Plan & d & cnstruct Answer aims & hypthesis Bks Newspapers Questinnaire Interviews Analyse Identify strengths & weaknesses Evaluate & write up fr the Appendix Evaluate & write up fr the Appendix Evaluate the whle prcess Bibligraphy Assemble Reprt & Appendixes This wrk is licensed under a Creative Cmmns Attributin- NnCmmercial 4.0 Internatinal License.