Preparing to Present
Introduction:
Today, we are going to look at Kuhlthau’s sixth step in the research process: Preparing
to Present. We know from research that students who don’t locate enough information
to complete a research assignment have difficulty completing the assignment. However,
a key component for students to recognize they have collected enough information for a
research project is their ability to organize their notes while they are preparing to present
their projects. Many students don’t realize they are missing information for their research
assignment until it is too late to go back and locate the missing information for their
projects. Teachers can help students avoid this problem by teaching students the
cognitive strategies and organizational skills needed so students can thoroughly complete
their research assignments.
Plagiarism is a problem with students at this level because they haven’t had enough
exposure to learning how to quote someone else’s work, or to give credit to an author for
the idea they present in their work. In addition, we have too many students who borrow
images off the Internet without giving credit to people who created the work. Teaching
students how not to plagiarize is a skill all departments should help students learn how to
avoid in their presentations.
Lastly, creating reference pages and works cited pages is a lot easier to do today with
programs that will format these pages for the writer. EasyBib, NoodleTools, Citation
Machine, and Bibme are just four citation programs that can help students with citing
references. EasyBib is used at Valley View, so most of our students have some idea how
this program works. In addition, MLA has come out with their 8th edition, so in the near
future I will be updating the EasyBib ebook links.
Please turn the page and we will begin today’s workshop.
Locating the Library Research Process from the LMC Home Page
The LMC Home Page is located on our school web site at:
http://glacierpeak.sno.wednet.edu/Page/1343 . Click on Mr. Mohn’s Literacy Corner.
On Mr. Mohn’s Literacy Corner you will see the seven steps to Dr. Kuhlthau’s Research
Process model. Click on the dropdown menu for Preparing to Present.
Step 6: Preparing to Present
Preparing to Present has been broken down into four major groups: 1) have you collected
enough information to complete your assignment; 2) organizing your outline; 3) avoiding
plagiarism, and; 4) citing sources. Teaching students how to organize their presentations
will help them to successfully complete the research assignment you have assigned them.
Have You Collected Enough Information to Complete Your Assignment?
Once students have collected information on a research assignment they tend to jump
right to creating the presentation of their assignment without stopping to check to see if
they have collected enough information to support their topic’s focus, and whether they
have used all the available resources available to them. Using the PDFs Adequately
Supporting the Focus and A Final Check of the LMC Collection worksheets forces
students to slow down and evaluate the information they collected for their assignment.
Additionally, having students organize their notes by major themes using the Steps in
Organizing Notes PDF helps students recognize whether they are ready to create an
outline of their presentation.
The web link to 35 Dimensions of Critical Thought is for teachers to use when trying to
decide which type of critical thinking they would like to teach in their classes whether it
is for research projects, or other classroom lessons.
Organizing Your Outline
There are two areas where we could greatly improve the presentations our students make
in our classes. First, by have students construct outlines of their projects greatly improve
the organization of their essays, oral reports, PowerPoints, and multimedia presentations
(Constructing an Outline (PDF)). English teachers spend some time teaching students
how to make connections between paragraphs, but all of us could re-enforce their work
by having students complete the Making Connections PDF.
Lastly, Purdue University has produced one of the best online writing labs (OWL) in the
country. This writing lab covers all aspects of the writing process. Many of our staff
already use this web site as a resource for their students. OWL is tightly packed with
more guidance than most high school students need to access, therefore you might want
to look at the University of Maine’s writing center.
Avoiding Plagiarism
The Internet has made is so easy for students to plagiarize their work. However, there are
two things teachers can do to reduce plagiarism in their assignments. First, we can
change the research questions we ask students so the answers they seek can’t be copied
and pasted into their work (see Jamie McKenzie’s article http://questioning.org/oct2010/faux.html ). Inquiry research forces students to analyze
the information they are reading and respond to it by using their critical thinking skills.
This reduces the chances students can just copy and paste work.
Second, teachers can take the time to teach students what plagiarism is, why it is wrong
to plagiarize another person’s work, and how to avoid plagiarism in their work. The
above four tutorials on plagiarism can be used by teachers to teach students about
plagiarism. Take a few minutes today and look through these tutorials to decide which
tutorial you would use in the classroom.
Citing Sources
Learning to properly cite sources is a major aspect of research for high school students.
In elementary school, students are taught to cite sources using incomplete citations. At
Valley View Middle School are students are exposed to using EasyBib, an online citation
program when writing essays. However, currently at GPHS, our staff hasn’t decided as a
group to teach students how cite sources using APA or MLA. Instruction on citing
sources for students at GPHS hasn’t had any vertical planning within departments, nor
across departments.
Currently, MLA has come out with its 8th edition of its writing manual, but I haven’t had
the time to see if I can update the eBooks listed above. Besides several style guides you
can use in the classroom there are web links to four online citation programs: EasyBib,
Noodletools, Bibme, and Son of Citation Machine. Son of Citation Machine helps
students create citations, but users have to copy and paste their results into their
presentations. EasyBib, Noodletools and Bibme all have the ability for students to save
their work online, and then download their final works cited page into their presentations.
Now, students have to be careful when they sign-up for the free version of these products
as these companies offer advanced versions of their products for a price.