Julie by Nantahala River in North Carolina
 
 

Table of Contents:

Course Goals
First Class Session
Mechanics of Class
Course Objectives
Textbooks
Major Assignments
Student Assessment Rubrics
1.  I-Search Project
2.  Curriculum Planning Unit
Calendar
 
Special Needs: Students requiring special consideration because of a disability are encouraged to contact me at your earliest convenience.

Course Goals:

Students will demonstrate a working knowledge of the research process through study and completion of an I-Search project, collaborative planning units with classroom teachers integrating information literacy strategies, and planning curriculum with teachers. This class will concentrate on the integration of technology and information literacy skills and strategies through the research process.
 

Course asynchronous except for first meeting:

We will have our one-time face-to-face meeting on Saturday, January 15, in room 1630, building A, Gwinnett University Center, at 9a.m.--10:30am. Thereafter, we will meet online during the virtual office hour chat every Tuesday and Thursday evenings, starting January 18, from 7:30 pm until the discussion is finished or 8:30pm at the latest. By the 15th of January, I would like you to have read through the syllabus and have started thinking about your first assignment which will be due January 31st. Our agenda for the face-to-face class will include an introduction to the course and frequently asked questions. Again, I'll divide the class into alphabetical forums for your messages and assignment postings. This class will be individual work but if you can figure out where you are better off working in a group, ask me about it.

Before you start your actual assignments, so that you don't get lost in the process:

Please read the Joyce and Tallman text (Joyce, M., & Tallman, J.  (1997). Making the writing and research connection with the I-search process. NY:  Neal-Schuman.  1-55570-252-x).
 

Mechanics of Class:

Most of your work will be asychronous on your own time and schedule. Our discussions will again take place during virtual office hours which will be held twice a week, hours listed above. You will be responsible for attending one of the two sessions each week. Students have discovered that these office hours are critical. They will be archived on our WebCt site for reference.

During these synchronous office hours, you can be at home or wherever you can access a good computer connection to the Web.

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Course Objectives:

* The student will demonstrate an understanding of the technology and information literacy strategies underlying the research process.
* The student will demonstrate and document the process of collaborative planning through the creation of two units with classroom teachers.
* The student will identify and integrate a number of technology information literacy skills and strategies within the two curriculum units.
 

Textbooks:

1. Joyce, M., & Tallman, J.  (1997). Making the writing and research connection with the I-search process. NY:  Neal-Schuman.  1-55570-252-x.  Required, has more theory than Duncan.
2. Duncan, D., & Lockhart, L. (2000).  I-search, you search, we all learn to research.  NY:  Neal-Schuman.  1-55570-381-x.  Purchase this if your interests are at the elementary level.  Has many strategies that are very useful.  It will help you with the final assignment at the elementary level.

Major Assignments:

1.  You will complete an I-Search research project of your choosing as explained within the topic choice section of the Joyce/Tallman I-Search text. You will use and reflect on the information literacy skills and strategies suggested by the I-Search text for your own search, keep a reflective journal of the research process, carry out an I-Search as described in the Joyce/Tallman text, choose a format for presentation, and submit the final I-Search product to your classmates and me as an attachment to a webct message. There are times when an I-Search is too personal for public consumption. If that is the case with you and your choice of topic, I will work with you to keep it comfortably private. Your topic choice has to be a burning question that you've been thinking about, preferably something outside of your academic life, for it to provide the motivation you need to experience. Very few questions are outside the scope of this assignment. You will have ownership of your research and your topic content. My role is to guide you in the I-Search research and writing process.

2.  You will originate and plan two curriculum units together with classroom teacher(s).  Use the collaborative planning worksheet you developed for the curriculum mapping exercise in 6320. Keep a journal of the planning process with the intention of submitting it as your final product.  Include in the journal a detailed draft of the units with unit goals, learning objectives, teaching pedagogies, information and technology literacies, classroom teacher instructional responsibilities, media specialist responsibilities, student responsibilities, resources needed, student assessment instruments, and unit evaluation instruments.

3. Finally, you will submit a 2-page essay comparing the I-Search to other research process(es), such as the Big 6 or the traditional research process, in terms of usefulness and place in k-12. I expect you to refer to and cite at least 2 articles in this comparison.

Your Assessment Rubrics:

1.   I-Search Project.  You will complete the following tasks as you proceed through the I-Search. The purpose underlying these tasks is to experience what your students should be experiencing. Thus, under conferencing, please confer with me via email about your choice of topic and why your topic is choosing you (reference the text for an explanation of this statement).
 

I-Search Project Tasks	Time for a Conference  (0-1 point) (0-2 points)	Needs Reworking (2 points) (3-5 points)	Satisfactory (3-4 points) (6-8 points)	Exemplary (5 points) (9-10 points)	Total Points
Read Joyce/Tallman text and submit reflections on the value of the process for today's students by Monday, January 24th.					5
Choose topic. Describe how and why you chose it in your journal for this date. Include your web in your journal entry. Due Monday, January 24th					5
Submit weekly journal entries detailing and reflecting on your search progress. Due each Monday during I-Search project. Use and reflect on the information literacy strategies included in the Joyce/Tallman text.  Include these reflections in your weekly journal.  Pay particular attention to commenting on the value of journaling, webbing, using the pre-notetaking sheet to develop questions, reflective reading strategies, double-entry drafting, and peer editing. I want to know why you agree or disagree about the value of these strategies for helping students acknowledge their own most effective research process.					10
Final Product plus answers to the questions contained in "Does your journal and presentation demonstrate presearch strategies . . . " listed on p. 71-72 of Joyce/Tallman text? Why? Prepare a short statement and email this to me when you post your final product. Final product and statements due March 7th.					30

Read Joyce/Tallman text and submit abstract and reflections on process by January 24th.  I think it is critically important that you fully understand the research process, in this case through the I-Search process.  Most of us have been taught outlining, note card use, creating bibliographies.  But we haven't learned how to ask questions and how to turn a general topic into a researchable question.  The researchable question allows us to identify appropriate information that we can evaluate, synthesize, and apply to our question.  With a general topic, we remain foggy about what we need to find out and too often become distracted with extraneous information, interesting but not relevant to our search.  It makes the final synthesis and presentation of the search much harder to complete successfully.  Through this exercise, I want you to start thinking about your usual research process and how it compares and contrasts with what you read in this text.  Write about these points in your reflection. Why do you think it would be important not to skip any of these steps even if you have done plenty of research projects before?

Choose topic. Describe how and why you chose your topic. Due January 24th. Use the webbing technique to identify possible topics and their subtopics.  Then transfer the most likely and interesting topic to the pre-notetaking sheet.  Write down in the first column what you know about the topic, in the second column what you think you don't know about the topic, and in the third column what you would like to know about the topic in the form of a "how" or "why" question.  Why is this topic important to you and how does it affect your life? Clearly, you will need to read the text to find out what these terms mean.

Submit weekly journal entries. Due each Monday during the I-Search project.  The Joyce/Tallman text has content on journaling in your learning-log.  Reread this material to understand the types of entries you need to make.  Your final I-Search product will include a story of your search as well as what you find out about your topic.  If your I-Search results in an artifact (i.e., scrapbook, website), you will need to include a short essay with it addressing the following points (not an elaborate paper). This short essay needs also to include your reflections on the use of information literacy strategies and how you reacted to them.  Your weekly journal entry should include the following items: 1) your search story for that week, 2) your use of information literacy strategies like the pre-notetaking sheet and how they helped or didn't help you--if they didn't help, what other kinds of strategies did you use instead that accomplished the same task? and 3) your double-entry drafts (see text for explanation of what these are) from your information searching and interviews. Your first journal will be due on September 9 with topic choice.  Your last entry will be due at the time the I-Search is finished on March 7th in the form of the statements on pre-searching and searching strategies.

Use and reflect on the information literacy strategies included in the Joyce/Tallman text.  Keep the reflections in your weekly journal.  Pay particular attention to journaling, webbing, using the pre-notetaking sheet to develop questions, reflective reading strategies, double-entry drafting, and peer editing. This task is to help you reflect on the usefulness of each of these strategies.

Address the following questions from the list on p. 71-72 of Joyce/Tallman text and turn in with your final I-Search product?

Has the student chosen a personally meaningful topic?
Does the topic involve decision making and problem solving?
Does the student display an ability to use a number of strategies to choose a topic--i.e., webbing, index searching, general reading, and interviewing parents and people who know her?
Does the student understand the topic's limitations and is the student willing to change topics if necessary?
Can the student create original search questions that move beyond facts and that facilitate solving the problem or making the decision?
Can the student demonstrate use of information tools, such as electronic indexes and tables of contents, to choose key words that lead to open-ended search questions?
Can the student focus her topic down to a reasonable number of related questions?
Does the student show organizational strengths through an ability to prioritize potential topics, search questions, resource choices, and alternative solutions?

Has the student looked at a sufficient variety of sources or interviewed appropriate contacts/experts in the content area?
Has the student used a combination of sources, e.g., books, journals, interviews?
Does the student demonstrate strong information literacy skills in locating, assessing, and using sources?
Does the student demonstrate an ability to discard irrelevant sources, as evidenced through learning log notes and bibliography?
Doese the student demonstrate use of an organizing technique, such as highlighting and marginal notes, for notetaking?
Does the learning log show evidence of adequate reflection on gathered information?
Does the student show an organized approach to solving the problem or making the decision?
Does the student apply information from a variety of sources for solving the problem or making the decision?
Has the student actually followed through on what the student wanted to accomplish through the search questions?
Is the paper or presentation clear and well supported?
Does the presentation reveal clear evidence of effort by the student to carry through the strategies taught through the unit?
Are the conclusions in the paper or presentation based on information gaterhed through multiple sources?
Can the student articulate a personal search strategy to be used in a future assignment?

2.  Curriculum Planning Units. You will originate and plan two curriculum units with classroom teacher partners.  Use your curriculum mapping worksheet to guide your planning and keep a journal of the planning process.  Included in the journal will be a detailed draft of the unit with unit goal, learning objectives, teaching pedagogies, information and technology literacies, classroom teacher instructional responsibilities, media specialist responsibilities, resources, student assessment instruments, and unit evaluation instruments. Many of these elements replicate what you did in EDIT 6320 on purpose. Instead of concentrating on integrating technology this term, you will be concentrating on integrating technology and information literacy--and, oh yes, by the way, integrating technology tools where they are effective as learning tools for your students is one of the biggest benefits of the I-Search process.
 

 

Curriculum Unit Rubric	Time for a Conference  (0-2 points) (0-4 points)	Needs Reworking  (3-5 points) (6-10 points)	Satisfactory  (6-8 points) (12-16 points)	Exemplary (9-10 points) (17-20 points)	Total Points
Journal of the units and the planning process submitted by April 25th.  Send to Dr. Tallman via email.					10
Identify and integrate into the units appropriate information and technology literacy skills and strategies.					10
Identify and describe the following components of the units within your planning journal: Topic, Goal, Time frame, Student learning objectives, Information and technology literacy skills needed to learn content, Teaching pedagogies to use, Teacher responsibilities in unit, Media specialist responsibilities in unit, Student responsibilities, Resources needed, Student assessment tools, Evaluation process tool for you and your partner. Due April 25th. Post as an attachment to a message on the bulletin board so your peers can have access to your units. We have had some wonderful units produced in this class.					2 0

You may choose to do I-Search units within two different content areas or have the students freely choose their topics.  You do not have to concentrate on the entire I-Search. You can choose some of the strategies that fit the unit's need for learning support. If your school has another research process it uses, you may transfer what you have learned to the other process and carry out your collaborative planning accordingly.  Some topics lend themselves to technology and information literacy skill inclusion better than others.

Journal of the planning process.  Reflect on your planning process with your colleague. What worked well and what needed improvement. How would you suggest improving where you discovered difficulties? As you know, collaborative planning does not occur in many schools. Why? What actions could you take to ensure that you and your school will not be in that category? We find it very frustrating when one of our graduates go out into the schools and get too discouraged to establish a collaborative planning process. What will you do so that does not happen to you?

Identify and integrate into the units appropriate information and technology literacy skills and strategies.  Of critical importance are the information and technology literacy skills and strategies that the students need to know to learn the content successfully.  What information literacy skills do the learning objectives for your units require your students to know in order to succeed?  How will you teach them and when within the unit?  What resources will you use?  How will you have them demonstrate that they know these strategies and can use them? This assignment requires considerable thought on your part. Please do not underplay this task.

Identify the describe the following components of the unit: Topic, Goal, Time frame, Student learning objectives, QCCs, Information and technology literacy skills needed to learn content, Teaching pedagogies to use, Teacher responsibilities in unit, Media specialist responsibilities in unit, Resources needed, Student assessment tools, Evaluation of unit process.  Post the final unit on the "Collaborations" page in a worksheet document form that includes these categories at a minimum.  If your model includes more, add the model's additional categories to these.  If your model has fewer categories, add these categories to them.  If you can try this unit, wonderful, if not, prepare it for trying as soon as you can. You are encouraged to teach at least one of these units this term. I realize this is not possible for some of you.

Comparison essay: worth 10 points. Compare the I-Search to one or more research process. Refer to and cite at least 2 articles on the other processes. 2 pages. Due May 2nd.

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Calendar:

Read and study syllabus. Start virtual office hours, Tuesday, January 15th from 7:30 to 8:30pm. Have your questions ready.

Calendar for EDIT 6360 Spring '05
January 15th and 18th	Face-to-face meeting, GUC, #1630, building A, 9am-10:30am, Saturday, January 15th Virtual office hours start Tuesday, January 18th, at 7:30pm till 8:30pm. Choose one session a week to attend. The other option will be Thursdays, same time frame.
January 24th	I-Search text reflection due. Post as a message on the webct bulletin board in your forum. Topic choice due in first journal entry. Describe how and why you chose it. Email to me within webct. 1st I-Search journal due Monday, January 24th, and every week thereafter during the I-Search project. Include web and topic choice discussion in this journal. Email to me within webct.
March 7th	Final product plus answers to questions on pages 71-72 of Joyce/Tallman text due. Post as an attachment to a message on the bulletin board. Prior arrangements need to be made if you want to email it to me and not post it due to privacy aspects. Your answers to questions should be sent to me via email in webct.
April 25th	Journals due including all parts of the two collaboration units and the planning process. Post as an attachment to a message on the bulletin board.
May 2nd	Final one page closure essay comparing usefulness of I-Search, k-12, compared to other research strategies such as Big6 and the traditionally taught process. I expect you to cite at least 2 articles on other research processes for this comparison.

Page last revised January 11, 2005

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