1. Take some time to think about your topic. Now write down what you know about it.
I now have a deep understanding of the terms guided inquiry, inquiry based learning from a science perspective and information literacy. Also I know how to effectively implement a science based inquiry experience into the curriculum. I also know how to perform searches utilising Boolean operators.
2. How interested are you in this topic? Check one box that best matches your
interest.
Not at all not much quite a bit a great deal
3. How much do you know about this topic? Check one box that best matches how
much you know.
Nothing not much quite a bit a great deal
4. Thinking back on your research project, what did you find easiest to do? Please list as
many things as you like.
I found it quite easy to perform searches in the library catalogue and in Google. I also found it easy to write my literature review. This is because I had a large amount of information on the topic as a result of seeking information from a wide variety of sources and search engines.
5. Thinking back on your research project, what did you find most difficult to do? Please
list as many things as you like.
The thing that I found most difficult to do was to find information the best matched my topic as sometimes I need to rephrase my search term several times in order to find suitable sources.
6. What did you learn in doing this research project? Please list as many things as you
like.
I learnt about guided inquiry which was a term I only knew little about before commencing this research project. Also I learnt how to use Google Wonderwheel which was a search function that I had previously not heard of and had never performed a search in this tool. I also learnt about the term information literacy which again I had not previously heard of. Finally I learnt how to use the blogging tool Blogger. I had never created a blog before and found the process of creating a blog to be quite an interesting experience.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Information Search Process Model
This table is based upon Kuhlthau's Information Search Process Model. It details the phases of the process, the tasks that I undertook and the feeling I had during each of the phases.
(Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari, 2007).
(Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari, 2007).
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Concept Map
This is a concept map of possible search terms that could be used during my search process.
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Information Literacy
Today I decided that I would search for a video that would assist in developing my understanding of information literacy. I wanted to find a video on this topic as I wanted to include information on this topic in my literature review yet i did not have enough information. The reason as to why I was searching for a video and not a scholarly article is because I wanted to perform searches in YouTube which is a search tool I do not often use.
I decided to try the search term information literacy to see whether I would be lucky enough to find a suitable video just by using a basic search term. Luckily for me this search term retrieved 3150 hits and the first one I clicked on was suitable for my needs.
The link below is a link to the YouTube video. I apologise in advance for the very dodgy background music......
Link to information literacy video
I decided to try the search term information literacy to see whether I would be lucky enough to find a suitable video just by using a basic search term. Luckily for me this search term retrieved 3150 hits and the first one I clicked on was suitable for my needs.
The link below is a link to the YouTube video. I apologise in advance for the very dodgy background music......
Link to information literacy video
Friday, August 20, 2010
Questionnaire 2
1. Take some time to think about your topic. Now write down what you know about it.
I now have an understanding of inquiry-based learning, guided inquiry, information literacy and the 5 e's model. I also know how to apply Boolean operators to my search terms to assist me in finding useful and relevant information.
2. How interested are you in this topic?
Not at all not much quite a bit a great deal
3. How much do you know about this topic?
Nothing not much quite a bit a great deal
4. Thinking of your research so far - what did you find easy to do? Please list as many things as you like.
I am finding it relatively easy to use the library catalogue to perform searches. Also I am more comfortable using Boolean operators in my search terms.
5. Thinking of your research so far - what did you find difficult to do? Please list as many things as you like.
I am still finding it difficult to use the library databases as I can't seem to find as much relevant information as I do using other search techniques.
I now have an understanding of inquiry-based learning, guided inquiry, information literacy and the 5 e's model. I also know how to apply Boolean operators to my search terms to assist me in finding useful and relevant information.
2. How interested are you in this topic?
Not at all not much quite a bit a great deal
3. How much do you know about this topic?
Nothing not much quite a bit a great deal
4. Thinking of your research so far - what did you find easy to do? Please list as many things as you like.
I am finding it relatively easy to use the library catalogue to perform searches. Also I am more comfortable using Boolean operators in my search terms.
5. Thinking of your research so far - what did you find difficult to do? Please list as many things as you like.
I am still finding it difficult to use the library databases as I can't seem to find as much relevant information as I do using other search techniques.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Google and Google Wonderwheel
Today I will be using Google and Google Wonder wheel to perform searches.
I have decided today to focus my search on finding information sources that contain information about science based inquiry learning. This is because I have no information focusing specifically on science and I feel as though this information would be helpful as my ILA is based on science.
The first search term that I entered into Google was ‘inquiry based learning + science + early childhood.’ I was madly hoping that I would find relevant hits as previously my first search term often retrieved irrelevant sources. However I was in luck as this search term retrieved 156 000 results and on the first page of results, many of the hits appeared to be relevant to my topic. After this search term retrieved numerous useful and relevant sources I am feeling more confident in my searching abilities.
I then decided to try and refine my search results as I felt I might have too many hits and many of these could be irrelevant. So then I clicked on the pages from Australia link to see what difference this would make to my hits. I noticed a dramatic change as my hits had been reduced to 8 310. Scrolling down my first page of results I noticed that most of the hits were related to studying an Early Childhood degree at different Universities. I found this to be rather puzzling that just by modifying the location of the results could change the content of the hits so dramatically.
Next I decided to try Google Wonder wheel to see what other relevant search terms it could find for me. The wonder wheel identified four different subject terms and three of these could be useful. I had never thought of adding kindergarten, preschool or children to the end of my search string instead of Early Childhood. I then clicked on the time line link to see when the information relating to my search string was created. Not surprisingly most information was created during the 200’s. My thinking is that this could have occurred due to the increased usage of the internet but I could be wrong. One thing that did surprise me is that there was a spike of information during 2005 and this significantly dropped in 2006. Now I am curious as to why this is.
One thing that has become apparent to me recently is that during my initial searches of this topic I believe I was conducting more A category searches as I was mainly searching for facts (Limberg, 2000). I believe now that I have moved toward C category searching as when I locate a relevant source I closely examine the source to determine its credibility (Limberg, 2000). I also am seeking to find information that provides different perspectives and models of inquiry based learning.
A print screen shot of my first search.
I have decided today to focus my search on finding information sources that contain information about science based inquiry learning. This is because I have no information focusing specifically on science and I feel as though this information would be helpful as my ILA is based on science.
The first search term that I entered into Google was ‘inquiry based learning + science + early childhood.’ I was madly hoping that I would find relevant hits as previously my first search term often retrieved irrelevant sources. However I was in luck as this search term retrieved 156 000 results and on the first page of results, many of the hits appeared to be relevant to my topic. After this search term retrieved numerous useful and relevant sources I am feeling more confident in my searching abilities.
I then decided to try and refine my search results as I felt I might have too many hits and many of these could be irrelevant. So then I clicked on the pages from Australia link to see what difference this would make to my hits. I noticed a dramatic change as my hits had been reduced to 8 310. Scrolling down my first page of results I noticed that most of the hits were related to studying an Early Childhood degree at different Universities. I found this to be rather puzzling that just by modifying the location of the results could change the content of the hits so dramatically.
Next I decided to try Google Wonder wheel to see what other relevant search terms it could find for me. The wonder wheel identified four different subject terms and three of these could be useful. I had never thought of adding kindergarten, preschool or children to the end of my search string instead of Early Childhood. I then clicked on the time line link to see when the information relating to my search string was created. Not surprisingly most information was created during the 200’s. My thinking is that this could have occurred due to the increased usage of the internet but I could be wrong. One thing that did surprise me is that there was a spike of information during 2005 and this significantly dropped in 2006. Now I am curious as to why this is.
One thing that has become apparent to me recently is that during my initial searches of this topic I believe I was conducting more A category searches as I was mainly searching for facts (Limberg, 2000). I believe now that I have moved toward C category searching as when I locate a relevant source I closely examine the source to determine its credibility (Limberg, 2000). I also am seeking to find information that provides different perspectives and models of inquiry based learning.
A print screen shot of my first search.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
QUT Library Catalogue
Today I did a search using the library catalogue. I am very familiar with this searching tool as I usually begin my research for all my assignments using the library catalogue so I am feeling fairly confident beginning my search.
When I began to search I did not worry about selecting Kelvin Grove from the field where you can modify the location of the sources as I was fairly certain that the sources about inquiry were held at Kelvin Grove.
The first search stream that I type in was guided inquiry + early childhood. I was fairly certain that I would retrieve at least one useful hit but I was wrong. The only hit was a book called ‘Spotlight on Comprehension.’ Not really what I was looking for.
I broadened my search term by searching for guided inquiry + primary instead of early childhood. I was more confident with this search term as I thought there would be more sources addressing guided inquiry in primary settings but again I was wrong. The only source my term retrieved was the same book from my previous search.
Feeling quite fed up that I wasn’t finding anything I thought I would broaden my search term even further and search for guided inquiry. Surely I would retrieve something with this search term. However again I was proved wrong with the only relevant hit being our textbook which I already own.
I then decided to try searching for inquiry based learning + (early childhood) (primary) I used a Boolean Operator to combine early childhood and primary into the one search term in order to save time however no results were found using this term.
Finally as a final attempt I searched for inquiry based learning which resulted in 199 hits!!! In the library catalogue it breaks down the hits based on your search term into most relevant titles, highly relevant titles and very relevant titles. In the most relevant section there were 5 sources but none of these were relevant. Highly relevant had only 1 source and this was not relevant either. Just when I was about to give up I looked at the very relevant titles and many of these were useful sources! But then I looked at the availability and most of the books were borrowed out :-(. However there were 3 books that weren’t borrowed out that appeared to be relevant which I will borrow. These books were located at Kelvin Grove so my assumption about the books being located there was correct. This taught me that in the future I need to start my research much earlier!!
For my future searches I need to start combining my search terms by utilising Boolean Operators. An example of this is rather than searching for early childhood and primary in separate search terms I can combine them into the one search term which will reduce the time I spend searching.
When I began to search I did not worry about selecting Kelvin Grove from the field where you can modify the location of the sources as I was fairly certain that the sources about inquiry were held at Kelvin Grove.
The first search stream that I type in was guided inquiry + early childhood. I was fairly certain that I would retrieve at least one useful hit but I was wrong. The only hit was a book called ‘Spotlight on Comprehension.’ Not really what I was looking for.
I broadened my search term by searching for guided inquiry + primary instead of early childhood. I was more confident with this search term as I thought there would be more sources addressing guided inquiry in primary settings but again I was wrong. The only source my term retrieved was the same book from my previous search.
Feeling quite fed up that I wasn’t finding anything I thought I would broaden my search term even further and search for guided inquiry. Surely I would retrieve something with this search term. However again I was proved wrong with the only relevant hit being our textbook which I already own.
I then decided to try searching for inquiry based learning + (early childhood) (primary) I used a Boolean Operator to combine early childhood and primary into the one search term in order to save time however no results were found using this term.
Finally as a final attempt I searched for inquiry based learning which resulted in 199 hits!!! In the library catalogue it breaks down the hits based on your search term into most relevant titles, highly relevant titles and very relevant titles. In the most relevant section there were 5 sources but none of these were relevant. Highly relevant had only 1 source and this was not relevant either. Just when I was about to give up I looked at the very relevant titles and many of these were useful sources! But then I looked at the availability and most of the books were borrowed out :-(. However there were 3 books that weren’t borrowed out that appeared to be relevant which I will borrow. These books were located at Kelvin Grove so my assumption about the books being located there was correct. This taught me that in the future I need to start my research much earlier!!
For my future searches I need to start combining my search terms by utilising Boolean Operators. An example of this is rather than searching for early childhood and primary in separate search terms I can combine them into the one search term which will reduce the time I spend searching.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Google Scholar
Now that the context and topic for my ILA is finally finalised I am going to start searching for information relating to my topic. I’m not quite certain what I’m looking for so I’m feeling slightly anxious so I thought I might start my search in a tool that I am semi-comfortable with…Google Scholar.
For my first search I typed in “guided inquiry” and early childhood. Most of my results only contained early childhood and not guided inquiry so I will obviously need to rethink my search term and use of Boolean operators.
For my next search I typed in guided inquiry and primary. This search retrieved 423 000 hits however on the first page of results there appears to be two sources that could be useful in my assignment as they both look at using guided inquiry in primary settings.
I obviously need to narrow my search down and use a specific search string. After looking back over my notes on Boolean operators I decide to use (“inquiry based learning”) and (primary) (education) as my search term. Fingers crossed I get some useful hits as I’m starting to get a little bit annoyed!
Woohoo!! This search string retrieved quite a number of useful hits. My annoyance is out the window and I feel quite happy that my search term worked. On the first page of hits, judging by the title and the blurb about 4 of the 10 hits listed appear to be useful.
I decided to see what sources I retrieve if I click the related articles link of the first useful hit which takes me to a further 101 hits. Most of the hits don’t appear to be useful for my information needs however there is one article that could be useful.
I also changed my scholar preferences to QUT library so I can view full text articles through the library database.
That’s all my searching for today. Next time I think I’ll try wonder wheel.
For my first search I typed in “guided inquiry” and early childhood. Most of my results only contained early childhood and not guided inquiry so I will obviously need to rethink my search term and use of Boolean operators.
For my next search I typed in guided inquiry and primary. This search retrieved 423 000 hits however on the first page of results there appears to be two sources that could be useful in my assignment as they both look at using guided inquiry in primary settings.
I obviously need to narrow my search down and use a specific search string. After looking back over my notes on Boolean operators I decide to use (“inquiry based learning”) and (primary) (education) as my search term. Fingers crossed I get some useful hits as I’m starting to get a little bit annoyed!
Woohoo!! This search string retrieved quite a number of useful hits. My annoyance is out the window and I feel quite happy that my search term worked. On the first page of hits, judging by the title and the blurb about 4 of the 10 hits listed appear to be useful.
I decided to see what sources I retrieve if I click the related articles link of the first useful hit which takes me to a further 101 hits. Most of the hits don’t appear to be useful for my information needs however there is one article that could be useful.
I also changed my scholar preferences to QUT library so I can view full text articles through the library database.
That’s all my searching for today. Next time I think I’ll try wonder wheel.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Inquiry-Based Learning and Information Literacy
1. Take some time to think about your topic. Now write down what you know about it.
2. How interested are you in this topic? Circle the answer that best matches your interest.
Not at all not much quite a bit a great deal
3. How much do you know about this topic? Circle the answer that best matches how much you know.
Nothing not much quite a bit a great deal
4. When you do research, what do you generally find easy to do? Please list as many things as you like.
I generally find it relatively easy to locate books that are relevant to my topic
Find useful information within the source
Find sources that cover both sides of the argument/topic
5. When you do research, what do you generally find difficult to do? Please list as many things as you like.
I sometimes find it difficult to locate useful articles in databases. I think this could be because I don't construct appropriate search terms as I rarely use boolean operators.
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