Thinking about Information Seeking Strategies

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2. Information Seeking Strategies

2.1 Determine all possible sources

2.2 Select the best sources

This week's presentation focuses on Information Seeking Strategies.  One of the most important statements in the chapter for this week highlights the importance of unpacking the skills contained within Information Seeking Strategies and Location and Access.  If we want to help students become proficient in the whole process of problem solving, it is important to recognize that determining a range of sources and then deciding which will be most helpful in solving our problem is distinct from what is required to locate and access information from the sources we have chosen. There are "three distinct actions—find, evaluate, and select, and we caution against combining them in a single standards or objectives statement."

When we've unpacked the information problem solving process using the Little 12, we can help diagnose where students need support.  It is important to understand, as the teacher, the focus of the Big6 stage.  This doesn't mean that each of the Little 12 must be explicitly taught, but as we are measuring student progress (or as students are self-assessing) we have a way to hone in on areas of concern and areas of strength. 

Here are a couple of ideas:

2.1 Set up opportunities for students to brainstorm independently and then check in with other students or parents (great exit ticket!) to discover sources they might not consider on their own.

2.2  Have students generate criteria and a rubric as a group for selecting the best sources from a range of possible sources

Depending on the grade level or skill level, you can really employ come collaborative communication strategies to get students thinking beyond some of the more obvious sources.  Create a Google form on your class Web site and have students add source ideas for a specific project or content topic.  Use classroom response systems to do something similar. 

What are your ideas for helping students develop Information Seeking Strategies?