Search And Analysis Phases
In these sections of the lesson, I rely on the same strategies used
in previous steps, openly teaching front end navigation skills in
the first nine weeks of the semester before turning the students
loose to browse autonomously in week ten. At this point in the
project, students usually turn to their favorite search engines and
directories for facts and display little understanding of the subtle
differences between online databases that prescreen material and
narrow file retrieval results. Since the Web is brimming with
guides for expedient journeys in Cyberspace, I direct students to
helpful charts such as the one located at http://www.infopeople.
org/search/chart.html which describes the salient features of the
Yahoos and Googles of the world. Next, I take my students into
the computer lab for a mini unit on how to judge the accuracy
and relevancy of facts found on the Internet. In this mini
workshop, I address such tips as the ending of URL’s, about this
site links, web master credentials, and updates on pages. To
further illustrate my point of buyer beware, I use Filamentality to
hot list a few ridiculous stops on the information superhighway
such as The Taxonomy of Barney found at http://www.improb.
com/airchives/paperair/volume1/v1i1/barney.htm. In concluding
the lesson, I ask my seniors to rate a few sources on their own.
Each of these scaffolding activities is designed to enhance the
student’s plan of attack in reading difficult passages and
browsing through complex Internet sites. Furthermore, in
spreading all of his sources on the desk before him and
distinguishing between those pieces that are reliable and worth
keeping and those that are outdated and unsubstantiated, the
pupil is forced to clarify the intent of his original question. At
long last, he understands that research is not a clean business,
and it sometimes involves returning to the drawing board. This
culling of source material leads him to new avenues of discovery
and investigation, and as he embarks in fresh inquiry directions,
he unknowingly repeats and reinforces the cycle of search and
analyze again.