Mallory Goetz

New this year to ISP has been the research course -- required for all of our diploma programme juniors.  The new course addresses how to begin the research process, how to inquire, how to research deeply, and how to add to the academic discourse in their subject area.  Students are more engaged in this than I have ever seen anyone be in the research process! 
   
    Seniors are complaining that they didn't have a research course!
    A junior taking the class said, "I used to hate EBSCO [a da...
Continue reading...

9th grade history classes came in on week one for a research refresher course--preparing them for a heavy year of research ahead!

We reviewed how to search, where to search, our new databases, what makes a good source, plagiarism, and citation. The students were excited and surprised that the work we did in 8th grade was already coming in handy in high school.  Nice job 9th grade!

Continue reading...

In 9th grade Spanish class, the students, in preparation for a class presentation, were given a presentation about what mediums they could use to create presentations and tips on how to present more effectively.  Students explored Powerpoint, Prezi, Popplet, Google Presentations, Photostory3, and more in order to critically think about when one medium of presenting might be better or worse than another.

Continue reading...

IB Film students were just about to start on a series of research heavy final projects.  In order to support them in this endeavor, we had a research seminar specific to their task for class. 

Students were led to explore the features and materials in Ebrary and EBSCO, as well as how to broaden and narrow their search terms in order to get the best search results for film topics!

Continue reading...

Students in high school Panamanian Studies are in the process of creating a video of Panamanian colonial history.  After trying in vain to find a video online to teach students about this topic, the Panamanian Studies teacher and myself decided that we would fill the online gap by having students make their own video to post.

Students researched independently, created a storyboard to organize their video, and filmed the sequence of events and information.  This video will be posted on YouTube ...
Continue reading...

After seeing the improvement that 10th graders made by doing this seminar and mini-research assignment, 9th grade history students also went through the same process!

Students were asked to use the library databases to research a list of information on food item.  They were to take this information and use it in a mini-research paper with proper MLA style in-text citation.  Students turned their assignment in  via email and after grading them each class met again to talk about what items i...
Continue reading...

In order to help 10th grade students with in-text citation and other general research skills before embarking on a larger higher-stakes research paper for History class we created a low-stakes research assignment in order to practice those skills in a controlled setting.

Students were asked to use the library databases to research a list of information on food item.  They were to take this information and use it in a mini-research paper with proper MLA style in-text citation.  Students turned ...
Continue reading...

9th grade History students came in to research the different phases of the Crusades.  I gave a presentation about how to use library databases to find good sources about the topic of the Crusades, how to narrow and broaden their search as needed, and how to quickly decide if a source is good or not. 

Students then used the library resources to research and create their group presentation and paper about their phase of the Crusades.

Continue reading...

10th grade Literature students participated in a research seminar.  This seminar covered the basics of researching, how to choose a research topic, how to find good sources, databases through the library, and source citation. 

Students then completed a research task for their upcoming written term paper about George Orwell's novel 1984.
Continue reading...