Putting the ‘pro’ in research project: how to scaffold big tasks to ensure student success

At first glance, research projects don’t seem like a big deal. When I am assigned a research project, I know how to get started and find the resources I need to complete the project. So when I worked with my mentor teacher to plan a research unit for my first few weeks, I was hopeful that it would be a breeze. However, with 6^th graders, this task is not so simple. Off the top of my head I know that students will need to learn how to or at least be refresh on how to find sources and information, take notes, cite sources, organize their research, and format their writing. If I am getting overwhelmed just thinking about planning and teaching these concepts, how are my students going to feel when I hand over the project and turn them loose?

           

The answer, at least the answer I’m going with, is scaffolding. With so many different concepts to teach, it will be absolutely critical that I plan the teaching and practice of these concepts so that students have the tools and experience needed to be successful in their research and writing. In an Edutopia article titled “6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students”, Rebecca Alber makes several suggestions for scaffolding complicated tasks for students. One strategy that I will be using in different ways throughout this unit are graphic organizers. Instead of thinking about graphic organizers are another worksheet to fill out, Alber encourage us to see these organizers “. . . as training wheels; they are temporary and meant to be removed” (Alber). During the research project I plan to use graphic organizers to help student collect information and organize it to correctly format their texts. I definitely think the students will feel less overwhelmed if they already have an organized layout of how their writing should look before they start on the informative essay.

Another way to scaffold complex tasks is a form of show and tell and involves the teacher modelling the process for students. When students see the teacher thinking aloud about the process he/she is completing, they see a way to think critically about the information they are learning and researching (Alber). Harmon and Marzano also provide this strategy as a way to introduce complex tasks in Practicing Skills, Strategies, and Processes. Worked examples, as they call them, are “step-by-step demonstrations or models of how to execute a skill strategy or process” (35). These worked examples also help prevent students from feeling discouraged by a complicated process (35). Two ways to use this strategy are student scripts and self-reflections. When using student scripts, they are “written by the teacher and then read aloud by students”. Self-reflections, on the other hand, are written by students after they have reflected on their own actions and steps (Harmon, Marzano 36-37). Each strategy would be beneficial in helping students see the process they are working through while researching and writing. My mentor teacher and I plan to model research strategies as a way to utilize worked examples during the research project unit.

Hopefully, in a few weeks we will have quality research projects as well as students who now have a better idea of the research and writing process.

Alber, Rebecca. “6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students.” Edutopia 24 May 2011. 

Harmon, Kelly and Marzano, Robert J. Practicing Skills, Strategies, and Processes: Classroom Techniques to Help Students Develop Proficiency. West Palm Beach, FL: Learning Sciences International, 2015. 35-38. Print.