4 ways to build strong research skills earlier in schools

According to School Library Journal, there are two core issues. The first is a misunderstanding of what research is and how it is not just ‘Googling’; students must understand that research isn’t about immediately finding answers, it’s about the inquiry journey. The second, bigger problem, is a lack of evaluation skills that are usually developed during media literacy education. Here are four cornerstone skills for teaching students how to research, plus practical strategies educators can use to build them.

2. From keywords to searching: teach them why Google’s not enough

When using a search engine, learners can have the right keywords and still be overwhelmed with information that’s irrelevant. Although Google (for example) aims to show relevant results, it operates partially as a popularity contest, prioritising results by considering prior search behaviour and a webpage’s general popularity. For example, searching ‘the amazon’ on Google returns Amazon Shopping as a top result.

Boolean operators (words and symbols like AND, OR, “quotation marks”, and NOT) make search engines link or exclude words and phrases, allowing more specific searching. So, entering “the amazon” AND “greenhouse gases”  returns much more relevant results.

Google has additional limitations that Boolean operators cannot fix. It only indexes the public web; over 90% of the internet’s information is found  behind log-ins and password walls. This is where many private research resources sit; cutting-edge research cannot always be found on Google.

Classroom activity

1. Introduce students to Boolean operators with these short instructional videos (1 and 2) and discuss any questions that arise. You could also go over this cheat sheet.
2. Get learners to practice on a search engine by combining Boolean operators, like “climate change” AND “greenhouse gases”; “the amazon” AND  deforestation NOT shopping.
3. Have students search for the same terms on a library reference or research database like Credo Source or JSTOR, getting them to note down at least 2 differences in the results. These can be quality, relevance, or additional features for searching.
4. Reconvene to discuss what they noticed during the exercise. Question prompts could include “How did Boolean operators help you narrow results?” or “What is the difference in the information that was provided when searching Google versus the database?”

3. Engaging with their findings: summarising skills are research skills

Summarisation is a foundational research skill that aids students in identifying crucial information and solidifying their understanding. When they summarise, students are practising discerning the relevance of information to their own arguments. This is vital for structuring written research and creating coherent essays. Summarising has also been proven to boost comprehension and information retention.

Classroom activity

1. Provide your students with a short, informative article on an engaging topic, such as the climate change example used earlier. Aim for a one-page article the first time trying this exercise.
2. Ask them to highlight the most important information, limiting them to 10 words.
3. Challenge them to provide a short, one sentence summary that covers the key idea of the piece. Then, have students expand their summary to three sentences, adding 2–3 key supporting points from the article to reinforce the core idea.
4. Have students swap summaries with a partner and offer peer feedback. Pose the question to the whole class, “What makes a good summary?” for discussion.

TIP: Repeat this exercise with different length articles to challenge your students.

4. It’s time to evaluate: are their sources CRAAP?

Using unreliable sources on the internet for research can lead to conclusions based on misinformation. A benefit of the web is the amount of accessible data, but students must understand how to access and evaluate information. In addition, source evaluation skills and information literacy can teach students to:

• Learn for themselves
• Deal with information overload and prevent overwhelm
• Develop critical thinking skills
• Identify biases in trusted sources
• Practise informed decision-making

Young people aren’t as removed from the news as some may think; many want to process news events and engage with the effects.

Classroom activity

1. Introduce the CRAAP test as a cornerstone for source evaluation. CRAAP stands for Cuurency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.
2. Get students to read and analyse a provocative article as a class, for example ‘The Hoax of Climate Change’, using the CRAAP test. Go over each part together and encourage learners to think about what information they would like to question using CRAAP.
3. Offer two more stories on the same subject from trusted news sites or articles and compare. Use CRAAP to have them evaluate author intent, source information and quality.
4. Finish by discussing what was discovered, the CRAAP difference between the provocative article and the trusted articles, and how the trusted publications themselves differed.

This is just the beginning

This above list of skills isn’t exhaustive. But, through developing keyword identification, searching, summarising and source valuation early, students will be more confident in understanding how to research thoughtfully, filter information critically and engage with a variety of research topics. These foundations prepare them for future research projects, but also equip them to navigate an information-rich world with confidence.

Additional resources for educators

1. A range of research resources available through JCS, such as those from Infobase, Gale, and the JSTOR Secondary Schools Collection.
2. The Research Essentials for Secondary Students series from State Library Victoria.
3. This free Media Literacy Toolkit from PressReader.