Four steps to choosing your topic and research question

1. Choose a more general question or topic
2. Do some background research to find out a bit more and see how others have discussed that topic.
3. Develop some more focused questions that you might want to focus on
4. Further define your topic - avoid being too broad (or you will never be able to cover it all) or too narrow (you may not find enough information)
5. Not sure if your topic is too broad or too narrow? You might have to do a bit more searching and reading to find out. 

Some ways to narrow a topic:

• Place (geography, location, setting, etc.)

• Population (Age, demographic, etc.)

• Timeframe (year, decade, etc.)

• Relevant issue or challenge (eg. difficulty finding work, learning disability, etc.)

How does online learning via video conferencing affect elementary students’ social development in the classroom?

1. Online learning
   • Remote learning / distance learning
2. Video conferencing: 
   • Zoom / Virtual classrooms
3. Elementary students: 
   • K-6 / K-12, Grade school
4. Social development
   • Social connections / Making friends / Social bonding / Social skills
5. Classroom
   • Physical classes / Virtual classroom / Campus / School

Let's Brainstorm:

Instructions

• Brainstorm search keywords for this topic
• Create "research themes"

Jamboard Activity

Photo by Alec Favale on Unsplash

What is RADAR?

The RADAR system helps us check if the information is good.

The RADAR system helps you decide if information is good. RADAR stands for Relevance, Authority, Date, Accuracy, and Reason. Let’s look at each part.

Accessibility

Accessibility refers to your ability to understand and summarize the ideas presented in your source.

• For example, can you tell a classmate what your source is about without reading directly from your source?  Think about a movie you've recently seen and a friend asked you what was it about.  What would you tell them?

Google News is a great tool to find recent news articles for your research essay. Here are some simple steps to help you use Google News effectively.

https://news.google.com/

Tips for Using Google News

    •    Use different keywords if you don’t find what you need the first time.
    •    Check multiple sources to get a balanced view on your topic.
    •    Be careful with opinion pieces. They might be biased.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Go to Google News: Open your web browser and go to news.google.com.
2. Search for Your Topic: In the search bar at the top, type in your research topic or keywords. Press Enter.
3. Filter Your Results: You can filter the results to get the most relevant articles. Click on the “Tools” button below the search bar. Choose the time range you need (e.g., past 24 hours, past week, past month).
4. Read the Headlines and Summaries: Look through the list of articles. Read the headlines and short summaries to find the most relevant articles for your topic.
5. Open and Read Articles: Click on the articles that seem useful. Read them carefully to see if they have the information you need.
6. Evaluate the Sources Using RADAR
7. Save Your Sources: If you find a good article, save the link or print the page. You can also take notes on the important points.
8. Cite Your Sources: Remember to cite the articles in your essay. Include the author, title, date, and where you found it (Google News).

By the end of this class you will be able to:

1. Locate the library research guide for this class
2. Define peer-review
3. Identify scholarly articles
4. Search for sources using the MRU Library Search or Google Scholar

How does online learning via video conferencing affect elementary students’ social development in the classroom?

1. Online learning
   • Remote learning / distance learning
2. Video conferencing: 
   • Zoom / Virtual classrooms
3. Elementary students: 
   • K-6 / K-12, Grade school
4. Social development
   • Social connections / Making friends / Social bonding / Social skills
5. Classroom
   • Physical classes / Virtual classroom / Campus / School

Academic Publications

• Often referred to as academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed 
• Written by experts in a particular field
• Keep others interested in that field up to date on the most recent research and findings. 

What is peer-review?

• When a source has been peer-reviewed it has undergone the review and scrutiny of a review board of colleagues in the author's field.  They evaluate this source as part of the body of research for a particular discipline and make recommendations regarding its publication in a journal, revisions prior to publication, or, in some cases, reject its publication.

General Characteristics

1. Author: Expert in the field
2. Review: Reviewed by other experts (peers)
3. Audience / Language: Written for scholars and students; uses academic language
4. Content: Original research and criticism; uses previous research literature for background
5. Citations: Always

Examples:

1. Peer-reviewed articles
2. Scholarly books (can be challenging to identify)
3. Literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis
4. Thesis and dissertations

Less is more: Start with one or two words and then add one additional term at a time

• education
• education university

Search phrases: Use "quotation marks" around key ideas made up of multiple words

• "post-secondary education"
• very useful when you have a specific phrase containing common words

Search different spellings: Use an asterisk * to find different endings to your keywords

• colleg* = college, colleges, collegiate
• smok* = smoke, smoking, smokes, smoked, smokers

Use limits: These refine (narrow) your search using different restrictions

• Date (last 10 years)
• Peer-reviewed (for articles)

You can combine all the above in your search:

• "post-secondary education" alberta advantag*

Using LibrarySearch

1. Type of Sources
   • Book, article, video
2. Search Filters
   • Use the "padlock" to lock your filters
3. Description
   • Often a summary or table of contents
4. Access Options
   • Physical location
   • Online access
   • Request a copy
5. Tools
   • Citation
   • Permalink