Page 277 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

ACTIVITY 10.2

Team Research Plan

Learning skills: collaborating, prioritizing, exploring context

WHY

Performing research as a member of a team has two benefits: the team members learn valuable skills
about teamwork and members of the team learns research strategies from each other. Some students enjoy
conducting interviews and surveys, and they can share their skills at primary research. Other students know
about reliable databases and search engines, and they can share their skills at secondary research. This is
also a useful exercise in sifting through large amounts of information in a short period of time. What is
key information for the team’s stated goal? What is interesting, but ultimately irrelevant information? The
team members can help each other sort this out.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Gain practice in cooperating in a team situation

2. Practice partitioning a large project into smaller pieces

3. Gain a better understanding of research skills

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Criterion #1: the team research plan
Attributes:
a. the plan is appropriate for the research required to create a 10-minute presentation (such as in the
case study)
b. the plan takes into consideration a variety (a minimum of 5 different sources, and 3 different types
of sources) of potential sources, media, and viewpoints
c. the plan is at least 2 pages in length
d. the plan addresses the following:
• what types of sources would be used
• who on the team would be responsible for carrying out what research
• how the team would work together to formulate a final synthesis of individual research
e. the plan implicitly or explicitly uses information from Chapter 10

Criterion #2: how the team functions
Attributes:
a. the research plan includes every member of the team as a potential contributor
b. the team is able to complete this activity and turn in a research plan

Chapter 10 — Finding and Working with Sources 271