Online Research

Conducting Effective Online Research

Most of us at one time or another have had to conduct some type of research, such as looking stuff up for school projects, or where to eat a delicious hamburger! Research, regardless of the purpose, involves using skills such as vocabulary, tech know-how, and deciding whether the information is trustworthy or not.

This is called Online Research.

But how can we improve our research skills? In this age of information, we need to find information quickly and easy. But how do we do this?

In this unit, we will discuss some of the strategies needed to improve your skills.

Step 1. How good are you at conducting research?

To determine your ability to conduct online research, answer these FIVE questions. Two of these questions are open-ended meaning you will have to write the answers in paragraph form. When you are done, submit it to Mr. Muñoz for review and grading.

* Indicates required field

Name *

First

Last

Class *

1. What is the name of the fifth planet in our Solar System? *

2. Name an ingredient that is found in soda (Coke or Pepsi) that can be used to remove rust from metal *

3. What are some of the warning signs your son or daughter is being bullied online? *

4. Imagine one of your family members has Diabetes. What would you recommend them to do in order to live better? (What to eat, what activities to do, what medication to take, etc) *

5. Recently, a judge declared NYPD's "Stop and Frisk" tactic unconstitutional, but the police say it is necessary to stop crime. Why is this topic controversial? Do you agree with the judge or with the NYPD? Why? *

How long did it take you to answer all five questions? *

Submit

Step 2. Citing a Source

Now that you have done some online research, you will learn how to cite a source. Citing a source is telling the reader where you gathered your information from. Not citing a source is considered Plagiarism (fancy word for "stealing") , and therefore may disqualified your work.

Here's the next step. Read one of the following articles on the positive and negative effects of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Now write a summary of one of the articles you read:

What to do in Step 2:

Choose ONE article
Write your first and last name
Write a summary of the article
Wait for Mr. Munoz's instructions on how to write the MLA or APA citation of the article you read

You can create a citation of your article by going to this link:

http://citationmachine.net/index2.php

Step 3. Writing an essay more effectively

The hardest part of writing an essay trying to figure out what to write first, how much of it, thinking of the main ideas and what to use for supporting details. Well, there's a way to help with this process, and that is by creating an OUTLINE. An outline is a tool that organizes your thoughts and ideas into a step-by-step plan to write your essay.

Here's a website that will help you create an outline of one of the articles you read from the Step 2. Just follow the instructions and you can print out your outline.

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/essaymap/

Choosing a Topic

The following are articles regarding topics that affect us in one way or another. Choose ONE article to read and create an outline of your reading on "Essay Map". Remember, it's OK to switch back and forth to the article to fill out your outline (you may also use one of the articles in Step 2).

Now that you have read the article, go to Essay Map (click here) and fill out the information as best as you can.

Tip: Click on the tab SAVE located on the top corner to save your work. This is will save the work in your computer, or you can upload it to Dropbox.com and retrieve it later. Ask Mr. Muñoz to help you create a Dropbox.com account.

Save your outline for later use.

Submit your outline

After you have completed your outline, finish it by creating a PDF document and submit that to Mr. Muñoz by visiting the "Submit Your Work" webpage.

Step 4. Writing your report.

Mr. Munoz will print out your Essay Map document. From this document, you will create a two-column article based on the contents of the Essay Map document you submitted.

Using your Essay Map document, you will use the content you wrote, and in a word processing program like MS Word or Google Doc.
You will create a document that looks ready for publication, like this one -->

>Remember your citation<

In your final paper, you must include the citation of the article you used to write up your essay.
Go to www.citationmachine.net to create the proper citation

How will you be graded?

Using this rubric, your FINAL document will graded by the following:

Essay Grading Rubric: Category	4	3	2	1
Introduction (Organization)	The introduction is inviting, states the main topic and previews what the essay will be about.	The introduction clearly states the main topic but it’s not inviting to the reader	The introduction states the main topic but does not provide a preview of the essay	There is no clear introduction of the main topic, nor a preview is provided
Focus on Topic (Content)	There is one clear well-focused topic. Main idea stands out and is well supported.	Main idea is clear but the supporting information is general	Main idea is somewhat clear but there is a need for more supporting information	The main idea is not clear. There is a seemingly random collection of information.
Support for Topic (Content)	Relevant, telling, quality details give the reader important information	Supporting details and more information are relevant, but one key issue or portion of the storyline is unsupported.	Supporting details and information are relevant, but several key issues or portions of the storyline are unsupported.	Supporting details and information are typically unclear or not related to the topic
Conclusion (Organization)	The conclusion is strong and leaves the reader with a full understanding	The conclusion is recognizable and ties all the topics into one understandable component	The conclusion is recognizable, but does not tie up the entire essay	There is no clear conclusion, the essay just ends.
Graphics (Layout of Essay)	The pictures, the border, the font color and the two- columns work well together as a theme and the text is very easy to read.	The essay is easy to read, but one of the components is missing	The essay is easy to read, but two of the components is missing	The essay is hard to read, and more than one component is missing
Grammar & Spelling	Writer makes no errors in spelling and grammar. The reader has an easy time reading the essay	Write makes 2-4 errors in spelling and grammar	Writer makes 5-8 errors in spelling and grammar	Writer makes more than 9 errors in spelling and grammar
				TOTAL