Secondary Level Research

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Back to the Research page.

D

• Make sure you know exactly what you have to do :
• do you Understand what is required of you ? If not :
• ask your teacher to Explain it again, so you do know;
• if necessary, Write Notes, so you don’t forget while you are doing the work;
• if there is a guide [or a Rubric], make sure you read and understand what it means. If you know what to do to gain a mark, you will know why you did Or did not get that mark;
• make A list of things you have to do and the order they have to be done. If you are not sure, look at the following steps;
• Now you know what to do, read about the next step.

• This may sound strange before you start, But :
• while information might remain the same, the Materials you use will not;
• the materials you will need depend on whether e.g. you make a model, write an essay or do a computer presentation;
• you need to look at what Presentation you will make. Some choices are :
• Art/Graphics
• Computer Presentation
• Debate
• Description
• Diorama
• Drama
• Essay/Exposition
• Group Presentation
• Models/Experiments
• Oral Report
• Project
• Short Answers
• Once you have decided this, you will be able to decide :
• exactly what information you need to make the presentation you chose;
• what materials you need -
  • computer programs [e.g. Word, Power Point, spreadsheet, database, graphics, CAD …];
  • newspapers, magazines, journals;
  • other materials.
• Most important of all :
• you will be able to make up a Plan listing these.
• When you do put it all together, make sure your work :
• is Accurate;
• is Spelt Correctly;
• is Grammatically Correct;
• is Neat and easy to understand [preferably computer generated];
• uses pictures/graphics that actually go with the information;
• makes Sense;
• and Answers the question[s] you are supposed to answer.
• Now go on to the next step.

• There are many places to collect information or materials, no matter the topic. These include :
• Home;
• the Library :
• home;
• classroom;
• school;
• local;
• city;
• other.
• Remember, there are still books full of information [e.g. fact books, atlases, encyclopaedias];
  ‘Not everything is on the internet !’
• People in your family, or who you know, who can give you information to let you complete the activity;
• the Internet - if capable and with parental support, you may wish to use the internet for information and images. Make sure you know where to look or, use a good search engine to help locate what you want [see General Search Engines and also the Specialist Search Engines for help with this];
• Magazines and Newspapers - both information and images;
• Videos/DVDs and Television - you might have, or be able to get, a video/DVD on the topic, or a television program, that helps e.g. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Planet Earth’, ‘World War II’;
• Archives [collections of things]. They could be archives of photographs, records, letters, toys … .
• Software - remember its dual role as either a source of information [encyclopaedias, language work] or a tool as suggested in the previous section, while with any computer material Always Back It Up.
• As you collect the material [information, pictures, artwork, photographs, models, etc.] put it in One Safe Place so you do not lose it.
• Then go to the next step.

• You Are !
• This does not mean other people cannot help you, but means they Cannot do it for you;
• If you use Other People’s Work, you must tell people this;
• You Must Not claim you did someone else’s work;
• You must not copy other people’s work and hand this in. This is Cheating [Plagiarism]. It is also easy to recognise !
• If you use a Bibliography [sources of information], include things other people have done there;
• A Bibliography lists all books, videos, internet sites, etc. you used for information. There are different ways to set out these [see the Writing page under Citations], but the important thing is to have one and list all sources;
• This way, the final result will be yours and Yours Alone.
• Plagiarism : [see Plagiarism page] is now well understood. There are steps that can be taken when there is plagiarism. It is Easily Found if people suspect it is used. Basically, it is not worth it.
• Now go to the last point about Time.

• Set a Timetable and stick to it. You can make small changes but don’t go without one;
• Make your timetable Balanced to allow for work, play, sleep, rest.
• Make it Flexible to allow for unexpected things.
• Remember :
• you do not want to be doing it at the last minute. No one does their best work then;
• if you leave it till the last minute, something usually happens to make it harder to do;
• get into a habit of working to your own timetable. This allows you to have fun, do other things and still get work done in time;
• This is a good way to Develop Skills to use in the future.
• This is Especially Crucial At Secondary Level where you now have up to 8 teachers who will set out-of-class work, possibly resulting in several pieces of work falling due within a few days.
  In senior secondary, you will [should !] also be wanting to study and revise as well.
  This may also be the case in lower secondary years.
• Finally, make sure you hand it in On Time. It would be silly to finish and not do this.
• Nothing is worse than finishing, but losing marks or a complete result, by not handing it in on time. This is Your Responsibility Alone.