After an introduction by the instructor, students complete a handout for some cognitive practice on identifying main concepts in a research question as the first step to keyword searching online. A short discussion about the answers follows.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Identify the main concepts in their research questions when writing search statements.
Relevant Threshold Concepts
- Searching as strategic exploration.
Suggestions for Use
- This activity should be helpful in classes where student researchers will be expected to look for sources using keyword searching.
- Steps 2 and 3 of keyword searching are covered in Activity 4B and 4C, respectively. Activity 5B covers subject heading searching.
- You can use this and Activities 4B and 4C all in one class or perhaps separately on back-to-back class days to cover the keyword searching topic as a whole. (They are presented as separate activities in order to minimize the amount of class time used in any one class.)
- If you would prefer that students practice only with research questions related to your discipline, you can change the questions on Handout 4A-1 accordingly.
- Students can complete Handout 4A-1 electronically or in print.
- You may have to overcome some students’ perception that they are already excellent online searchers. Many students feel that way because have been searching for a long time and because anything they type into Google produces results.
- Some students may say that the three steps explained in this and Activities 4B and 4C are too much trouble or unnecessary. It’s wise to tell them that searching with precision is not necessary unless the results of the search are important to them or will have important consequences. So maybe they don’t have to do it for every search but definitely for their research projects, trying to find out whether their health symptoms are dangerous, and, say, for exploring a company that they may want to work for.
Pre-Class Preparation
- Review the handout and answer sheet for this activity.
- Review In-Class Procedure below.
- If you decided to have students practice with research questions related only to your discipline, change the questions on Handout 4A-1 accordingly.
- Decide whether you want students to complete handout 4A-1 on paper or electronically.
- If you decided on electronic handouts, put handout 4A-1 in your learning management system.
- If you decided on paper copies, print Handout 4A-1 (1 copy per student and 1 for yourself) and Answer Key 4A-1 (1 copy for yourself).
- Prepare for introducing the session, using your own remarks or the Possible Script below, if it seems helpful.
- Using Answer Sheet 4A-1, plan your discussion of the answers on the handout.
- Download and perhaps print In-Class Procedure so you can take it with you to class.
In-Class Procedure
- If you’re having students use printed copies of Handout 4A-1, pass them out or set them where students can pick them up as they come in.
- If you’re having students use an electronic Handout 4A-1, tell them how to find and open it.
- Introduce the activity.
- Ask students to complete Handout 4A-1 in about 5 minutes.
- After about 5 minutes, discuss answers to the questions with students.
- To conclude the activity, tell students that what they’ve learned today works well with search engines such as Google and Bing and specialized databases. However, when they are keyword searching in a specialized database, they should use fewer search terms than they use in search engines.
Possible Script
Students often ask me for the “exact right words” to put in the search box. It’s as though they’re asking me for the magic spell to cast on Google or a specialized database to make it cough up the information they need. I wish it was really that easy, and, believe me, if I knew that spell, I would share it with you.
I can share with you how to figure out good search statements you need for every topic you’re looking for. It’s a mental process, and every one of you can learn that kind of magic. Actually–since we’re talking about the supernatural here—I should point out that getting good at this process gives you a kind of superpower.
The steps for writing good keyword searching statements are to:
(1) identify main concepts in your research question, (2) consider using related terms, and then (3) put together a search statement using techniques that improve your precision.
I can give you some practice on the process right now with this handout called First Step to Precision Keyword Searching. Take about 5 minutes to complete it,and then we’ll discuss the answers.
Relevant Choosing & Using Sources Chapters:
Chapter 4, Precision Searching.
