Enhancing Science Research Skills: Collaborating with Library Staff

1. Leveraging Your Library:Collaborating with Your Library Staff to Teach Science Research Andy Spinks, Lead Librarian Center for Advanced Studies at Wheeler High School Cobb County, GA

2. Overview • Why librarians and science teachers make such natural collaborative partners • Examples of science-library collaborations at Wheeler High School’s Magnet Program • Tips for collaborating with your library staff

3. Common Instructional Goals • Science teachers  Science literacy • Librarians  Information literacy • Accessing, Evaluating, and Using Information • Many overlapping elements, including: • Using analytical/critical/higher-level thinking • Using evidence to solve problems • Identifying and avoiding bias • Communicating using data

4. Common Instructional Methods • Inquiry Learning is the ideal method for both • Student-centered, student-driven • Active & experiential • Constructivist • Process-oriented

5. Why Not Just Use Google? • Students and teachers routinely overestimate the students’ level of information literacy. • Technology literacy ≠ Information literacy • Students must learn to use the web effectively, but they must also learn to use more authoritative sources • Using a search engine is not “authentic” learning because it is not what scientists and academics use for a “review of the literature.”

6. Examples of Collaboration • AP Environmental Science (biome brochure) • AP Biology (peer-reviewed articles) • Biochemistry (Clinical Pharmacology database) • 12th Grade Magnet Research/Internship Course • Peer-Reviewed Articles • Advanced Reference Articles (online & print) • APA Documentation • Using Other Libraries (Georgia Tech, etc.)

7. Examples of Collaboration • 9th Grade “Semester-Long” Research Project • Choose topic • Conduct background research* • Write a hypothesis • Design and conduct the experiment • Present findings in a written report and an oral presentation • Enter in science fair competition

8. Background Research for Project • Independent & Dependent Variables • What makes each one tick? • How is each one measured? • What research has been done before? • How does your research relate?

9. How to Get Started • Discuss the materials available for your course • Brainstorm ideas for a research project • Plan the details of the project • Plan the details of the library visit • Including who will teach what & when • Extra Credit: Plan for joint assessment

10. Thanks for Coming! • “Handouts” Available Online: • http://andyspinks.com/conferences • References & additional resources on following slides • Contact Information: • Andy.Spinks@cobbk12.org • Questions or Comments?

11. Resources Filson, R. (2005). In Search Of….Real Science. Access Excellence. Retrieved July 16, 2005, from the National Health Museum Web site: http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/TL/filson/ Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and information services (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. Kuhlthau, C. C. (n.d.). Information Search Process: A Search for Meaning Rather Than Answers. Retrieved July 15, 2005, from the Rutgers University, Department of Library and Information Science Web site: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/Search%20Process.htm Spinks, A. (2005). The Scientific Method: A Research Process. Retrieved March 17, 2006, from http://andyspinks.com/scientificmethod/ Woods, M. (2005). Science. In The New Book of Knowledge: Scholastic Library Publishing. Retrieved July 13, 2005 from the Grolier Online database.