Learning objectives: How to learn and understand proper research techniques, including why and how these processes are important to learn at this grade level.

Downloadable pdf of this lesson plan: Proper Research Techniques – Sidney McNeal PDF

Introduction: It is important to recognize the importance of learning how to find and utilize credible resources, whether it be for projects, essays, or anything a student may complete that requires research. At a young age, students are prone to click on suspicious ads that could put them at risk or their technology at risk.

To begin, it is most important for students to understand the risks of clicking on ads. It could download malware to “infect” your student’s computer. If they are using school-issued computers, this topic becomes more urgent. It is very important to emphasize the damage of the viruses that could enter the computer. Have students compare the negative effects of a medical illness to their computer. For example: You don’t feel good, have a fever, can’t eat, etc. Don’t risk your computer getting sick.

Secondly, students need to learn how to find credible sources to determine whether or not they can use them in their academics. For example, Wikipedia is never a credible source because anybody can edit that website. To begin, there are many examples of Wikipedia pages that have been vandalized, this can be utilized to show students how Wikipedia is not a credible source. This link: https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-wikipedia-edits/ is a compiled list of examples of people who edited Wikipedia pages to make them factually wrong. Go through them with students.

Next, there are many ways for students to determine whether or not a source is okay to use. One of them is CRAAP – Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. Having your students memorize this can help them greatly. Currency refers to the information written recently or written at a time that was relevant to the given assignment. With students, you can use examples to test their knowledge. For example, if a student is writing about the Great Chocolate Milk Epidemic (fictional) of 2019, should they choose a source from 1975, 2008, 2020, or 2013? This type of example question could be repeated until students gain an understanding of currency. Relevance refers to whether or not the source is relevant to the topic. With a group of students, when discussing women’s fashion in the 1920s, give them website name examples to test their knowledge of relevancy. For example, should they choose?

1. How the Great Chocolate Milk Epidemic affected students
2. How women dressed in the 1970s
3. How the invention of the watch affected cows
4. How women dressed in the 1920s.

This practice can be repeated until students gain an understanding. Authority refers to whether or not the author is qualified to speak on a given topic. With students, this could be explained using an example that they understand. For example, when a student goes to the doctor for a cut, would they rather it be looked at by an author, a singer, or a doctor? In a more academically-focused example, when writing about Anne Frank, would a student rather have a source from Anne Frank’s father or a farmer during that same period? Accuracy refers to whether or not the information has evidence attached to it and if the writing is professional. For example, if a website has many typos, it is probably not credible. If the website says the author’s name is Scooby Doo, it is probably not credible. This could be rephrased in many different examples for a student’s best understanding. Purpose refers to the purpose of the information, to inform, convince, sell, etc. If a student is reading about the Great Chocolate Milk Epidemic of 2019, and the website tells them to buy their specific brand of chocolate milk, it is not a credible source. On the other hand, if the website describes the sequence of events in a professional, well-written way from a credible source, it is okay to use it in a student’s assignment. As well, when researching, students want to avoid using opinion-based sources in their assignments. If it is an opinion-based assignment, that can be used.

Activity: One of the best ways for students to remember CRAAP is to provide a list of not-credible sources for a given topic and ask students to work by themselves or in a group to identify why the sources are not credible. For example: there are five sources that are not appropriate to use academically, and one that is appropriate. Have your students evaluate why they are wrong, and identify the one that is correct.

Topic: The Great Chocolate Milk Epidemic of 2019

Source list:

“The Invention of Chocolate Milk” written by Dr. Mark Smith in 2004

“Why Chocolate Milk is Better Than White Milk” written by Jasmine McDougal in 2012

“The Great Chocolate Milk Epidemic of 2019” written by Caleb Hall in 2020.

“The Great Chocolate Milk Epidemic of 2019” written by Dr. Suess and Scooby Doo in 2019.

“The Greit Choclat Milk Epidimeic of 2019” written by Joseph Cooper in 2020.

“Why You Should Buy My Chocolate Milk” written by Tom Foolery in 2022.

In addition, here are a few YouTube videos that students can watch to form an even deeper understanding of how to identify credible sources.