Transcript The Impact of the Big 6 on Middle School Research Projects

The Impact of the Big 6
on Middle School
Research Projects
Martha Hovanec
April 30, 2008
EDUC 600
Focus
How does use of the Big 6 information
literacy model impact the focus,
confidence, and success of 7th grade
regular and special education students
undertaking a Greek and Roman
mythology research project?
Abstract


Students’ confidence, understanding of the
process and requirements of the research task,
and focus were positively impacted based on
student and teacher qualitative data.
Quantitative data reflecting student success is
less definitive.
Literature
“An Investigation of Factors That May De-motivate
Secondary School Students Undertaking Project Work:
Implications for Learning Information Literacy”
 No information literacy instruction or scaffolding to
support projects





many students reported feeling that they lacked the skills to
complete the project
students were not accessing the types of information
appropriate to the assignments
little synthesis of information
plagiarism was common
De-motivating factors other than the lack of
information literacy training

choice of topic, amount of group work, amount of support,
and work environment
Literature
“The Big Six Information Skills As a Metacognitive
Scaffold: A Case Study”
 Students demonstrated metacognitive behaviors in the
on-line program, journals, interviews, and class
interactions.
 The data reflected a higher level of student confidence
about their ability to plan and accomplish the steps of
the research process
 Exceeded the teacher’s expectations
 Products-- despite being an unfamiliar genre or
format (a news article)
 Process-- engaged in the project and demonstrated
the ability to plan their individual research and to
evaluate themselves and their work.
Literature
 The
presence or absence of
information literacy instruction and
the support that an information
literacy model provides had a
significant affect on student
motivation, metacognition, learning,
and success.
What is the Big 6?

Information Literacy Model developed by Mike
Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz
http://www.big6.com/category/overview-of-big6-skills/
“A process model of how people solve an
information problem”
 Steps are recursive and iterative, not linear

 start
anywhere
 go in any order
 should revisit the steps repeatedly
What is the Big 6?






1. Task Definition (Define problem, identify info
needed)
2. Information Seeking Strategies (possible and best)
3. Location and Access (Find sources and info)
4. Use of Information (Engage and extract)
5. Synthesis (Organize and present)
6. Evaluation (Process and product)
Introduction to the project

Research project daunting
Multi-step task
 Independence
 Length of project




Lack of confidence
Lack of focus
Failure to complete process and/or product
Introduction to the project


Variation of previous project
Collaborative project



Last minute changes


Language Arts teacher-Christine Matylewicz
Special Education/Inclusion teacher-Keith Dunkelberger
Special education teacher-Delores Martin
Population



1 Inclusion class
1 Special Education class
1 regular education class
Student task






Research a Greek or Roman god or goddess (or other character)
Take notes
Create a bibliography
Create a poster
Present orally
http://www.psdnet.org/mhovanec/ENGLISH/Mrs.%20MAtyly
wicz'%20Mythology%20project.htm
Method

Mini-journals/surveys for students (confidence)

Day 1 after task introduced
Likert scale: worried to confident
 What letter grade do you think you’ll get?
 What worries you about this project?


Day 2 /3 after Big 6 Organizer completed
(confidence)
Do you feel able to complete this project?
 Why or why not?


Day 3 /4 (focus, comprehension of task /process)

What do you need to do tomorrow?
Method


On-task/off task checks during independent
research (focus)
Teacher observations and surveys
noted teacher comments during the project
 Post-project survey


Student surveys
noted student comments during the project
 Post-project survey
 Process and product grades

Data-Confidence
Confidence level
25
20
20
15
15
14
10
8
10
5
CONFIDENT
10
NOT CONFIDENT
5
5
1
2
1
1
0
pd 4
DAY
1
pd 4
DAY
2
pd 4
DAY
8
Pd 8
DAY
1
Pd 8
DAY
2
Pd 8
DAY
8
Post-Big 6: Do you feel able to complete this project? Why or
Why not?
Pre-Big 6: Worries
Pd 4
Pd 5
Total
Period 4
Period 8
Total
Work habits/time
4
2
6
Low confidence about time/work habits
2
0
2
Content knowledge
2
0
2
Low confidence about knowledge
2
0
2
Partners
4
0
4
Low confidence in partners
3
1
4
Accessing information
3
2
5
Oral Presentation
4
5
9
BIG 6
1
1
2
Poster
1
1
2
Fun
0
2
2
Everything
0
2
2
Easy
5
4
9
Nothing
4
0
4
Support
0
2
2
Time
0
1
1
Previous content knowledge
2
2
4
Partners
0
1
1
External Motivator-parents/passing
3
0
3
Total
34
TOTAL NEGATIVE
TOTAL POSITIVE
8
24
Student reported worries and
concerns that impact confidence

Day 1 Pre-Big 6 Worries
“What worries me about this project is not getting it
done and not having enough time.”
 “not finishing or forgetting to include something”


Day 2 Post-Big 6 Do you feel able to complete
the project? Why or why not?
Yes “Because I have a list”
 Yes “It doesn't seem so hard & we are being helped
by the Big 6 Assignment organizer.”

Data-Focus
On Task vs Off Task Snaphot
Off task
14%
On task
Off task
On task
86%
Student perception of helpfulness of
Big 6 sections post-project
Task definition
What info do I need?
Where will I locate resources?
What key words will I use?
How will I record info?
How will I show results?
Very Helpful
Moderately Helpful
Timeline
Not at All Helpful
Self-evaluation
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Student Survey Responses
 “It
(the Big 6 organizer) helped me
understand what to do and to know
what were (sic) or soposed (sic) to do”
 It was (worth the added time) because
I got lost then looked at the Big 6 and
got back on track.”
Teacher Survey Responses

All 3 teachers and 1 paraprofessional:








Big 6 helpful to students
Worth the extra day
“Helped students organize info”
“…Provided a step-by-step guide for students, which
allowed them to focus more on the quality of their
work.”
“accountability for students”
“focus for the day”
“Objectives in front of them”
“Kept student on task and focused”
Teacher perception of helpfulness of
Big 6 sections post-project
Task definition
What info do I need?
Where will I locate resources?
Very Helpful
What key words will I use?
Moderately Helpful
How will I record info?
Not at All Helpful
How will I show results?
Timeline
Self-evaluation
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
Compared to
similar
research
projects done
in class with
similar
populations
Much more
than
usual
Slightly
more
than
usual
About the
same
as
usual
Slightly
less
than
usual
Much less
than
usual
Students
understood the
task
1
2
0
0
0
Students seemed
confident
1
2
0
0
0
Students were ontask during
research
0
3
0
0
0
Students handed in
the steps of the
process
2
1
0
0
0
Notes handed in
were
acceptable
1
2
0
0
0
Actual Grades for Total Project




Grades on process and product
1 class-250 possible points (87.77% mean score)
2 classes’ grades-350 possible point (90.58% mean score)
Despite use of rubric, grade reliability and validity in question
Total Project Grades
D's
0%
INCOMPLETES
6%
F's
3%
A's
C's
14%
A's
46%
B's
C's
D's
F's
B's
31%
INCOMPLETES
Conclusions

Use of the Big 6
Increased student confidence
 Improved students’ understanding of the task
 Helped students to successfully complete the steps
of the task
 May have improved final product
 Was positively perceived by both teachers and
students

Planned Action



Continued use of Big 6 on research projects
Use data to encourage teachers who have been
reluctant to spend the time on the Big 6
If Big 6 is used at each grade level,
emphasize different steps for different projects
 Students will internalize the process


Use feedback from survey to revise and hone
Big 6 Organizer
Resources

American Library Association (2006, July 24). Presidential Committee on
Information Literacy. Retrieved March 02, 2008, from
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/presidential.cfm

Smith, M., & Hepworth, M. (March 2007). An investigation of factors that
may demotivate secondary school students undertaking project work:
Implications for learning information literacy. Journal of Librarianship and
Information Science, 39, 3-15. doi:10.1177/0961000607074810

Wolf, S., Brush, T., & Saye, J. (2003). The Big Six information skills as a
metacognitive scaffold: A case study. School Library Media Research, 6. Retrieved
March 1, 2008, from
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volu
me62003/bigsixinformation.cfm

What is the Big 6? (2007, October 17). Retrieved March 2, 2008, from
http://www.big6.com/showarticle.php?id=415