by Alison E. Hinesman and Angie Jameson, October 2021

How can we empower and engage students in the science classroom during the lull between interactive, hands-on labs? What experiences will help students realize that scientists depend on research strategies to develop the innovations and theories shaping our everyday lives? Many science teachers have textbooks and digital components that can move students along in the curriculum, but providing students with choice and freedom to explore their interests can take learning to the next level. Sometimes, convincing a content area teacher they have wiggle room in their curriculum map and should take the time for student-driven research can be the hardest part of the equation.

At the start of the 2020-2021 school year, the middle school science department and library media team discussed the previous research components of the curriculum and designed ways to make the experience more meaningful, accessible, and equitable in the challenging educational landscape.

Research Experience #1

In the fall of 2020, the team revamped the traditional biome research project used to introduce seventh graders to the research process and resources available through our school library. Since we were teaching in a hybrid setting, we leveraged Zoom to co-teach in all seventh-grade science classrooms and provide instruction on the research component of the assignment focused on land biomes and aquatic ecosystems (bit.ly/BiomeResearchCF).

Our science department has long recognized that while state standards require specifics on various biomes, students don't need to delve in-depth into all biomes. Finding a way for students to thoroughly explore one biome, then share their learning with others, provided the opportunity to cover all content standards and hone their speaking skills. Honestly, it was a struggle at times to pare down the number of different skills to include during direct instruction and grading because the project includes a wealth of skill sets.

Aside from content, a critical area of focus was providing as much student choice as possible. We all know students are more invested when given control to make their own choices. First, we allowed students to choose their group. You're probably thinking that's not ideal, and typically we may agree, but we knew we were asking students to try a difficult new skill set, one that can cause stress and frustration. We hoped to avoid the common pitfalls of assigned groups by allowing partner choice, and students supported one another through the stress created by learning a rigorous research task. Having a classroom rule of asking a group member during independent practice, then asking another group, then asking the teacher gave groups ownership of their learning while freeing the teacher to work more in-depth with groups on the more challenging aspects of the task at hand.

Once groups were settled, it was time to get to the nitty-gritty. Students explored the biome or aquatic ecosystem that interested them. In years past, assigning biomes meant students were not as invested in their learning. Giving them freedom in their research also helped. For example, students selected two organisms to research for specifics on their populations. Providing students with a checklist for research topics aided in finding areas where choices could be given.

The research support slides guided students through a brief library orientation and research resources and tools overview (bit.ly/BiomeResearchSlidesCF). Short video lessons linked to each slide helped students, especially when dealing with hybrid and remote learning, as many students learned at different paces during our school year amid the pandemic. Zoom and Screencastify recordings were utilized to create these mini-lessons and hyperlinked to a small camera icon on each slide that warranted a video. Tutorials included demonstrations on how to navigate the library's website, databases, and citation management software. As an unintended bonus, students who were working on the project in study halls or independently were often able to use the videos to answer questions when they traditionally would have had to interrupt another class or email the teacher after hours.

The lesson kicked off with a Google Forms pre-assessment, asking students about research habits and information evaluation techniques (bit.ly/BiomePreAssessment). Students were at all different levels. The pre-assessment data indicated they find information via Google, books, social media, library databases, and many other sources, including (but not limited to): "usually books, my older brother, friends, teachers, sometimes the web, and of course my brain." Oh, the joys of teaching middle school. The pre-assessment informed the teaching strategies that carried the classes through the rest of the unit. We provided leadership opportunities for students to help teach the lesson, which included setting students up with NoodleTools, a paid subscription citation management website; introducing the school library resources; and a Q&A session in a private Google Meet.

In previous years, students organized research for the biome project in a Google Doc table, but the Google Sheets checklist created for the assignment helped students stay organized and focused throughout the project (bit.ly/BiomeResearchChecklist). With the previous method, students were often answering direct questions and teachers found that answers were robotic and basic. With the new checklist, students were encouraged to dig deeper, spending more time researching areas that were more relevant to their biome or interacting more deeply with content that they found interesting. By utilizing various tabs in the research checklist, teachers were able to give one document that worked for all biomes, and by having students delete any tabs that were not relevant to them the checklist stayed manageable. The nature of a checklist made it easy for students working independently and together, sometimes even at two contrasting times, to track what had been answered and even by who. This was also beneficial to teaching staff when questions arose about equality of workload and effort put forth by various team members. No doubt switching to the checklist made content teachers nervous, but end product quality improved, and through the grading process it was evident students had more authentic and deep learning than ever before.

The science team realized giving more freedom in research and using a checklist with fewer specifics and guidance actually resulted in higher-level learning and superior final projects. Identifying students and groups that struggled as soon as possible proved key. These groups needed more scaffolding from teachers and frequent check-ins. In the end, this was an empowering project for both students and teachers.

Research Experience #2

In the spring, we launched our second research unit, Flat Scientist, inviting students to study a scientist and write a biography of their life. The research lesson was co-taught in a classroom setting, guided by another set of slides (bit.ly/FlatScientistSlidesCF). After a few months of focusing on other skills, most students needed a few refreshers on the research processes, while others were prepared to move more quickly, requiring differentiated instruction and quick planning for enrichment opportunities. We introduced in-text citation requirements to this assignment and used NoodleTools to help support student success through this step. For students who retained most of the research skills taught in the fall, we designed writing revision strategies such as sentence length graphing.

We also leveraged our high school writing center to provide feedback on student writing before submission. This empowered students to take ownership of the editing process with little work on the content teachers' part. Content teachers were able to turn over the technical pieces of the editing process to students specifically trained in those areas and focus grading time and energy on the actual content. Sure, a quick review of grammar, spelling, and citations was needed, but valuable grading time was saved overall. From a student's perspective, they reported enjoying hearing feedback from someone other than the teacher. Plus, students were able to familiarize themselves with a tool they have available for any subject going forward. In the last few weeks of school, a student came by to ask if they could use the writing center for their end-of-year social studies project, and their body visibly relaxed the second they realized they could. Students want to do well, and leveraging this tool enables more students to get help without overtaxing the content teachers. If your district does not have a high school writing center, consider pairing up with a high school teacher to provide leadership opportunities for students or whole classes to mentor novice researchers through the process.

Moving forward, we plan to move the scientist research project to fall before winter break and add a third research unit during the spring semester because the research units have been successful in empowering student choice and voice. After state testing, students will explore a topic of choice from the year that they enjoyed learning about and want to dive more deeply into. We will introduce higher-level databases to this assignment to add a component from the other two research units. We may also collaborate with our makerspace teacher to challenge students to create a visual inspired by their findings in our Creation Lab.

Tips From the Field

In your early planning stages, designing assignments around the resources your library has available can make or break the experience for students. Explore the resources the state library has to offer and utilize free resources such as PBS Learning Media, YouTube, and national association websites related to your student learning objectives. Vetted website lists can supplement research databases when curated with the student learning objectives in mind. You may also consider working with a database company to use a free trial of resources during the period students will be working on the research component of the unit. If your stats are favorable and goals are met at the end of the unit, you may want to add the resources to your digital library with library or building funds. If you are not successful on this front, consider writing a grant for the digital resources that supported student success.

When you schedule research instruction days, leverage Zoom or Google Meets to teach lessons to multiple classes simultaneously. Keeping students across different classrooms at the same pace is critical for common assessments, response to intervention, and general pacing. We will use video conferencing beyond our COVID-19 hybrid school year. In cases where you need to reach large groups, you can also consider livestreaming to YouTube via Zoom.

If you are still reading this, we hope that you are feeling inspired to connect with your science department to plan a research unit for the spring semester. By sharing our experiences, we aim to inspire school librarians to seek out departments other than the English department, which for many of us can become a comfort zone and safe haven. There is room for research in every content area, and building collaborative relationships with your entire staff can truly take your students' research to the next level.