Page 35 - Interdisciplinary Studies 11-12 (2002)

INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES, GRADE 12, UNIVERSITY PREPARATION (IDC4U/IDP4U) 33
Processes and Methods of Research
Overall Expectations
By the end of this course, students will:
• beabletoplanforresearch,usingavarietyofstrategiesandtechnologies;
• beabletoaccessappropriateresources,usingavarietyofresearchstrategiesandtechnologies; • beabletoprocessinformation,usingavarietyofresearchstrategiesandtechnologies;
• be able to assess and extend their research skills to present their findings and solve problems.
Specific Expectations
Preparing for Research
By the end of this course, students will:
– demonstrate an understanding of the pur- poses and types of research used in each of the subjects or disciplines studied (e.g., by describing autobiographical writings of leading researchers in a variety of fields, by analysing the limitations of research in spe- cific areas) and describe historical exam- ples of effective research;
– demonstrate an understanding of the skills and attitudes required for research in each of the subjects or disciplines studied
(e.g., by analysing the purpose and scope of research tasks; by adjusting questions, focus, and thesis throughout the research process to account for changing situations; by valuing collaborative inquiry models) and analyse the skills and attitudes evident in specific examples of effective research;
– identify and describe the critical- and creative-thinking strategies that are effec- tive at each stage of research in each of the subjects or disciplines studied (e.g., by identifying the ways in which similar information and assumptions from differ- ent sources are analysed, checking results under variable conditions, investigating innovative sources of information, expand- ing the focus of investigation at strategic stages) and analyse the strategies evident in specific examples of effective research;
– formulate questions for a variety of pur- poses in interdisciplinary research
(e.g., to develop a thesis and an argument, to challenge assumptions and biases, to find new relationships, to examine multiple perspectives) and compare the significance and effectiveness of the questions posed with those from specific examples of effective research.
Accessing Resources
By the end of this course, students will:
– identify and describe the difference between real and virtual libraries (e.g., in terms of access to materials under copy- right, the quality control of available infor- mation, format differences that affect readability and understanding of texts) and describe the impact of these differences for interdisciplinary research;
– identify and describe the principles used by the creators of databases, catalogues, and indexes to organize information for retrieval (e.g., uniform entry; specific entry; and the use of broader, related, and narrower terms) and apply this knowl- edge to locate relevant resources for interdisciplinary research, using a variety of search strategies and features (e.g., search strings and proximate searches, controlled vocabulary searches, citation searches, bibliographies);