Learning Objectives

• Synthesize using information from ISearch's content. 

Applying Information

Once students have determined the best information for their research, they must use it to draw conclusions and create meaning. The goal of new understanding is accomplished when students search for patterns and relationships in information. ISearch's diverse content can help make it easier for students to create new meaning.

Reading for Meaning

Reading text on a screen is different than reading print. You can read more about this in the Teach With INFOhio blog post Reading on the Screen: Why Supporting Digital Natives Matters. Use INFOhio's Best Practices for Online Reading to facilitate this step in the inquiry process.

Consider the articles from the previous lesson as you learn about these approaches.

• GMOs: Recognizing and Avoiding Them
• Published GMO Studies Find No Evidence Of Harm When Corrected for Multiple Comparisons

Best Practice: The use of digital text and technology must be matched with student need and scaffolded.  

Best Practice: Teach digital operations for navigation and activation of digital text as part of a reading lesson.

ISearch has many tools to help students read, comprehend, analyze, and synthesize text. Use the following for students based on their learning needs:

Learn more about these tools in the Searching Across Tabs lesson in the ISearch for Teachers class.

Best Practice: Students should have a plan and prioritize outcomes before reading a digital text.

Ask students to decide the pattern of organization they will use to apply the information they have found. Use the chart below available in How Do I Organize My Project in GO! Ask, Act, Achieve as a pre-reading guide. 

Once the student has chosen the pattern of organization, they read for meaning — and to create new meaning. Here is an example of how the two articles compare and contrast.  

Best Practice: Students should engage, communicate, connect, create, and reflect when reading digital text.

Reading journal articles is difficult, whether online or in print. Help students be successful by showing this video featured in Research 4 Success's fourth module, Putting it Together. 

Once students have a plan for how to approach the scholarly journal article, provide them with a graphic organizer to help the find the important information needed to analyze and synthesize for new learning. Consider using a note-taking method from this video from the same module of Research 4 Success as a model for your graphic organizer. 

Reflecting on Your Learning

1. Based on previous experience in facilitating inquiry, what part of this step do you think will be most difficult for your students?
2. Compare and contrast your previous experience with the approach presented in this lesson. Was the outcome different? How?