A curriculum for excellence

ResearchCreating a whole school approach

SimpleConsistent

Reinforcin

gCross-

cutting

Background

The Librarian had completed an MSC related to this topic. Several teachers had commented that there was a need

to improve pupils’ research skills within Elgin High School

The Librarian presented her ideas to staff during an in-service day workshop.

Many staff were keen to move these ideas forward and so it was decided to create an ‘Information Skills Work Group’ within Elgin High School.

It was felt that this approach fitted in well with Curriculum for Excellence and cross departmental working.

Work group approach

The work group discussed where pupil’s specifically had problems within the research process

A range of strategies were discussed to help overcome these problem areas

To help achieve a whole school approach the group decided to create an information skills pack for all departments which highlighted the strategies discussed above.

So what did the pack include?

•A PLUS poster was created to help teach core research skills. Significant thought went in to the step-by-step approach highlighted within this model.

• This PLUS model was adapted from James Herrings model on the LTS website. Permission was sought from James Herring to adapt this model.

•This model allows for a consistent, memorable and logical approach.

•All teachers were encouraged to display an A3 poster within their classroom.

•All pupils also have an A5 copy of this model in their school diaries enabling the model to be accessible to them at all times.

PLUS Poster

• The CAR model helps pupils to be more critical of Internet resources.

•This model was recommended in the article ‘Internet Orientation’ from an American journal - The School Librarian’s Workshop

•Again this model aimed to allow for a consistent, memorable and logical approach and A3 posters were produced for all classroom teachers.

CAR Poster

A joint Library/ Modern Studies research project has been developed to introduce first years to PLUS and CAR. This is taught between August and October.

A copy was included in the pack to help give teachers a clear idea of what pupils had been taught already.

Consistency and reinforcement was the aim.

S1 Library/ Modern Studies Research Project

The Information Skills Work Group discussed a wide range of strategies to help teach research skills as a whole school approach.

Seven easy recommendations were included in a booklet. These were the strategies which were thought to work most realistically in practice within the Elgin High School context.

Strategies included ways to prevent copying and pasting and ways to help boost pupils vocabulary and hierarchical understandings.

Seven recommended strategies for teaching research

Impact and next steps

Initial feedback has been positive with an increased number of departments buying in to this initiative

The library continues to play a key role Continued support has been provided by the library through

the following services:- Ad hoc talks (inc PLUS/ CAR refreshers) - Project boxes- Web-searches- Interlibrary loans - Other services if needed.