by Egmond Boon, Educational Technology Coach Grades 7-12, Common Sense Certified Educator -

One of the SMART sessions in week two of school saw Grade 8 students learning about the importance of using a variety of search strategies to make their online search effective from a research perspective. They learnt to create and execute a five-step plan with the mnemonic SEARCH (SELECT research questions, EXTRACT keywords and terms, APPLY search strategies, RUN your search, and CHART your search).

Students worked in teams and practiced this five-step plan with an activity called “Plan your Company Picnic”. In this exercise, students were working for a company that had 50 employees. Money in the company was tight, and they were tasked with having to find a free or inexpensive location for a company picnic. Critical considerations for the event location were:

1. Public park (not private)
2. An area to play games and do team-building activities
3. A covered area in case it rains
4. Restrooms

If this was not enough, students’ boss needed a recommendation within 15 minutes!

The teams took 5 minutes to plan their search, using the SEARCH strategies, and 10 minutes to come up with a suggestion.

SEARCH Strategies

1. SELECT one or more questions that get to the core of what you want to find out in your search, and choose search engines and tools that are most relevant to what you are looking for.
2. EXTRACT effective keywords by highlighting the key terms from your research questions.
3. APPLY search strategies you have learnt. For example, adding quotation marks or a minus sign, or specifying what type of information you need.
4. RUN a search on the terms you have chosen and review the results. Don’t forget to check out multiple sources.
5. CHART your search and avoid repeating work you have already done by writing down what you have searched for and where you searched for it.

Most student teams came up with the idea of organising the picnic in a park in the city so they could easily access facilities nearby.

A sharing session and lively discussion followed, where students debated and pondered the suggestions and whether their searching strategies were effective.

This family tip sheet from Common Sense Media on Strategic Searching is a useful tool for parents when supporting your child with homework at home.

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