Inquiry

Inquiry Process Overview

This page follows the general steps of the inquiry process outlined in the RCHS Inquiry Process overview and handout.

Inquiry Process

Other Inquiry Model Templates

NOTES: Inquiry Process Handout

ASK GOOD QUESTIONS

A strong guiding question leads to purposeful, worthwhile research.

Good Questions

Tools For Asking Good Questions

5Ws and H Thinking: Consider the supporting details needed to answer your larger research question.
Action Verbs for Blooms Taxonomy: Question verbs for each level of Blooms.
Asking Good Questions: Types of questions and Dos and Dont's
Essential Questions: Test of Seven: Alternative "test" to check the strength of your essential question.
Posing Questions: Question development protocol based on the Question Formulation Technique.

FIND RESOURCES

Use effective strategies to find a variety of print, electronic, and human sources to develop and support your inquiry.

Tools For Finding Resources

Destiny Discover Chrome Extension: Add this extension to your browser and search the catalog without navigating to the website.
Google News Help: search for news by keyword, site, or region.
Google Scholar Button: Look up scholarly articles while you browse the web.
Google Search Help Center: learn how to filter and refine search results and search for images appropriately.
JSTOR Text Analyzer: Use your own documents to search for related articles and books.
Visuwords: Use this graphical dictionary to help you with search terms.

Find Print Resources:

The editing/publishing process helps to insure accuracy, but time and cost of the process can leave information outdated.

Find Electronic Resources:

Online databases are vetted for accuracy and relevance and are easily updated, but require strong search skills.

Find Human Resources:

Human resources have personal connections and insights, but they can also be impacted by memory loss or bias.

COLLECT AND EVALUATE INFORMATION

Collect data, analyze findings, and evaluate your information in relation to your research questions.

Tools for Evaluating Information

Annotated Bibliographies: Create an annotated bibliography.
Civic Online Reasoning: Use these questions, skills and moves to effectively evaluate information online.
Continuum of Credibility: Discern credibility of different types of sources.
Literature Reviews: Conduct a literature review.
Reflecting on Media Literacy: Online media reflection tool.
RAVEN Resource Analysis: An alternate model for print resources.

INFORMATION AND MEDIA LITERACY

INTERPRET AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS

Synthesize your research and draw conclusions supported by the evidence you have collected.

Synthesizing Scientific Research

Reading Scientific Journal Articles: How-to guide for approaching this style of writing.
Types of Scientific Evidence: Different types of scientific evidence ranked and described.
Spotting Bad Science: 12 errors to notice (and avoid) in scientific research.
Text PDF: The Craft of Research - 3rd edition (newer edition available); log in with school credentials.

AVOID PLAGIARISM: Cite Your Sources and Follow Copyright Rules

PRESENT FINDINGS

Find your audience, choose your presentation method, and prepare and share your work.

Authentic Audiences

Written Reporting

A common way to "report your findings" is through essays, articles, business communications or creative writing.

Oral Presentation

Here are tips for preparing an oral presentation for a live or recorded audience.

DIGITAL TOOLS FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION

REFLECT ON LEARNING

Reflect on your content, product and process to determine what you learned and how you can improve.

Reflect on Content:

After you have conducted your initial research, ask the following questions:

Have I done the research needed to complete the task?
Have I addressed my essential question as completely as possible?
Have I answered my supporting questions?
Did my research raise any additional questions I need to answer?
What have I learned about my topic, and how can I apply it to future learning?

Reflect on Product:

Once you have completed your product or presentation, ask the following questions:

Did I follow everything on the rubric?
Did I edit (spell check, grammar check) and save product?
Is my product in the proper format?
Is my Works Cited complete and correct?

For audio-visual presentations:

Have I checked for readability?
Do “bells and whistles” work and not detract from my content?
Have I made necessary arrangements for my presentation (projectors, video players, etc.)?
Have I practiced sufficiently?

For all productions:

What have I learned from producing my work, and how I can apply that to future productions?

Reflect on Process:

Once you have submitted or presented your final product, reflect on the process itself:

What was I supposed to “get” from this project? Did I “get it”?
What did I learn from my research? What did I learn about the process?
What worked well? What do I definitely want to repeat next time?
What didn’t work well? What skills do I need to practice/acquire before next time?

While inquiry and research follow common processes, each particular inquiry has its own distinct challenges. We are here to help you learn how to adapt your inquiry skills to different situations. If you're stuck, use this Rx form to help us work with you to diagnose difficulties and prescribe some ideas for moving your inquiry forward.

Additional Inquiry Resources

Research Basics: Introduction to Academic Research