Brainstorming

Do you need help coming up with a killer project idea???

Brainstorming is a crucial aspect in defining a research topic. Brainstorming helps to establish your interests, form questions, and narrow a topic. Even if you know what topic you will research, brainstorming helps to access prior knowledge and form new inquiries to further the research.

Brainstorming should be done in your research notebook.

1. Freewrite: Freewriting is a timed activity in which you let your thoughts pour out onto the paper. Even if you have no thoughts or the thoughts in your head have nothing to do with the topic, you write that down! Freewrite has nothing to do with quality or style; spelling, punctuation, and grammar do not matter. This technique allows the researcher to purge his/her head of thoughts, which many times will create new connections about the topic. Establish a time limit (somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes), and quietly and continuously write about anything in your head. The following is an example of what a freewrite can look like: “This freewrite is supposed to be on the topic of photosynthesis the things I know about p.s. are that plants use this process to make sugar for food the sugar is glucose energy from the sun is used to drive the process and the plant needs water and carbon dioxide to make the sugar oxygen is released afterward to we can breath what else can I say about p.s. that will fill up these 10 minutes I don’t know anything else off the top of my head there are these plants in my yard called purslain I think that seem to grow everywhere there is a bare spot in the garden or grass I wonder if there is something different that those weeds do that make them able to grow in spots that other plants cant I also notice that wherever these weeds grow there are ants and these other tiny little bugs maybe those insects have something to do with the plants being in those spots or with some other process the plant does…symbiosis?”
2. Clustering: Clustering is a great way to help organize thoughts and connect ideas within a topic. This activity starts with a blank piece of paper and the general topic circled in the middle of the page. Every idea or subtopic related to that topic are then branched from the general topic bubble into new bubbles. Connections between subtopics can be made as well by drawing lines between these bubbles a including a word or phrase that describes the connection. This can also be a timed activity.
3. Classroom Talk: This activity can take place in pairs, in collaborative groups and as a class. Classroom talks allow students to articulate their thinking and bounce ideas off of one another. Many new ideas and connections can be made using this technique. All students involved in the classroom talk should be equipped with a notebook to record any new ideas.
4. Ideas Sheet: It is a great idea to keep an “Ideas Sheet”. This piece of paper or page in your notebook is set aside only for concise ideas that where formed in your brainstorming sessions. Whenever a brainstorming activity is completed, review the ideas or connections made in that session and write down those ideas on your “Ideas Sheet”. This allows you to see all of your ideas in one place.