Students will put their new understanding into practice by completing a virtual escape room activity that requires them to make decisions about a research question or topic. They will encounter sources of information that they must use to help them progress. Not all information can be trusted: students need to question how reliable sources are along the way. Misinformation will lead to dead ends or “rabbit holes”. They may access the Reference Guide as needed. This module is designed for individual use, as there will be an opportunity at the end for students to share their experiences and decision-making with peers.

WHAT TO DO

• Each student needs a computer for this module.

• Guide students to Module 2 and have them click on the google slides Research Simulation Game.

• On the first slide there is an indication of key terms students need to be familiar with before they begin. You can let them explore the links to learn about these terms on their own or project the slide and go through them as a whole class

• Then students can examine the issue and inquiry question on the slides, not knowing that the game platform is designed with diverging routes based on their answers to the questions after their reading.

• As they move through the different articles, they will come to understand this design simulates the role bias plays, both in sources of information and in choosing which source of information to value over another.

• When they have finished, students will be directed to a Padlet to reflection on their experience and read about the experiences of their peers (both from your class, but also from other classes across the Internet who have also played and reflected on the simulation).

• Once all students are finished the escape room, it may be helpful to project the Padlet forum as students make contributions.

• As students finish posting, follow with a class discussion to find out more about their realizations and conclusions—both about making research decisions and the game experience itself.

• After the discussion, you can use the Visible Thinking Reflection adapted from Ron Ritchhart's text Creating Cultures of Thinking as a means to help students explore the types of thinking they used during the simulation and to reflect on how it impacted their understanding of the research process and different elements to keep in mind, such as bias and reliability of sources.

• This game is meant to be a sample of varied, mindful research to lead them into Module 3 (conducting research) and as a model of what students can create in Module 4 (making their own research simulation).

• Below you will see a Self Assessment Rubric for students to use based on BC's Core Competencies: Critical and Reflective Thinking

• Both the Self Assessment Rubric and the Visible Thinking Reflection are available as google docs for downloading below.