"A search for facts!" they shouted, pleased to know the answer.
"No!" I said, shattering their hopes for an easy A. "You search for facts on Google. Research isn't about finding answers, it's about asking questions. It's about taking knowledge that exists, playing with it through experiments, interviews etc, and finding ways to apply it to what you want to know.
I set the students to come up with a research question by giving them one card from each of the following columns:
Learning English
|
truth&lies (unit 2)
|
survey
|
English for communication
|
success (unit 3)
|
interviews
|
Global English
|
experiment
|
They were allowed to swap cards for a while, but by the end they had to use the cards to come up with a research question so they could use the class next door as guinea pigs.
Interestingly, no-one chose experiment as a method. They seemed more comfortable using questions. This led to another problem: being aware of the difference between an overarching research question and individual questions to put on a survey or to ask in an interview. The latter have to lead to an answer to the research question.
The other problem is when you use big words in your questions, you need to define them, or at least have your research "subjects" define them. For example, Is it important to have fun in an English class? begs the question What does "fun" mean in the context of an English class? Or Is English important for global communication? requires a definition of "communication".
All in all, some very interesting questions came up. This week my students will be unleashed on the class next door...wish them luck!
Results:
ResponderEliminarWell, having tried the experiment, I found the following:
First of all, my cards may have been too limiting because a lot of the "guniea pigs" said that the questions seemed a bit repetitive. Good to know.
Secondly, I was surprised that instead of conducting 1 to 1 interviews, most groups chose to interview several people at once, maing it more of a "focus-group" type of environment.
Conclusions:
As an English speaking practice task, it seemed to be a roaring success, at least according to the journals from both groups.
As actual research, the data-collection methods would need to be more clearly defined. I would also have to strike more of a balance between limiting the options enough to be productive and limiting them so much that there isn't enough freedom to be creative.