Integrating Critical Thinking Skills into Research Projects
 Using Bloom's Taxonomy and Essential Questions

Library Instructors: Vicky Leather, 697-2576 and Tisa Houck, 697-2577

 

The purpose of the Library Instructional Services Program is to support the educational mission of the College by teaching students in all disciplines how to find, select, and evaluate information in such a way that it has relevance to their courses and adds meaning to their lives and by encouraging and facilitating intellectual independence and lifelong learning.

The Association of College and Research Libraries' standards for information literacy state:

"The Boyer Commission Report, Reinventing Undergraduate Education, recommends strategies that require the student to engage actively in 'framing of a significant question or set of questions, the research or creative exploration to find answers, and the communications skills to convey the results...'  Courses structured in such a way create student-centered learning environments where inquiry is the norm, problem solving becomes the focus, and thinking critically is part of the process. Such learning environments require information literacy competencies." 1

 The Educational Testing Service has developed an assessment of critical thinking skills entitled
the ICT Literacy Assessment.

 

Library staff encourage learning experiences that incorporate critical thinking, problem solving, and inquiry-based learning. 

Our goal in teaching the research process is to help students find, select, and analyze information that answers their important research questions.   We hope that students will go beyond simply transferring information from their sources to their papers and instead engage in a more complex analysis and synthesis of the information they find. 


 

To accomplish this goal, librarians can help design assignments that will encourage students to:

Students should learn how to find information, but more importantly they should learn how to:


 

The following resources will provide explanations and examples to help you begin. 
 

1.  Bloom's Taxonomy defines 6 levels of cognitive learning.

2.  Creating products, rather than repeating information, encourages higher levels of learning.

3.  Basing learning experiences in inquiry-based learning and essential questions  is a methodology promoted by David Jakes, an experienced educator and lecturer in Downer's Grove, Illinois.

4. Foundation questions are keys to "building an answer" to the essential questions.

5. Mr. Jakes' flowchart shows how the research process proceeds from start to finish. 

Because we agree with Mr. Jakes' statement that the "essential question directs the course of student learning," we have developed a step-by-step process that teachers can follow to create research projects that are based in questioning.  

6.  Our Research Project Checklist illustrates responsibilities assumed by the teacher, the student, and the librarian and provides a checklist of tasks and due dates to use throughout the research process.

Sample questions that have been used by students who have followed this technique are available at:

7.  Examples of research questions at Bloom's Evaluation or Synthesis Level

8.  Use this handout to help students formulate their questions and prepare for research.

9.  A rubric can assist in evaluating progress, scoring each step of the process, and grading projects from both the faculty and student points of view.  This example was developed by Robert J. Marzano, Senior Scholar at Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning in Aurora, Colorado and author of numerous books and articles on instructional methods, thinking skills, and standards implementation.
 


 

We welcome the opportunity to work with faculty who wish to implement this method. 
 

Please contact:  Vicky Leather, x2576, or Tisa Houck, x2577 to schedule a consultation. 

 

 

1"Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education." American Library Association. 2005. http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html (Accessed 25 Jul, 2005)

 

 

Tisa Houck/Vicky Leather
last updated 8/14/06