Divergent Learning

 Beginning your research

• Narrow down your topic
  • A topic that is too broad will be hard to research and answer
  • Narrowing down your topic will give you a more manageable amount of data to analyze and a unique perspective on the topic
• Choose a topic from your own experiences/interests 
  • This will make your research more personable and unique
• Use your prior knowledge to conduct background research
  • Use what you already know to start searching and getting background information
• Keep the assignment parameters in mind when choosing your topic
  • Keeping the assignment parameters in mind will ensure you don't go off track  

1. Use KEYWORDS not whole sentences

Example:

Sentence: Why are there a lot of at-risk students not reading at grade level?

Keywords/concepts: “at-risk”; “students”; “reading”

2. Use SYNONYMS for multiple searches

Example:

“at-risk”= “susceptible”

“students” = “youth”

“reading” = “comprehension”

3. Use BOOLEAN OPERATORS to create a search string:

• Use AND in between keywords to NARROW results

Example:

“at-risk students”and “reading intervention”

• Use OR in between keywords to BROADEN results

Example:

“physical learner”or “engaged learner”

• Use NOT in between keywords to EXCLUDE results 

Example:

“elementary”not “university”