Rationale:
In order to provide students with a culturally contextualized curriculum, it is important that they possess the ability to research their own tribal heritage. Native students throughout the United States have diverse traditional, cultural, and historical experiences and backgrounds. A curriculum that does not recognize this or provide opportunities for students to explore these backgrounds fails to personalize and individualize the curriculum. Research is a way to provide students with the specific background and experiences that exist culturally and geographically between Native Nations throughout the U.S. It is important that students have an opportunity to acquire and practice the diverse set of sub-skills necessary to be an effective researcher.
Goal:
To provide students with a variety of opportunities to find relevance within the curriculum as it applies to their specific cultural heritage and current family and community experiences.
Objectives:
Identify and practice research skills:
- Procedural: Using a search engine, a data base, and the library.
- Critical Thinking: Narrowing the topic, identifying, and isolating the critical questions to look for and evaluating research results.
- Strategic Thinking: Knowing what tools and procedures are appropriate for different research questions.
- Interviewing Techniques: Knowing how to create a series of relevant questions that can be used to effectively gather the information specifically required for completion of the task.
- Integrating Skills: All of the above skills may work together in becoming a successful researcher.
Lesson Sequence:
Research may consist of the following:
- Identify the “big picture”: What are you looking for?
- Identify Sources: Have you found the best source for the information you are seeking?
- Dive In: Keep asking relevant questions that will take you to the next level.
- Self-Assess: Identify ways to know when you are satisfied that you have accomplished what you set out to do.
In research, as in other instructional strategies, it is important to prioritize what to accomplish and continually assess whether or not the data being collected is moving towards your academic and/or personal goal.
Outcomes:
Clearly identify the purpose of the learning experience. Until students are able to articulate what they are exploring and what their discovery looks like, they will have a challenging time recognizing when they have done a sufficient amount of research to accomplish their task.
Each lesson will have “Key Points” and/or key questions that are provided to guide the students’ research. Use this information in the beginning as an introduction to the research process. Review this again during the process to help students stay on track, and recap toward the end of the process to assist students in determining if they have accomplished their goal.
Assessment:
The assessment for successful completion of the research process is measured at an academic/content level and at an instructional/process level. A student’s academic research has been successful if the target questions/key points have been thoroughly addressed. The processes involved in becoming a successful researcher evolve with opportunities for application and practice. While it is helpful for the teacher to provide feedback to the student on their observations and assessment of successful completion of the task, it is the student’s self-assessment of their success that is critical to their growth. Self-reflection in identifying “next steps” is key to a student’s personal and academic growth and development.