Tips on Student Research Projects - Motivating High School Students Using Project Lesson Plans

Now is a good time to motivate them usingcheck their predictions using a dictionary.
lesson plans on a variety of projects, especiallyDictionary use is especially important with jargon
research projects. Teaching high school studentsrelated vocabulary.
the importance of research projects is a greatWriting a Research Project Outline. High school
challenge especially when teachers are under lotsstudents very quickly learn to hate outlining very
of time and curriculum constraints. With a fewquickly. Show them that a simple outline is all it
months remaining of the school year, there is stilltakes to effectively organize their information.
time left to implement even a small scaleNote Taking. Encourage students to write the
research project.main idea in their own words. You might wish to
Both online and traditional research projectsdemonstrate this using an overhead project, a
pretty much work in the same general format:power point presentation or using handouts.
students formulate a research question, gatherSummarizing skills. Students must be able to
information, present their findings and finally,summarize a short text in their own words by
reflect on the research process.the end of High School.
Since research projects demand higher thinkingCiting sources. Learning how to cite sources for a
and critical skills, why not introduce the researchresearch paper and writing a bibliography correctly
process before they are expected to tackle suchare necessary for effective research writing.
projects in college? Consider however theSocial Skills in Research Projects
following teaching tips to ensure a successfulGroup collaboration. It is very trendy for teachers
experience.to execute group collaboration and it is quickly
Tips on How to Do a High School Researchbecoming an accepted skill that is in demand at
Projectmany jobs.
Formulating a research question. Students need toLearning how to reach democratic decisions, plan
know exactly what information they need to find.time effectively, and listen to each others are all
Critical Reading. Students need to critically read aspart of this collaborative based effort otherwise
they look for information pertaining to theirknown as group work.
research question. Highlighters can help.Research projects may seem at first complicated,
Dictionary Use. Students need to be taught thebut the effort is worthwhile.
importance of educated guessing before they