This brainstorming exercise has long been a mainstay of teaching resource-based research in the Library, plunging students into the research process and introducing them to a variety of information resources. With the vast research possibilities now available on the Internet, the exercise has today become an informal introduction to the use of online resources in particular. In addition, the activity has been enhanced by the new electronic white board in the classroom (the "SmartBoard"), which allows for dramatic sharing of information on the board and rapid distribution of a print version for the entire class.
This lesson is used in teaching the stages of the research process, which is an element of LRC 102, a three-credit introductory course on "Information Strategies" taught by Library faculty. The activity of completing the brainstorming diagram with ideas assembled from a variety of sources and organized topically is an active learning exercise that places students within the research process before they are even aware that they are doing research. The diagram makes their thinking visible and becomes an anchor for subsequent stages of the research process, especially narrowing topics, formulating viable research questions, and selecting keywords for effective searching of online resources.
Activity Overview
This lesson is preceded by a class discussion on the stages of effective research. The bulk of class time is used to model a method of extrapolating specific ideas from a broad subject or category of interest by brainstorming. "Brainstorming" is defined as a piece of the research process that has no wrong answers; it is a creative process of generating ideas without regard to their eventual utility. Students are encouraged to think widely and risk suggesting any words or concepts that come to mind, even if those words seem, at first, to have a tenuous relationship with the broad subject. A sample completed diagram is distributed to the class (see below), and a blank version is put on the board. The electronic white board called "SmartBoard," though not required, is quite helpful with this activity, because its dramatic nature focuses student attention and its easy print feature allows quick distribution of the results of class deliberations to everyone at the end of the period.
The class participates actively in choosing a broad subject to use in the model brainstorming diagram (teenage depression in the attached example), then in brainstorming words and phrases which represent significant terms, concepts, and keywords associated with the subject. Examining the relationships of the terms to each other and to the broad topic, students create new meaning. The latter process is called "clustering" or "concept mapping."
The model diagram created in class is based largely on personal knowledge of the participants, supplemented by quick keyword searches of the web or library databases.
The follow-up activity, begun in class but completed as homework, requires each student to choose a broad topic independently and complete a brainstorming diagram using not only previous personal knowledge but also reference books, textbooks and other books, online periodical databases, and the Internet. As the students read more about their subjects and discuss them with others, they write down important words that they find and note their sources on a blank diagram and form provided.
In a subsequent class, after the instructor has collected and commented on the results of the brainstorming exercise, students are asked to use one sub-branch or cluster of ideas they have generated to create a narrowed research question on which they will focus all subsequent research for the course. The handout entitled "A Basic Search Strategy" provided at this point, guides them in the next stage of their research process - finding information from a variety of materials.
Almost any resource-based research lends itself to this kind of student activity at the beginning of the process. If the research assignment provides topics already narrowed by the faculty member, the brainstorming diagram can nevertheless be used to generate keywords for searching appropriate databases and to make visible the relationships among the relevant concepts.
Materials and Resources
Many pedagogical works include a section on brainstorming as a technique for generating ideas and narrowing topics. The following is a small selection:
Arkin, Marian, and Cecelia Macheski. Research Papers: A Practical Guide. Boston: Houghton, 2001.
pp. 27-30.
Burkhardt, Joanna M., Mary C. MacDonald, and Andrée J. Rathemacher. Teaching Information Literacy: 35
Practical, Standards-based Exercises for College Students. Chicago: Amer. Lib. Assoc., 2003.
pp. 21, 23-24.
Thiroux, Emily. The Critical Edge: Thinking and Researching in a Virtual Society. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice, 1999. pp. 17-19.
The Internet is another source of material on brainstorming and clustering as parts of the research process.
The following are examples:
"Brainstorming for Ideas." Writer's Web. n.d. University of Richmond Writing Center. 26 July 2004 http://eportfolio.psu.edu/gallery/index.shtml
Dawson, Melanie, and Joe Essid. "Pre-Writing: Clustering." Writer's Web. n.d. University of Richmond Writing Center. 26 July 2004 http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/cluster.html
For help in accessing and navigating your Library's catalog and online databases, ask a Librarian! Class instruction can be scheduled through the Coordinator of Library Instruction.
Below are the handouts given to students in class:
- Brainstorming a Research Question (sample diagram printed from Smartboard)
- Brainstorming a Research Topic (in two parts)
- Ten Steps for a Basic Search Strategy
Handout 1: Brainstorming a Research Question
(Sample Diagram Printed from Smartboard)
This diagram was adapted from the one in Goff, Linda J., and Bob Locke, eds. Library Instruction Handbook. 10th ed. Sacramento: Lib. Instruction Office, California State Univ., 1998. p. 8.
Handout 2: Brainstorming a Research Topic, Part 1
Using the sample brainstorming illustration as a model, create your own brainstorming diagram around a topic of interest to you. Write the general topic in the oval below and add as many associated words and phrases as you can think of or find. You may:
- Use any freewriting that you have done on the topic;
- Ask others;
- Use reference books, textbooks, or any other books;
- Consult library catalogs or periodical databases; and,
- Search the Internet.
As in the model diagram (see previous handout), underline the words or phrases that represent categories and cluster the other words under the categories.
Handout 2: Brainstorming a Research Topic, Part 2
List the sources (at least two, including at least one print or electronic source) that you used to find words, phrases and cluster categories for your brainstorming diagram. Examples include (but are not limited to):
- Previous personal knowledge
- Any freewriting you have done on your topic
- Discussion with another person (classmate, friend, teacher, librarian, etc.): Indicate role; name is not necessary
- Dictionary: Specify which one
- Encyclopedia: Give title of encyclopedia and title of article
- Book: Give author and title
- TV program: Give name, date
- Dictionary: Specify which one
- Newspaper article: Give title of article, title of newspaper and date
- Magazine article: Give title of article, title of newspaper, date
- Website: Give name and URL
- Other (specify)
Handout 3: Ten Steps for a Basic Search Strategy*
- Identify the important concepts of your search
- Choose the keywords that describe these concepts.
- Determine whether there are synonyms, related terms, or other variations of the keyword that should be included.
- Determine which search features may apply, including Boolean operators, truncation, etc. Should keywords be combined using "and" (to limit results) or "or" (to expand results)? Should truncation be used to retrieve different forms of a word? e.g., a search for "crim*" to retrieve crime, criminal, criminality, etc. ?
- Choose a database to search, such as LexisNexis or EBSCO HOST. For books, use CUNY+. Of course, sometimes you will need to search on the Internet.
- Read the search instructions on the search engine's home page. Look for sections entitled "Help," "Advanced Search," "Frequently Asked Questions," and so forth.
- Create a search expression that follows the directions according to the search engine you're using.
- Evaluate the results. How many hits were returned? Were the results relevant to your question?
- Modify your search if needed. Go back to steps 2-4 and revise your query accordingly.
- Try the same search in a different search engine, following steps 5-9 above.
You may have to repeat these steps many times while searching for material concerning your topic. Never get frustrated or give up. Understand that the information is always available. It is your ability to retrieve it that determines what type of information you get when you search.
*Adapted from: Ackermann, Ernest, and Karen Hartman. Searching & Researching on the Internet & the World Wide Web. Wilsonville, OR: Franklin, Beedle, 1997.