1:2:4 Note taking & note making

Activity duration: dependent on available time

It is this stage of the research that pupils will be investigating their own key questions and recording answers to these.

As pupils undertake their research the note taking process enables them to gather information relevant to their topic. At this stage pupils use their key questions to record and reference information from the World Wide Web. It is only at this stage that pupils can copy information directly from the source. To avoid plagiarism it is essential that the next stage of note making takes place. Pupils often struggle with this and we suggest that this is modelled by the teacher. Pupils read the information they have gathered during note taking and put this information into their own words.

Note making is the basis of content creation and ensures that information is written in the pupils own words and not copied from the original source.

To record sources of information correctly pupils can use the following link to the Citation machine. (This is based on university standard referencing but very helpful for using in pupil’s bibliographies).

It is suggested that pupils record notes under headings that were established previously (either in their own research plan or by the teacher.)

For information and excellent activities on plagiarism please read and incorporate the following documents into your lessons:

	David Traynor & Christine Bridge’s plagiarism paper
	Christine Bridge’s - How much for that Term paper?

For tips and ideas on writing visit:

It is important that pupils learn to edit and rewrite their own work. Visit the below website for more information:

webster.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/editing.htm

Note to the teacher: if the intention is to publish the pupil’s research as a website we recommend you visit the following web pages here to read background info on how people read on the web:

Useit.com: www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
Writing for the web: www.useit.com/alertbox/9703b.html