Applying Information

Students apply critical thinking to understand how the information they gathered relates to their essential questions. They must be able to reason, to weigh the value of what they have found, and to draw conclusions. In “Teaching Students to Think in the Digital Environment: Digital Literacy and Digital Inquiry,” Barbara Stripling tells us the key to this process is a student’s ability “to look for patterns and relationships among ideas as they build organizational frameworks and form their own opinions” (Stripling). We can help to cultivate this ability in our students by creating an inquiry-based classroom. Teachers can provide students with an essential question to guide inquiry and the opportunity to discover patterns and relationships from the information they gather. This process allows students to apply their learning to form a new opinion or develop a new understanding. The ability to apply information is a skill reflected in Ohio's Learning Standards. Applying information includes integrating information presented in different formats and analyzing two or more texts presenting conflicting information on the same topic. As teachers create opportunities for students to recognize patterns and organize information, we empower students to open the door to new understandings and perspectives.

With a new understanding, students can apply what they have learned about the topic of their inquiry to create something new. Stripling adds that the digital environment presents a challenge; information is disorganized, making the application of information and new ideas difficult. Teachers can support students as they apply the information they gathered during the inquiry process through the use of graphic organizers. Graphic organizers support students as they organize information, apply their learning, and delegate tasks when working in a group.

INFOhio Resources on Applying Information

• Educator Tools
• INFOhio Citation Guide

Applying Information In Practice

Browse the collection Research and Inquiry Skills: Graphic Organizers and Tools. Select a tool to use with your students to help them take notes during the research process. 

Correctly Citing Sources and Plagiarism

As students prepare to apply their learning by creating a new product, citing sources correctly is an important step. In Top 10 Reasons Why Students Plagiarize and What Teachers Can Do About It, Michelle Navarre Cleary summarizes that because our students are accustomed to a collaborative learning environment where information is freely accessible, the decision to cite or not to cite can be difficult. Cleary suggests that teachers discuss with students misconceptions about citing information. Browse Research for Success: Putting it Together. Select lessons to teach students how to avoid plagiarism. 

Conclusion

Although not without its challenges, engaging our students in inquiry-based learning will allow them to form a new opinion or a new understanding of their topic. Stripling reminds us that inquiry-based learning is a process that, “should result in new understandings for learners, but not final answers.” It is a perspective that challenges both teachers and students; a challenge met through an inquiry-based classroom. By driving instruction around an essential question, we empower students to recognize patterns that emerge from the information they gather. Patterns and information that students can then apply their learning and arrive at a new opinion or understanding about the topic. Through the inquiry process, students practice and master the skills to become independent learners who can apply information gathered from a digital environment.

How do you support your students as they apply information during the inquiry process? Follow us on social media and share, tweet, and post how #INFOhioWorks for your students!