Reporting vs. Researching
- Reporting (knowledge level) - asking students to create a report that just gives the facts, its a body of coherent facts, verifiable claims, "I know something to be true", "I can respond on cue."
- Researching (evaluation level) - understanding the meaning of the facts, "theory" that provides coherence of the facts, "I judge when to and when not to use what I know", "I understand what it is", "I understand what makes it knowledge."
As teachers we assess students on what they report, not on their evaluation of the information they find. It is easier to grade whether or not a student has found accurate information on an assigned topic, rather then grade them on their opinion or solution to a problem, which is more subjective in nature.
In order to get better results from students, we also must ask engaging, meaningful research questions that are applicable outside of the content. If we are simply asking them to report facts about a subject, we should not be surprised when students submit work that is par for the course. I'm sure they are thinking,
"Someone else has already done this. Why do I have to redo it for a grade? Can't the teacher find this stuff on his/her own?"
