Information skills for classroom research

This chapter will introduce you to helpful strategies that will enable you to identify, locate, evaluate and utilise appropriate information for doing classroom research quickly and easily. As student teachers you are increasingly expected to engage with critical research and reflective practice in the classroom. You can benefit greatly by applying practical information skills to help cope with these demands. Information skills is more than just being able to use technology to find information; it is about making choices about the different kinds of information available and about being discerning and evaluative in the whole research process. The aim of the chapter is to guide you through a series of progressive steps that will provide a structured approach to good information skills practice. This will help to demystify the often overwhelming and intimidating range of information sources and tools that are now available to you. The chapter will offer you advice on how to find high quality information effectively with an awareness of the tight timeframes that you often work within. It is also important that when working at M-Level you are critically aware of the varying quality of information and feel confident to evaluate the appropriateness of what you find.