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8th Grade Social Action Projects (SAP): SAP Research Tips

What is SAP?

 Social Action Project (SAP)

Building on TSC's project-based-learning approach, students learn how to identify a passion, and then take an idea and put it into action. Working with one or more adults at the school as mentors, students create a blueprint for their project, research their topic, identify and strategize how to effect positive change, take socially and environmentally responsible action, and present their work to the larger school community in an expo. In addition to becoming empowered by the knowledge that one can make a difference in the world, skills learned include analysis of stakeholder interests, research, formal writing, problem-solving, group dynamics, organization, action, and presentation.

Citation Help: NoodleTools

NoodleTools Tips:undefined

Use NoodleTools to build your bibliography and create your Works Cited page.

  • NoodleTools helps keep your research organized and in one place. Adding the link to your source makes it easy to find when you need it.
  • Keep track of your sources as you go. Add them to your working bibliography even if you don't know if you will use them for your assignment. It is much easier to delete a citation than it is to scramble to find a source you used weeks ago and can't remember where you found it.
  • Don't just add sources to add sources. Stop and think about why this information will be helpful to you and if it is current and reliable.
  • Know your author or source and if they have a bias one way or another on the topic. It's okay if they do, just make sure you understand how that can influence what they write. Example: You can incorporate blogs into your research and explored the authors' views on the subject as long as you understand they are his/her views and opinions only.

Evaluating Resources: Identifying Fake News

The Research Process

Research is actually a process rather than something that happens naturally. The best researchers develop a process that allows them to fully comprehend the ideas they are researching and also turn the data into information that is usable for whatever the end purpose may be.

  • Form a question: Research should be targeted; develop a question you want to answer before progressing any further.
  • Decide on resources: Not every resource is good for every question/problem. Identify the resources that will work best for you.
  • Gather raw data: First, gather information in its rawest form; do not attempt to make sense of it at this point.
  • Sort the data: After you have the information in front of you, decide what is important to you and how you will use it. Not all data will be reliable or worthwhile.
  • Process information: Turn the data into usable information. This processing step may take longer than the rest combined. This is where you really see your data shape into something exciting.
  • Create a final piece: This is where you would write a research paper, create a project or build a graph or other visual piece with your information. This may or may not be a formal document.
  • Evaluate: Look back on the process. Where did you experience success and failure? Did you find an answer to your question?

The Resilient Educator: https://bit.ly/2xQ2xI6

Social Science Databases for SAP Research (Contact Librarians for Login info)

Read It On Sora: Social Justice Ebooks

Borrow and read e-books from TSC's Digital Library, Sora, on Social Justice topics. Sign in with your TSC email and password. Need help logging on or navigating Sora? Take a look at the TSC Library To Go Site's Sora FAQ section. Still need help? Email the TSC Librarians at library@theschool.columbia.edu

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Research Tools

Working with Primary and Secondary Resources

When you conduct research into a topic, especially historical ones, the sources you find will fall into one of two main categories: primary sources, and secondary sources.

ABC-CLIO - Issues: Working with Primary Sources

Primary sources are firsthand or eyewitness testimony or an account describing reactions, thoughts, or experiences from a particular time.  Primary sources might include personal letters, photographs, journal entries, on-the-scene video footage, interviews and oral histories, original documents such as birth certificates or trial transcripts, and newspaper advertisements and reportage. For example, “The Diary of a Young Girl,” by Anne Frank, is a primary source. 

ABC-CLIO Issues: Working with Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are secondhand accounts of events, commentary about subjects written by people after the fact, sometimes even decades or centuries later. Secondary sources often attempt to describe, explain, or interpret primary sources. They can use synthesis, interpretation, commentary, or evaluation to create persuasive arguments or interpretations. 

Primary and secondary categories are often not fixed and might depend on the specific study or research topic in question. For example, newspaper editorial/opinion pieces can be both primary and secondary. If exploring how an event affected people at a certain time, this type of source would be considered a primary source. If exploring the event, then the opinion piece would be responding to the event and therefore is considered to be a secondary source.