Wishing & Personal Connection

Wishing

To get my reflecting juices flowing, I consulted some of the questions from our class texts. I liked some of the questions from Sandy Guild’s Research Process Questionnaire (Curriculum Connections 154):

“What would you have done differently if you could do it over?”

If I could do the project over again, I think I might have focused more on the socio-cultural aspects of being a redhead, such as famous redheads of the past or views of redheads through the ages. I found this information more personally interesting, although I am glad that I learned about the genetics of being a redhead. Many of the genetic sources I read were “over my head” and I had to do a little studying to remember all the terms I learned in 9^th grade biology. This made my project a little more challenging and it reacquainted me with my scientist side. I used to be really interested in science and even wanted to be a geneticist when I was in high school.

Also, if I could do it differently, I would have cut myself off from looking at new sources after a certain point. I think I spent too much time looking and waited too long to read, analyze, and synthesize. There weren’t a lot of initial hits when I search for “redheads and extinction,” so I search redheads by itself, which meant sifting through many resources that distracted me from my questions.

“What question would you still like to chase down if we gave you more time just to do it and you knew there wasn’t a paper or grade at the end?”

There is a question that I still haven’t answered, is Redheads International (the organization that published the Redhead Encyclopedia) still in existence. Their web address is no longer valid and I have been unable to find any information distributed by them since the publishing of the book in 1996. I do, however, have an address in Newport Beach, CA, so I may just write a letter (snail-mail style) and see if the organization exists. If anyone would be interested in my Save The Redheads project, it would be Redheads International.

I feel like I am not an expert in my inquiry skills. Lamb identifies some characteristics of an expert information scientist, and these are areas where I could definitely use improvement:

“Identify relevant information and ignore irrelevant information.”

When reading about origin of red hair or red hair genetics, I often found myself reading beyond the information I actually needed because it was interesting to me. I often examined articles that did not exactly pertain to my question – are redheads going extinct? (i.e. there were many journal articles on health risks of being a redhead)

“Self-regulate their time and efforts including goal setting, time management, self-evaluation, self-motivation”

Although I started my project very early, I think I spent too much time trying to get too much information. Many of the articles, books, and web sites repeated information. While the repetition of information made me feel more confident about the accuracy of the information, I think I could have done just as well with fewer quality sources.

“Remain flexible in thinking adapting to changing needs”

When I found new information in my search that contradicted my questions or did not strengthen my approach, I wanted to resist incorporating that information into my inquiry. For example, I found one scientist who does not believe that redheads will go extinct at all. I found this late in my search and did not know what to do with it. I didn't know how I would research that view and I didn't want to because I had so much evidence supporting extinction. In the end, I'm glad to have found that opinion because I truly don't want redheads to go extinct. It leaves me a little hope.

Now, I have been a little hard on myself. There are many things that I think went very well in my inquiry. I am amazed at how much I learned – especially about genetics. I honed my search skills by trying different combinations in Boolean searching. I used new databases and science sources. I learned several new methods of organizing my thoughts, and now I have a whole new way of going about connecting the information I find. Recursion is now a little less scary and something I will implement in my inquiry as I go forward. And last but not least, my technological literacy has improved, as I have noted in a previous post.

Personal Connection
Before starting this inquiry, my inquiry approach was somewhat disorganized and hurried. I usually picked the first topic that came to my mind, didn't spend too much time tweaking it, set out to find as many resources I could, read those resources, tried to organize my thoughts, then report the information I found. I really cannot recall ever being trained in an inquiry processes or information search process before this class. If I was, then they have been long forgotten. This kind of makes me sad for all the years I was missing out on the big picture of research. I graduated high school in 1995. I don't know if the standards were a lot different at that time, or if inquiry/information search was not a priority for teachers at my school.

The librarian in my loves learning and searching for information. I have always been great at that. This inquiry process has taught me what to do with that information, and completely changed my outlook on research projects. Before, I was all about the product and I hardly paid any attention to the process of connecting the information. I was always afraid of what Virginia Ranking calls "Risk Taking - do not be afraid to seek answers that may be difficult or impossible, the process often uncovers new areas of inquiry that will be even more rewarding"(Callison & Preddy 513). Now I know how important each step of the process is, especially reflecting. That is how you learn what you have done well and not so well, and make it better next time.

Thanks to all of you who shared feedback and thoughts in the comments area!!!

Waving!

Now that I have completed my final product, a web site for an imaginary organization called Save the Redheads, I want to share it with as many people as I know. I am proud of the work that I did and the information I found. I will start by emailing the URL of my web site to our class, asking them to check it out and share feedback if they wish. Next I will email all of my family and friends to share the website with them. I'm sure I will also be talking about it for at least the next few weeks, since it was a major undertaking.

My hope is that people find a new appreciation of redheads and how rare they are. Who knows, maybe someday there will be a real Save the Redheads organization.

I have posted my web page to my Steel account, so it is out there for the world to see. I even included my email address on the Voice of Redheads page of the site, so that visitor can take my redhead survey and email me the answers. I wonder if I will get any answers from outside of my immediate social network.

Here is the URL: http://mypage.iu.edu/~kbmulder/index.html. Enjoy!!!

Curriculum Connection

Experience 1 - The Redhead Extinction Debate

Language Arts: Listening and Speaking Skills (Grade 10)
Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication
Indiana Academic Standard
10.7.3 - Recognize and use elements of classical speech forms (including the introduction, first and second transitions, body, and conclusion) in formulating rational arguments and applying the art of persuasion and debate.

Information Literacy Standards

Standard 2 The student who is information literate evaluates information critically and

completely. (all indicators)

Standard 3 The student who is information literate uses information accurately and creatively. (all indicators)

Given the question, “Do you think redheads will go extinct?”, students will be involved in a guided inquiry, were the media specialist will provide selected resources on the subject of redheads, extinction, and genetic theories. Students will examine the materials, pull out main theories and point, and synthesize their thoughts into a persuasive speech. The product will be in the form of a series of debates between the students. Students will write their speech in the prescribed form, modeled by the instructor. Additionally, the class could vote on which argument was the most effective and why.

If taking an interdisciplinary approach, biology classes could also be involved in this assignment as an audience or participant and they could critique the debates on the basis of their knowledge of genetics and evolution. Some of the topics covered in the debate might be how red hair is genetically produced, how it is a recessive trait, how redheads could be going extinct because of natural selection. The Indiana Academic Standards that would relate to this assignment are:

Genetics
B.1.21 - Understand and explain that the information passed from parents to offspring is transmitted by means of genes which are coded in DNA molecules.
B.1.22 - Understand and explain the genetic basis for Mendel’s laws of segregation and independent assortment.
B.1.28 - Illustrate that the sorting and recombination of genes in sexual reproduction results in a great variety of possible gene combinations from the offspring of any two parents. Recognize that genetic variation can occur from such processes as crossing over, jumping genes, and deletion and duplication of genes.

Evolution
B.1.31 - Describe how natural selection provides the following mechanism for evolution: Some variation in heritable characteristics exists within every species, and some of these characteristics give individuals an advantage over others in surviving and reproducing. Understand that the advantaged offspring, in turn, are more likely than others to survive and reproduce. Also understand that the proportion of individuals in the population that have advantageous characteristics will increase.

Experience 2 - Fractions with Hair Color

Math - Standard 1 (Grade 3)
Number Sense

Students understand the relationships among numbers, quantities, and place value in whole numbers* up to 1,000. They understand the relationship among whole numbers, simple fractions, and decimals.

Indiana Academic Standards
3.1.8 - Show equivalent fractions using equal parts.

3.1.9 - Identify and use correct names for numerators and denominators.

3.1.10 - Given a pair of fractions, decide which is larger or smaller by using objects or pictures.

Information Literacy Standards

Standard 3 The student who is information literate uses information accurately and creatively. (all indicators)
Standard 9 The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate information.
Indicator 1. Shares knowledge and information with others.
Indicator 2. Respects others’ ideas and backgrounds and acknowledges their contributions.

In this curriculum connection, the instructor will divide the students into groups by hair color. Weather or not their is a redhead group, the instructor would explain that red is the rarest color of hair in the world and that only about 4% of the world's population has red hair. The instructor would review numerator and denominator with the class and show how 4% equals 4/100, then explain how 4/100 is an equivalent to 1/25. The groups of hair colors would work together to (1) figure out what fraction of the total class their hair color makes up (i.e. 10/25) and (2) how to reduce that fraction to an equivalent (2/5) and (3) compare that number with the number of redheads in the world and see which fraction is bigger/smaller. If there is a redhead group in the class, they can see if their fraction comes out the sames as the fraction for the world's population of redheads - 1/25 is about right!

In this exercise, students would have an authentic way to apply fractions using demographics of the classroom. They would also have a chance to learn from each other in a group setting. For example if one student is having trouble understanding the concept, another student could try to explain from a peer point of view.

My Inquiry: Like or Unlike Children's Inquiry

My personal inquiry experiences are. . .

Like children & YA

Unlike children & YA

-I am apprehensive and overwhelmed at the beginning of my project. (Wondering) -I am eager to get to the product and sometimes feel like skipping process. (Wiggling & Weaving) -I am easily distracted with new information and sometimes irrelevant information (especially if it’s fun & entertaining). (Webbing) -I am excited about my topic and want to share information with classmates, family, and friends via my web site. If I had to present the information in the form of public speaking I would be NERVOUS. (Wrapping & Waving) -I am still afraid of the recursive process and going back to reflect on my questions and possibly change directions. When I was younger, I simply didn’t do it. I was inflexible. (Wiggling)

-I realize the amount of time that needs to go into a good inquiry. (Wondering) -I have several years advantage over children in general world knowledge and subject knowledge. (Wondering & Weaving) -I may not be as open-minded about choosing a topic because of my world knowledge. (Watching) -With professional training in reference, I am well versed in search methods, electronic resources, databases, reference books, etc. (Webbing) -My synthesizing and writing skills might be better because of years of practice in an academic and business setting. (Weaving & Wrapping) -I might be a little more critical on myself than younger students (Wishing)

Wrapping

As, I’ve had in mind for awhile, I’d like to create a pretend organization called Save the Redheads to utilize the information from my personal inquiry. This type of product made a lot of sense and actually helped me decide which pieces of information were important in my query and which pieces were expendable. For example, the book Redhead Encyclopedia had so much neat information about famous redheads in pop culture and history, but I didn’t feel this was really important to my topic of redhead extinction. Although I enjoyed reading it, I don’t need to include information about famous redheads in my web site.

Other possibilities I considered were a PowerPoint presentation, perhaps meant to raise awareness on the issue of redhead extinction; a pamphlet or poster raising awareness of the issue; and even an original song about saving redheads. I decided my composition skills were a little rusty for songwriting, but I may do that in the future for fun. I still feel that a website would improve my personal technological literacy and be fun for people to explore.

This project has really helped me be more technologically literate. enGuage 21st Century Skills describes some of their technology standards as using "a variety of technology tools in effective ways to increase productivity" and using technology "to access, evaluate, process and synthesize information from a variety of sources"(22). I've used so many tools such as graphic organizers on the web(for the first time), Inspiration (for the first time), FTP software, Blogger, HTML, Excel spreadsheets, and several other things I'm probably not thinking of.

A web site is a great medium for sharing information because it can be very organized and groups information in similar categories. In L571, we learned how to make a blueprint of a website. This is very similar to making a concept map, in fact Inspiration has a template for web blueprints. I have taken the concept map (with questions and inferences) from my previous post and translated it into a blueprint for my Save the Redheads organization web site. In this blueprint, I also included explanations of each section and how I'm incorporating the material I found in my inquiry. Here's my blueprint, just click on it to enlarge and read:

To plan for my audience, I used the Planning Chart available from www.eduplace.com, as suggested by Lamb’s Teacher Tap. Click here to view a copy of my Planning Chart. Save the Redheads is an organization that would be very useful for redheads, family members and friends of redheads, and perhaps even doctors, biologists, and researchers. I will examine non-profit organization models and see how these mesh with my research findings to produce a web site that is user friendly, interesting, and informative.

This information is not only important to me, as a redhead, but it is important to a lot of my family, friends, classmates, and even the general public. I just think, what would the world do if all the blonds became extinct? Although the redhead population is probably not as highly regarded in the beauty category as blonds, they are still a significant part of the population. Just like any endangered species, redheads deserve awareness before they fade away.

My Woven Web

I found it extremely difficult to weave my ideas together via a graphic organizer, but in the end I found it very helpful for me to link my questions into new group. I was able to synthesize some of the groups of information to draw my own conclusions such as - the perception of redheads has a lot to do with the past actions of notorious redheads including Lizzie Borden, Eric the Red, and Napoleon.

To analyze and synthesize my information, I referred to questions suggested by Lamb in the Weaving-Synthesizing step:

"Have the most important questions been addressed?"

I actually feel that I answered questions during my process. The information was out there and readily accessible.

"Have any new questions arisen?"

Some new findings have arisen that make me wonder about expanding my topic a bit. I found an opposing viewpoint about redhead extinction. One researcher says it won't happen. I also found several studies on the link between redheads and cancer. I wonder how I can incorporate these findings into my product. I have yet to decide.

"Are there other ways to view the information or perspectives I should be considering?"

I am trying to also view this project as a non-redhead, because I want it to be interesting to others.

I'm trying to view the information about ways to stop redhead extinction objectively, but it's hard because one way of continuing red hair is to genetically alter it that way. I don't really think that's ethical, but it is certainly a way to continue red hair.

I used Inspiration to to weave my web of information. In this graphic, you will be able see my process from my initial topic, subtopic, questions/answers, new questions/answers, and inferences. (Just click on the image to enlarge it in your web browser).

Weaving

Let me just start off by sharing a fun web site - The Art of Being a Redhead - one of my favorite redhead paintings: La Belle Dame Sans Merci c. 1890 by Sir Frank Dicksee. I am not using this in my inquiry project, but came across it and found several interesting paintings I had never seen before. Also, I'm thinking my blog is getting a little bit wordy and I wanted to incorporate some visuals other than charts.


While in the process of weaving, I find helpful the Interpretation step in Pappas & Teppe's Pathway's to Knowledge Model and the steps (comparing, selecting, organizing, synthesizing, analyzing) outlined in Lamb's Weaving. I feel like I need a guide map to make sure that I cover all these bases and I want to choose tools that will help me see the information in a new light.

The Pathway's model suggests "assessing usefulness of information, "reflecting to develop personal meaning," and "interpreting information" using different methods (Callison & Preddy 57). I think I have continually evaluated resources for usefulness as I have used them. When reading items, I highlight the information (I-Search) that supports or expands on my topic. Then I have been entering this information into my notes spreadsheet (Research Cycle). So, now I think I can use most of the notes in my spreadsheet, but I have already found some that are not really relevant to my argument.

It is not difficult to find a personal meaning in this topic. I can relate every aspect of my research to myself and how I think about my identity. One thing I have learned is that taking Action on the redhead extinction issue, means employing some controversial and unethical genetic practices. The most natural thing that people could do is just to choose a mate who carries the redhead gene to increase their chances of having redheads. On the unethical side, there is genetic selection (choosing the embryo that has the red hair) or genetic altering (actually changing your DNA to get the physical traits you want, such as hair color or nose shape). I must say that I am a little bit torn because I feel very compelled to try to "Save the Redheads" but I also don't personally believe in genetic altering or selection. I'm not sure how I can convey this. Maybe the only way for me to personally promote redhead preservation is to encourage other redheads to find their best match to have redhead children.

To interpret this information I am using my spreadsheet, but extrapolating a little bit more to really lump the themes together. I want to make sure that all my information either supports the topic, provides background information, or theorizes on what the topic will mean for the future. I will take the different strings of research and synthesize it to reflect a big picture view of the redhead extinction issue (visual representation of organization to follow in another post).

It really helps me to address each step and look at the step and make a checklist for myself. Otherwise, I get lost in the shuffle of where I am. I know the process is recursive, and I have already dabbled in Wrapping, but I want to make sure I don't skip a step entirely. I also have to remind myself to do a little "I think" writing during this process to help myself learn what works for me (Curriculum Connections 53).

At this point, I'm apprehensive about reaching the end of this inquiry. I'm not sure when to really cut off finding new information. I feel like every time I read something, it just leads me to another new source, and I'm constantly going back to Webbing. I am starting to feel like I have enough information to present my findings through my product.