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Brainstorming Keywords

Brainstorming Keywords Variations Created by AIs
AIs can use this page to upload exercises/assignments/approaches they have created or modified for their course.

1.  Explanation/Discussion that can be used in all classroom environments

Why students should do this before beginning to look for viewpoint articles:
Searching library databases does not work the same way as a Google search. When you do a Google search, you can type in almost anything and something will come back. For example, if you type in “should school lunch programs incorporate local agriculture?” you will get 100,000s of hits. However, when you do the same search in a library article database, you will most likely get nothing. Why is that? Library databases require that you search by concept or key word and connect these using AND and OR. Before you start your research, you should spend at least a few minutes brainstorming key words that you can use in a database. That way, if your first search doesn't get you what you need, you have other key words on hand to use immediately.

How to explain/discuss it using a whiteboard:

• Write your sample controversy down on the board. Our example is: Should the National School Lunch Program change its standards to support local agriculture?
  
• Ask students what the key concepts are and underline them (National School Lunch Program and local agriculture).
  
• Have students brainstorm broader, narrower and related terms for each of the key concepts and write them underneath in columns. [See below for an example of how to explain the concept of broader/narrower/related terms at this point in the discussion.]
  
• After this part of the discussion, you may have a list on the board that looks like this:

• Take this opportunity to discuss with your students how using value-laden terms will help them find viewpoint articles. In the school lunch example, searching with the words "sustainable lunch program" will be more likely to get back viewpoint articles from those in support of including local agriculture in school lunches, while searching with the words "affordable lunch program" may be more likely to get back viewpoint articles from those who support leaving the program as-is.
• Introduce the concept of a third column. Instead of using it to brainstorm broader, narrower and related terms, have your students brainstorm terms related to different aspects of the controversy. An effective way to explain this is to ask them to explain what people on different sides of the issue argue about. In the school lunch example, you could ask them - what do people who want to change the National School Lunch Program use as their reasons? Write down the keywords that come out of this conversation and then ask them the same question about people who don't support changing the program. They'll notice that some of the words would be the same (for example, "cost" would find articles about students growing vegetables in school programs to save money, and about the additional cost of organic foods.) When you are done, you may have a list on the board that looks like this:

• Explain that students need to use AND and OR to connect topics (not "effects of," etc.). Explain that AND narrows a search by requiring both words to be in the results and OR broadens it by allowing for any of the words connected by OR to be in the results. You can use a Venn diagram to illustrate this.

TIPS:

• Explain to students that they will probably find a lot of articles about one aspect of their controversy (viewpoints about whether or not the government's commodities program gives schools unhealthy foods, for example) but won’t find any viewpoint articles that lay out all the pros and cons. Tie this explanation to your explanation of why they are mapping a controversy and how they have to find all of the viewpoints on the different aspects and synthesize them. Their controversy map doesn’t already exist as an article in a library database.
• As an extension of the above discussion, explain to them that searching for terms like pro/con or for/against won't work.
  

1.1  Explanation of Broader/Narrower/Related Terms
You can use an example and visual representation to explain what you mean by broader, narrower and related terms. Try online shopping as your example.

• Scenario described by the instructor: You go to class one day and your friend is wearing a green hoodie which you really like so you ask her where she got it. She tells you the web site she bought it from and you go home, go to that site and type in "hoodie." Nothing comes back but you know the hoodie is there. What else would you type in?
  
• Students will probably come up with terms such as sweater, sweatshirt, etc. Write these on the board and explain that these are related terms.
  
• Ask them what you would do if none of these worked and you needed to choose a broader topic or category. Students will probably say outerwear or clothing. Write that on the board and explain that is what you mean by broader terms.
  
• Tell them to imagine that when they searched for sweater (or one of the related terms they came up with), they got back over 300 results. What would they search? Students will probably say "green sweater" and you can write that on the board and explain that is what you mean by a narrower term.
  
• By the end of this discussion, you should have a diagram on the white board that looks like this -

• Ask them to apply this same concept to your sample controversy (ex: school lunch program) as a class.
  

2.  Next Steps - No Technology in the Classroom

• After students have a broader controversy, ask them to look at background information on their own. Then, in class, have them brainstorm keywords individually or in groups. If they do it individually, do a “think, pair, share.” What that means is after they’ve brainstormed for a few minutes individually, have them pass their sheet to their neighbor for help. Use the Turn Your Topic into a Search worksheet for this exercise.
• Instead of doing keyword brainstorming in class, you can assign homework where you have your students use a background source such as Gale Virtual Reference Library or Opposing Viewpoints, or search their topic on the web, to identify aspects of the controversy and keywords. Have students fill out the Turn Your Topic into a Search worksheet for this exercise or ask them to fill out the online Keywords Grid. They can share the online version by using the Email button at the top of their results page.

3.  Next Steps - Instructor Station Only

• Demonstrate the utility of background information for identifying aspects of a controversy and generating keywords to use to search for viewpoints on those aspects. Show a background source such as Gale Virtual Reference Library or Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Look through an entry together and have students identify the aspects and keywords as a class. You can open the online Keywords Grid in a different tab, and ask your students give you keywords to fill it in.
• You can also assign homework where you have your students use a background source such as Gale Virtual Reference Library or Opposing Viewpoints, or search their topic on the web, to identify aspects of the controversy and keywords. Have students fill out the Turn Your Topic into a Search worksheet for this exercise or ask them to fill out the online Keywords Grid. They can share the online version by using the Email button at the top of their results page.
• Another approach would be to have your students brainstorm keywords in class individually or in groups once they already have a broader controversy in mind and have looked at background information on their own. If they do it individually, do a “think, pair, share.” What that means is after they’ve brainstormed for a few minutes individually, have them pass their sheet to their neighbor for help. Use the Turn Your Topic into a Search worksheet for this exercise.

4.  Next Steps - Hands-on/Networked Classroom

• Have your students use a background source such as Gale Virtual Reference Library or Opposing Viewpoints, or search their topic on the web, to identify aspects of the controversy and keywords. Start by demoing/discussing the process as described above. Then have students fill out the online Keywords Grid or the Turn Your Topic into a Search worksheet either in class or as homework. If your students do this in class, either have them work in groups, or, if they work individually, follow with a think, pair, share. What that means is after they've brainstormed for a few minutes individually, have them share their online keywords with a neighbor or pass their sheet to their neighbors for help. If your students fill out the online Keyword Grid online, have them share their grid with you using the Share -> Email option.

5.  Suggested Resources/Databases

• Online Keywords Grid
• See the Background Information section