Part 2 Wondering continued....

According to Dr. Lamb, a "wondering chart" can help an individual focus on "brainstorming options, discussing ideas, identifying problems, and developing questions." So after doing some preliminary reading, I created the above "Jack the Ripper Wondering Chart." According to Barbara K. Stripling, "Graphic organizers are helpful for any type of inquiry. Virtually any student benefits from attaching new information to a schema."

The second phase of my "wondering" took to me Think Tank 4Teachers. Here, I plugged in some ideas and questions I had and let the program create subtopics and some really research-worthy topics/hypothesis to explore. Here's what I came up with and the link I used to create some possible questions:http://thinktank.4teachers.org/assist/subject.php3?ts=1189977436


Research Topic 1 for Jack The Ripper : How did the era and the time influence Jack The Ripper?

1) What other things were happening in science during the time this person lived? Did these have an influence on him/her/them?

2) What things were happening politically in the country in which this person lived? Did this person fit in with the political climate or was s/he in opposition to it?

3) What religious interests were in power in the country in which this person lived? Did this person fit in with the religious climate or was s/he in opposition to it?

4) Were there crises happening in the country in which the person lived? Did these affect this person's choice of work, interests, or lifestyle?

5) Do you think this person could have done the same thing(s) in a different time period? Why or why not?

6) Why couldn't anyone solve the murders then?

7) What might forensic science tell us today about who Jack the Ripper was?

8) Whose theory on the identity of Jack the Ripper seems logical?

9) What evidence convinces the reader of Patricia Cornwell's theory? And if not, why and how so?

10) Do any of the possible Jack the Ripper suspects share anything in common (viewpoints, politics, religion, etc.)?

Research Topic 2 for Jack the Ripper: How were people affected by Jack the Ripper and His Murders?

1) How were people affected by Jack the Ripper and his murders?

2) Were people of different races affected differently by this event?

3) What people/groups/countries were involved in this event? Why were they involved?

4)What were some of the differences between those who survived and those who did not?

5) What individuals played significant roles in this event and what were some of the things that made them important?

6) What were the backgrounds of individuals who played significant roles in this event.

7) What do you think people "behind the scenes" (e.g. police, newsreporters, politicans, religious figures, etc.) thought of this event and the people in it?

8) How were different groups portrayed when this event is reported? What evidence of prejudice or tolerance can be seen in this reporting?

I absolutely love ThinkTank! It provided me with different angles, approaches, ideas, and further questions I wouldn't have thought of on my own. I would most definitely encourage all students who visit a media center to check this site out, and also to encourage teachers in various content areas to consider adopting this resource too, as well. And using graphic organizers as Stripling discusses is a fantastic strategy to break down one's thinking, ideas, and research needs and questions. I wish I would have know about these strategies when working on my Master's history thesis; from now on, whatever reasearch I do, I will try to implement these concepts and I'm sure Stripling, Lamb, and ThinkTank! would be very excited and inspired to know one very naive student is learning more valuable research strategies than she ever did from her history professors at graduate school! :)

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Works Cited

Lamb, Annette. "8 W's of Information Inquiry." http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/ws.htm

"ThinkTank." http://thinktank.4teachers.org/assist/index.php3?ts=1190397036

Stripling, Barbara K. "Fostering Literacy and Inquiry." School Library Journal 49 (2003): 5-7.

Part 2: Wondering and "Pre-searching" with Virginia Rankin...

Through writing many, many high school book reports and history research papers, to undergraduate history essays and reports, to finally a graduate thesis on the Tito-Stalin Split following World War II, I realized I had been doing my research wrong! This revelation came to me after reading about Virginia Rankin's "Pre-search" 1999 model and how this critical technique helps students gain "a more sure footing before entering the larger search for information on an assigned topic" (Callison, 38). I never stopped to reflect develop key words and vocabulary names, or even categorize common themes, topics. I just went to the library, checked out every book I could on whatever topic I was working on, and then took the plunge right into the book/journal article.

I fell into the trap most students, as described by Rankin where "Most students do not see research as an occasion for thinking: many feel they are being asked to perform a task that could be better done by a machine -- a photocopy machine" (Rankin). That's how I felt doing history papers: deciding on a topic that somewhat constricted by the course or teacher itself; copying down every background information I thought I needed, pulling out some quotes that looked relevant to what I was writing about, and then sat down at the computer with my index cards. It wasn't until I had typed up the paper that I realized I had "regurgitated" basic textbook material back -- only without my take, argument, view, or hypothesis. This style of research worked through high school and as an undergrad, but looking back, now I can understand why I had some trouble with my thesis because I didn't do much "pre-search" or stop and follow Dr. Lamb's "Watching" and "Wondering" stages. Luckily, my one thesis advisor said to break things down first by ideas, topics, and keep a journal of thoughts, comments, and questions that develop from my readings.

So, after reading about Rankin "pre-search" model at http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/presearch.htm, and Dr.Lamb's "Wondering" lesson at http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/wondering.htm, sat down generating workable questions, possible topics through a concept map, and categorizing terms and important concepts. I first went to Wikipedia and checked out its website at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_ripper and began skimming through for bold-faced words, italicized words, and subheading topics. Examples of some of these include:

1. Ripperologists


2. Canonical Five Victims


3. Ripper Letters


4. Investigation and the White Chapel Vigilance Committee


5. Theories on Jack the Ripper suspects

Next, I used both Rankin's and Dr. Lamb's research steps and strategies to narrow my question/topic down further. I wrote down the above items and decided to turn them each into valuable research questions (something that I wanted to know about instead of being assigned). This occurred to me after her comment pertaining to students coming up with their own questions and curiosities instead of being assigned the teacher-controlled type: "There is a world of difference between being given the questions, and coming up with them yourself. My students owned their questions: the questions mattered to them"(Rankin).

What occurred next is my concept chart as shown above. Some questions I'm tossing around including: How and why has this unsolved murder played a pivotal role in today's pop culture and entertainment world? Why are there Ripperologists and what is their "obsession" and cult following? Did the newspapers during this time deliberately sensationalize the unsolved murders to make the White Chapel police look incompetent? Are their any truths behind the various theories, including the Masonic Conspiracy Plot, Anti-Semitic, or Royal cover-up?

I think Rankin would be pleased with my new "pre-search" strategies and approaches. Though I still feel overwhelmed by the topic, and the wealth of information (both print and non print) available, I do "own" this topic and future questions and discoveries I learn through inquiry exploration.

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Sources Cited:

Callison, Daniel and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book On Information Age, Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006.

Rankin, Virginia. "Pre-Search: Intellectual Access to Information." School Library Journal 38 (1992): 168-70.

Part 1: Watching...

After reading more on Dr. Lamb's "8W's" and some of other inquiry/search models described in Appendix B (Callison, 584-596), I have decided I want to incorporate as many different thinking, reflecting, and analyzing models as possible. Such concepts will be intermingled with my own research struggles and process. Some individuals and their information inquiry models I will be consulting throughout my entire blogging process include Dr. Lamb', Virginia Rankin, Carol Kuhlthau, Daniel Callison, and Jamie McKenzie. I will be detailing my own research journey and growth, and also how I would direct/assist a high school student conducting a research paper.

As part of the Watching stage, I went to Barnes and Noble and began browsing through my favorite sections: History, True Crime, and Biographies. Since this state is about being more aware of your environment and personal interests, I decided I wanted to select a history topic. Then I found what I wanted... came across Patricia Cornwall's Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed and decided I would do my personal inquiry on Jack the Ripper. Specifically, I asked myself some questions from Carol Kuhlthau's Information Searching Process (ISP), including:

What do I know already about this topic and the theories?
What do I know about Cornwell's theory?
What do I want to know and learn? (Kuhlthau)

Next, I sat down with pencil and notebook (as this is my personal research style preference) and wrote down some questions pertaining to what approach or angle do I want to take on this topic. Do I want to explore the social aspects of 18th century England; past and present forensic scientist studies examining who exactly Jack the Ripper was; examine the society of Ripper experts called "Ripperologists"; or focus on the different speculations and debates on who the Ripper was: royalty or average citizen.

This free style of inquiry is so different for me. As a history major who has done many research papers and a thesis (which all entail concentrating on particular themes and formulating your own thesis), I am extremely excited to be able to explore as many or as little of the above angles I mentioned in the above paragraph.

All this watching and exploring has prompted me to once again set down and come up with a list of specific questions, and, sketch out some kind of webbing chart to provide me with a basic road map on inquiry exploration (Callison 40).

Finally, I reflected on how this topic would fit into a high school student's world and wondered how their environment influenced them. Maybe studying world history sparked an interest -- or reading an article in an newspaper or magazine/journal -- or watching a documentary on "The History Channel" or watching Johnny Depp in "From Hell." These are just a few examples of literacies (visual, technological, and media) that surround students today. As a media specialist, I would definitely encourage any student who came to me for more information on anything to consider such literacy sources and to encourage them to just brainstorm some ideas and questions that are sparking this inquiry.

My next step will to begin gathering some basic background information, either through an online encyclopedia like http://www.wikipedia.org/ and some general nonfiction works.


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Sources Cited:

Callison, Daniel and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book of On Information Age Inquiry, Instruction
and Literacy. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006.

Cornwell, Patricia. Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed. New York: Putnam's,
2002.

Kuhlthau, Carol. "Learning in Digital Libraries" An Information Search Process Approach." Library Trends 45 (1997): 7o8-725

Wondering and Thinking...

Working on a topic...so many to choose from and so little time!

~Julie