Iterating Research Topics

Steps

1. “Iteration” is an unfamiliar word for some students. Start with a discussion about the meaning of this word and see if students can provide any examples.  Introduce research as an iterative process. Pick a topic  that the class will use to practice iterative research together. 
2. Consider topics that seem simple on the surface but which have many layers when examined. For example time (could be considered from the perspective of physics, philosophy, or across different cultures), memory (could lead to research on different types of memory and the factors that influence our ability to remember or forget) or music (could lead to research into what influences our preferences and what effects does it have on our emotions and cognition.)
3. Invite everyone to write down whatever they know about the topic and the most interesting question they can think of concerning the topic.
4. Give students 5-10 minutes to do some preliminary research on that question, either using the search engine of their choosing or you may direct them to try a specific resource such as Wikipedia or the library’s Gale eBooks.
5. Spend a few minutes having students share the most interesting information they found.  After this time, have everyone write down a few new questions about the topic.  Encourage them to come up with new questions based on the information that they found or that their classmates shared. 
6. Depending on available time, this process could be repeated one or more times, with students researching their new question each iteration, and/or exploring new databases with each iteration. 
7. To end, ask students:  What questions did you come up with about this topic in the last iteration that you couldn’t have come up with before this exercise?  Are your most interesting questions at this point narrower or broader than the one you started with?
8. Optional: Students could post their initial and final research questions around the room for a gallery walk to spark discussion.

Considerations

• Starting with a very broad topic helps illustrate how research is often a process of narrowing the scope.
• You may choose a topic related to your course, but it’s ok to work with something generic.  More general topics can help keep the focus on the iterative process not on the material.  
• The iterative research process is hard to demonstrate in a classroom because it involves taking a few minutes to read through new material.  While this exercise is time intensive, it provides students with the actual experience of moving towards greater knowledge.  By starting with a topic unfamiliar to them it is relatively quick to get to a place where they can feel how much more they know.
• Point out that the iterative process is the same regardless of how much you already know about a topic.  There is always more to know about a topic, and the iterative process is helpful at all levels.