How to research.

The First Year Experience: How to Research

By Miguel Predebon.

For first year university students when we’re studying whether it be in the library at school or at home one of the most important things to do is research. Researching will not only help in things such assignments but will also help the student learn and investigate as well as find out different things as well as new topics and snippets of information. It’s also used as a way to look into a topic or to learn new things.

In research your looking find to find and evaluate information, mainly when we’re researching you need to create a strategy so you can research more effectively, so there’s many types of researching some are definitely more effective than others. When you’re working on your assignment it’s important to identify the topic so you know what your researching this will help getting lost. Lastly it’s important to determine what kind of information you’ll need, and which format you’ll need as well as in particular "what are you researching." In research there are things such as facts, opinions, analysis and research studies you need to know which one you’re investigating or finding out, these are some of the many forms of research. There are other ways of accomplishing research: One of those ways is to cite information, this will show the reader that you have done proper research and you haven’t plagiarised or used somebody else’s research as your own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiPJ3Ci1h6Q

I found this particular YouTube clip, this goes over how someone can research in a particular subject, and how to cite in research. In tells us on which ways we can research, also it talks about textbooks so you relate back to that if you need assistance with your research. Lastly it runs over phrases, and different terms on English skills, and talks about evaluating your research, identifying research and developing keywords. These things are very important whilst doing assessments and will help improve your marks because without research it will be incredibly hard for your tutor or teacher to make sense of an assignment.

The Moodle also gives first year students an insight into how to research. It’s an effective way to find out everything about research in general. It lists things about how to begin research, how to use research and how to structure research, so as a first year student trying to find out how to research to the best of their ability Moodle is an extremely effective source to use. For example if you submit an assignment on Moodle and it doesn’t have any research or sources to back up your information your work can be considered invalid, and  it will be very difficult to pass, so when doing an assignment always use research. Here is an article on researching and why it’s important:

http://www.isteep.com/ResearchIsImportant.html

The article I have used explains what’s behind research and the products and values which makes research so vital and important when it comes to academical studies and schooling in general. I found this article extremely useful because its detailed, and it’s got plenty of information which could potentially help someone who’s inexperienced when it comes to research, or someone who’s doesn’t quite understand how to use research in an assignment. And I feel as if someone’s finding out how to research they could read through this article and they would get an overall understanding on every aspect of research.

Here are 5 ways to make online researching easier:

1. Start at school: Ask around the school for support, or someone who has experience for resources that they would recommend for your assessment or project. This way you can guarantee that the information will "school proved" and the information is precise. Make sure that when researching to have more than one tool.

2. Sort fact from fiction: Make a list of the kind of cites are best for your topic, then research which ones are valid sources. Government sources are really reliable, but remember to always use your original source.

3. Search Smart: Start with a reliable search engine, this normally gives you a good indication of what you need. It's important however to write specifically to get better results which leads to more improved research.

4. Stay focused: Don't get distracted it's just makes online researching all the more difficult therefore concentration is important in online research, just a few clicks and you can get off topic very easily.

5. Cite right: When your researching online be careful to use your own information in the assignment or if you're going to use someone else's information as your own remember to cite the information correctly. If you don't cite the information it can fall under plagiarism.