Wishing (Step 8)

I have come to the last step of my project. Here are some reflections:

1. I had a great time learning new things about the diet’s of India and the United States.

2. Along the way I had to make some changes such as:

• I thought the textbook I borrowed from my school library had everyday meals for the United States. When I discovered it didn’t, I had to search for a website that explained them
• I had to refine my search for the United States diet because it was too broad of a topic. I narrowed it down to the Northwest, since this is where I have lived my entire life.
• When I emailed the Internet Public Library (not E library like I had posted in my webbing section) I was disappointed that they could not assist me, but I found other sources of information that helped me get my project done. I am not sure if these sources have met the assignment criteria of being “professional sources” or not. I hope they did. 
• I looked up more information than I needed. Some of the sites I wrote about in the “webbing phase” were not used.  

Through this assignment, I understand the “inquiry process” better. I also understand how the academic and library standards work within the library assignments to assist with student learning. As professional educators, we want to develop the critical thinking process in all of our students. We want to teach  them how to evaluate information based on how relevant it is to the subject being researched. In addition, we want the students to see what is not displayed and raise questions that lead to new ideas (Callison 350). Projects need to be created by us to assist our students in developing these creative and critical thinking processes so they can apply them to their futures. Our goal is to assist our students in becoming life long learners.

Callison, Daniel and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy. Wesstport: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. 

Waving (Step 7)

I have finished my PowerPoint presentation and have uploaded it to my blog. (Please click the link below to view it.food-and-cultures-of-india-and-the-united-final-project.ppt Left click your mouse to move from one slide to the next as I created a slide presentation. Go to file and close to get out of the program once you have viewed the last slide) The file is rather large, so it may take a few minutes to load. The link does work.

I just need to state the standards my project relates to and then I am done with this phase.  The Indiana Academic Standard that I used is 10.3.6 which states: Analyze the benefits and challenges that different cultures provide in relation to health behavior.  

Library standard:

Information Literacy Standards: 

Standard 1: The student who is information literate accessess information efficiently and effectively.

Indicator 1: Recognizes the need for information.(Watching step)

Indicator 2: Recognizes that accurate and comprehensive information is the basis for intelligent decision making.(Wiggling step)

Indicator 3: Formulates questions based on information needs. (Wondering step) 

Indicator 4: Identifies a variety of potential sources of information.(Webbing Step)

Indicator 5: Develops and uses successful strategies for locating information. (Webbing Step)

Works Cited:

American Association of School Libraries. Information Power Building Partnerships for Learning. Chicago: American Library Association, 1998.

Indiana’s Academic Standards. Health Standards. 2002. 27 September 2007 <http://ideanet.doe.state.in.us/standards/standards2000_health.html>

Wrapping (Step 6)

I am choosing a PowerPoint presentation to communicate my ideas with others. Since I do not enjoy giving presentations very much (I was a teacher for 10 years) I like doing PowerPoints so my audience does not have to look at me all the time. Most people enjoy looking at visuals and often times learn more through a presentation rather than a person just standing up in front of their audience and just talking. I think my audience would fall asleep if I did not use some kind of visual aid!

 Technology proficiency is a needed skill out in the job world today. Doug Johnson and Mike Eisenberg have listed the computer skills they feel reflect each stage of the Eisenberg and Berkewitz information problem -solving approach. They have developed a lists of objectives that students should be able to perform once  they have graduated. One of the objectives listed relates to PowerPoint presentations. It states: Use presentation software to create electronic slide shows. Eisenberg and Berkewitz feel that technology inables students to communicate their findings in a professional and organized fashion. As a result, many states, including Indiana, have incorporated technology into their educational standards. (Callison, 559).     

Weaving (Step 5)

Students can use a visual, such as the PMI pictured above (click on illustration to enlarge it) to assist them in organizing the information they have found into related blocks. For my project, I have “weaved” my information into the following groups:

Group 1 (information related to everyday meals)                     

• Book entitled Food and Culture by: Pamela Goyan

http://www.webmd.com – America’s Food Trend

• Group 2 (information related to Christmas celebrations and traditional menu followed)

• India Travel Agents http://www.india-travel-agens.com/indiaguide/customs.html

• Christmas in the United States http://www.santas.net/americanchristmas.htm

Recipes for Christmas

• United States- Yahoo! Directory – key word Christmas Recipes

• India – Christmas in India http://christmasworld.freeservers.com/india.html

 Group 3 (Information related to diseases that can be linked to diet (United States and India)

• India – http://www.jpgmonline.com, book Food and Culture  by Pamela Goyan

• United States — Find Articles.com — http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mim0813/is_10_26/ai_57943191

•  Increase in Heart diseases due to diet -tips to change diet  http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_heart_disease_stroke.htm

Group 4 (information on Food Pyramid)

• India – http://www.semda.org/info/pyramid.asp?ID=2

• United States – http://www.cnpp.usda.gov

I organized my information based on the questions I developed in the “wondering stage”. Since I am a librarian, and have had a lot of exposure to gathering information and organizing it to fit a specific need, this process was not as difficult for me as it would be for a person with little exposure to the researching process. I believe the visual aid can help a novice researcher understand the process a little better since they have the illustration to help them out. I know the students I work with struggle with the whole process. Once we have discover the questions they want to answer, the process seems to go a little smoother.

Now that I have my information sorted into groups, I can move on to the wrapping stage of my project, which is determining the product I will communicate my findings in. 

Wiggling (Step 4)

wiggling-process-step-4-project-1-a.docI am now ready to explore the information I gathered yesterday for my project in more detail. To make my job a little easier, I summarized what each source was about as I put them on my list. I also want to make sure I have all the resources needed to meet the requirements for the assignment. To assist me with these tasks, I am going to do a graphic guide (mind map) and a checklist as recommended by Dr. Lamb in the “Wiggling phase” of the inquiring process. Please click on the above link “wiggling-process-step-4-project-1-a.doc” to view my entry for this step.

Step 3 (Webbing)

webbing-project-1.doc Now that I have my questions narrowed down, I need to find reputable sources to gather information and complete my project. To assist me in this procedure, I am going to apply the “3 question strategy form” that was developed by Daniel Callison and Leslie Preddy. This form is found on page 244 of The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy.  Please click on the above link”webbing-project -1.doc” as my webbing log is lengthy.

Wondering (Step 2)

Step 2 (Wondering)Today I am pondering my questions from my watching section. I have attached my “wondering” step in a word document as it is presented in a graphic organizer.  (Please click on the link “step 2 wondering” to view my document.)

Step 1 Watching (Exploring ideas)

I have always been interested in cultures of many countries. Since the school I work at has recently become diverse with many cultures, my thoughts are to do a project based on this diversity. After a few days of pondering, the country I am choosing to explore in detail is India. I am choosing this country for two reasons: 1) I have read so much about India becoming the rising star in the economic world, it made me wonder about the culture. 2) My asthma doctor is from India. Sometimes we do not see eye to eye on certain issues. I believe this “clash” can be contributed to our differing cultures. I thought that if I knew a little more about his cultural background, I could see things more clearly from his point of view. As I pondered more, I found that I really enjoyed learning about the foods the Asian Indians eat. Questions came to mind such as: Do they still believe that the cow is a sacred animal? What do they eat? Do they have fast food restaurants? What holidays do they observe? Do they prepare special meals for holidays? Do they have certain diseases that can be contributed to their life style and the foods they eat as we do in America? I know a little information already, as my students at school had to write a nutrition paper on a specific culture. I want to learn more. I have already explored a book I have in my school library on culture and food. I also had to take a class exploring  the history of India, as one of my undergraduate courses. We only focused on the history and not the food and culture of the country. To help me explore this topic, I am going to read and view (examine the news) by reading the articles about India published in News Week and E Week. I also recently viewed a special on India published by National Geographic. It was not specifically related to the topic I want to explore, but it gave me some insight on how they live with the terrible humidity and rainny seasons which is nothing like it is here. I also had  the pleasure of talking to one of the students at my school who is from India. I asked her a few questions about her culture and how it differs from America. She was kind enough to explain the working habits of their country vs our country. It seems that our country puts more of an emphasis on working. She stated that India has a time for work and a time for family life. Here it is work, work, work!

I have explored this topic somewhat, but there is a lot more to do. Tonight I am going to decide on the questions I want to explore in detail. If I don’t do this, my mind will go crazy with all the ideas that I find interesting. This is not a good thing when a project has to be completed!

Lamb, Annette. Watching.  2006. 23 September 2007 <http://virtuallinquity.com/inquiry/watching.htm>