Big 6 with Infographic

Big 6 is a research process that has been touted as the best way to get students in secondary and post-secondary education to research and write better projects.  There has been a lot of press coverage of Big 6, certainly compared to the other two processes in this assignment.  Big 6 is a good process, with helpful steps to move the student researcher from beginning to end in an orderly fashion.  ISP is extremely similar to Big 6 in methodology and step progression, though I-Search is vastly different from the two.

The biggest problem I have with Big 6, and its cousin ISP, is that the process starts with defining a task rather than answering a question.  Think of it like this - a teacher makes the assignment and your topic to research is "Garment Manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution."  Now you have been given a task.  Was there a consideration of whether this was in any way interesting to you, or that the information could possibly help you in the future?  Of course not.  That is my issue, that Big 6 and ISP both assume that a problem/topic/task will be assigned rather than allowing a topic to find the student.  I have a big philosophical problem with that approach.

Steps in the Process: So the student gets their topic and begins by defining the task they must complete, be it research poster, infographic, research paper, etc...  From there they must select their sources for material, locate their sources (which seems to be where the librarian will be most helpful), extract the information like a rotten tooth, and organize that information into something coherent.  Finally the student must evaluate the outcome of the process and assess their work.  Not a bad process, but not memorable to make it easy to follow again later or teaching them tools to search out their own interests.

Outcomes: Big 6 is not the first process to try an reinvent the wheel of research papers, but it does not go far enough in changing the expectation of a uniform outcome.  Every student does not have the ability to select and evaluate sources, or evaluate the finished product of the process.  Students that utilize this process will be hard pressed to use it for their own inquiries.

Role of the Librarian:  The Librarian in Big 6 is the supplier of resources.  They can play a role in helping students select and locate their sources, and perhaps even evaluate their outcome.  Unfortunately the methodology of extracting information from a source for a task is far different that seeking information for the pleasure of learning.  There is no deviation from the task to discover new pathways of knowledge opened by the research.  I think Big 6 and ISP limit the potential of the librarian to further the discovery of the student.

Placement on the Continuum: Information skills