ABSTRACT
Skills make content come alive. When students have strong research skills, content becomes meaningful beyond memorization. Student learning becomes more efficient with the mastery of skills, and they begin to construct meaning more independently. The explicit time management instruction benefits the students long term—they learn strategies to complete work in a timely manner and they feel the confidence that comes with turning in work they are proud of without the stress of rushing in the end. Smaller research projects are better for uncovering background information, while larger projects are better for end-of-unit, synthesis of information. Long-term research projects run more successfully when the required skills are practiced routinely in smaller doses and work best when student-centered inquiry can pull larger concepts together, granting students the opportunity to apply and make meaning of knowledge. Without planning backwards, the relevancy to the research may lose momentum. Students may be unclear of their purpose.
