RESEARCH MINIS – AN OVERVIEW (get this info as a single-page PDF)
A research mini is a side-by-side comparison of two different pedagogical approaches for the same content topic.
For example, look at the two different approaches to the topic of Area Representations of Fractions at http://researchideas.ca/sidebyside/fractions.html
The goal is not to show that one approach is better than the other. Often, students benefit from seeing a topic through various approaches and perspectives.
The goal is to showcase a new approach that you have designed that you feel is worth sharing, and to compare it to an approach that educators have likely seen before.
The audience for a research mini are educators. They are busy people who are looking for cool ideas to try out in their classrooms.
Here are some suggestions for designing these side-by-side comparisons:
- Show them as classroom dialogues, with speech bubbles.
- Use stick figures to represent generic students / teachers.
- Give educators enough information to be able to try each approach in their classroom.
- Be as succinct as possible.
You will find more examples of research minis at http://researchideas.ca/sidebyside