What they need to know and how to teach it - a beginning

I am the extended essay co-ordinator at my school, and I also work with students in grades 6-11 on research related skills.  From a number of years of observation, I have come to realise that my students face several difficulties when researching.  They don't have the skills to effectively summarise or précis a text and take notes, either on paper or online; they are unable for the most part to develop a search strategy and generate effective search terms; and they aren't experienced or sophisticated enough to recognise appropriate print or electronic sources.

I have worked with students on some of these skills year after year.  However, the skills are not reinforced by the teachers, who still see this as my job.  I do understand why this happens.  Teachers have enough to do just preparing activities for their subject matter, without also including activities to help develop note taking and other research skills.  Furthermore, in many cases teachers are not well versed in research themselves, especially Internet research.  However, as we all know, it takes hard work, frequent practice, and perseverance to develop any skill.  The majority of students (and others) will take the easiest way out.  Without constant reinforcement they won't develop a list of search terms, they won't use more than one or two key words, they will never develop a search strategy, and finally they won't note take when they can more easily copy and paste.  The challenge for me is to turn things around for both students and teachers.  But how?

I've been reading for months, or is it years?  At some point and that appears to be fast approaching, I have to synthesise what I've read and develop a strategy for moving forward. The workshops I attended at AASL were a catalyst but I was ready for what they said and had, for the most, come to the same or similar conclusions.  Students should have scaffolded activities in research, building year after year, to the point where they were able to research independently  That isn't what is happening at the moment at my school.