What are the strengths of your TrackStar in terms of promoting content learning and information literacy?
In my Track Star I utilized a topic that would be of interest to a variety of students. The All American Soap Box Derby is an American icon that is often (wrongly) connected to the pinewood soap box derby of Cubscouts. Hopefully, by appealing to something that students will be curious about they will become intrigued. The websites are written in simple, easy to understand language so that most people can understand the topic. However, there are challenges in interpreting the sites, and analyzing for validity. Not all websites are created equal and that is especially the case when trying to obtain information about a particular activity such as AASBD.
How does your TrackStar differ from typical classroom research projects and how it better prepare students for research in the workplace?
The topic is a major variation from typical school room projects. It is not math, science, or other scholarly topic (or is it?). The fun of the AASBD disguising the educational content of the program and the content. The comparison and evaluation of the websites connects to workplace research in the attention to detail and the collaboration between sites. There are a variety of aspects to the AASBD and the resources listed in the Trackstar provide guidance in the research journey, but a student could reach the same research connections without the cues. Students can gain a better sense of how resources can be connected through links and with practice it becomes intuitive to explore and evaluate those links independently.
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