The research mentor's job (and the map you teach from)
A good hiking guide does not carry you up the mountain. They walk beside you, show you how to read the map, and point out the tricky parts. A research mentor is that guide: the other student does the climbing, and you help them learn the way.
- Before this course: Academic Research: literature reviews (course 13.10.3). You can already write a protocol with PICO and eligibility criteria, run and log a repeatable search, screen records in two stages, build a flow table that adds up, appraise studies and write a synthesis. At Expert level you help other people do these things well.
- A research mentor is a student who helps another student learn research skills. A mentor is not a teacher, a grader or a judge. You do not write, search for or choose sources for someone else's assignment.
- A useful map of what to teach is the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The ACRL Board filed it in 2015 and adopted it in 2016.
- The Framework has six frames:
| Frame | What it means for the student you help |
|---|---|
| Authority Is Constructed and Contextual | Who made a source, and what makes them trustworthy, depends on the question and the field |
| Information Creation as a Process | How a source was made (a study, a news story, a blog post) changes how you can use it |
| Information Has Value | Information has educational, persuasive and commercial value; credit and access matter |
| Research as Inquiry | Research goes round in loops: each answer raises new questions |
| Scholarship as Conversation | Research is an ongoing conversation between many voices, so look for more than one view |
| Searching as Strategic Exploration | Searching is not a straight line: you try, look, adjust and try again |
- ACRL calls the frames threshold concepts: ideas that open a new way of seeing a subject. It also describes knowledge practices (what learners can do once they understand a frame) and dispositions (habits of mind, such as being curious or persistent).
- A mentor has three jobs:
| Job | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Ask | Questions that make the other student's thinking visible |
| Show | A short model of a skill, for example one search done out loud |
| Refer | Sending the student to a librarian, the teacher or the assignment sheet when a question is not yours to answer |
- Reread your own work from course 13.10.3: protocol, search log, flow table, appraisal table and synthesis matrix.
- Tick each one you could explain to a friend in two minutes. Redo the lesson for any you cannot.
- Copy the six frames on a card. Next to each, write one research mistake a beginner makes that this frame helps fix.
- Write your mentor's promise in three lines: what you will do (ask, show, refer) and what you will not do (do their work, judge them, make the rules).
- Find out who the librarians are at your school or public library and how a student books help.
- Choose one classmate or friend who agrees to be your practice mentee for this course.
- Check: you have a ticked skills list, a six-frame card, a mentor's promise and a practice mentee.
Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.
Read the video script
[Host] "A good guide does not carry you up the mountain. They help you read the map."
[Text on screen: Ask · Show · Refer] "A research mentor has three jobs: ask questions, show a skill, and send people to the right helper."
[Screen: six frames listed on a card] "The ACRL Framework gives you six frames, like 'Research as Inquiry' and 'Searching as Strategic Exploration'. They are your map of what to teach."
[Text on screen: You do not do their research] "You never search, choose or write for them. They climb. You guide."
[Host] "And check your own skills first. You cannot teach what you cannot do."
Write your mentor's promise and your six-frame card. Show the promise to a teacher or librarian and note any change they suggest.
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I'm learning "Research Mentor: teach research" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "The research mentor's job (and the map you teach from)". What the lesson teaches: - Before this course: Academic Research: literature reviews (course 13.10.3). You can already write a protocol with PICO and eligibility criteria, run and log a repeatable search, screen records in two stages, build a flow table that adds up, appraise studies and write a synthesis. At Expert level you help other people do these things well. - A research mentor is a student who helps another student learn research skills. A mentor is not a teacher, a grader or a judge. You do not write, search for or choose sources for someone else's assignment. - A useful map of what to teach is the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The ACRL Board filed it in 2015 and adopted it in 2016. - The Framework has six frames: - Frame - What it means for the student you help - Authority Is Constructed and Contextual - Who made a source, and what makes them trustworthy, depends on the question and the field - Information Creation as a Process - How a source was made (a study, a news story, a blog post) changes how you can use it The exercise I'm working on: Write your mentor's promise and your six-frame card. Show the promise to a teacher or librarian and note any change they suggest. I'm stuck. Please: 1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example. 2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step. 3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "The research mentor's job (and the map you teach from)" from the course "Research Mentor: teach research". Here's what the lesson says: A good hiking guide does not carry you up the mountain. They walk beside you, show you how to read the map, and point out the tricky parts. A research mentor is that guide: the other student does the climbing, and you help them learn the way. The activity: Write your mentor's promise and your six-frame card. Show the promise to a teacher or librarian and note any change they suggest. Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words. Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Sources
- Association of College and Research Libraries, Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education: www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework
The research conversation: find where a learner is stuck
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Teach searching by thinking aloud
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Teach source checking with lateral reading
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Review a mentee's research and give feedback that helps
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Mentor with integrity: honest help, AI and research with people
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Lead a research workshop and prove it worked
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Final project
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Quiz
What are a research mentor's three jobs?
Ask, show and refer.
Name the six frames of the ACRL Framework.
Authority Is Constructed and Contextual; Information Creation as a Process; Information Has Value; Research as Inquiry; Scholarship as Conversation; Searching as Strategic Exploration.
Why start a research conversation with an open question?
Students often ask for something different from what they really need, and open questions reveal the real problem.
A student says "I found 40,000 results." What is the likely real problem?
The topic is too broad and needs a focused question and criteria.
What does thinking aloud do in a search demonstration?
It makes your hidden choices, including fixes, visible to the learner.
What does "interleave worked examples with problem-solving" mean in practice?
Show one example, then let the learner try one, then show the next.
What is lateral reading?
Leaving an unknown site to check what other sources say about it.
Does a .org address prove a site is reliable?
No. You still need to check who runs it and why.
A flow table shows 48 full texts assessed and 34 excluded, but says 16 included. What is wrong?
48 minus 34 is 14, so the included number is wrong.
What should feedback on a mentee's work include?
A strength, one or two priorities, a question and a next step, without rewriting their work.
A mentee's AI tool summarized a study for them. What should they cite?
The real study, after finding and reading it, following their school's AI policy.
How can you show a workshop worked?
Use the same kind of task before and after, count the results, and read the feedback.
Final exam
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Certificate
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