Information Inquiry Model - The Super3

This inquiry research unit uses the Super3 model of information problem-solving. The Super3 are a simplification of the popular Big6 model intended for use with children in Kindergarten through second grade. The Super3 breaks down the process of filling an information need into three steps.

1. Plan - (Beginning)
2. Do - (Middle)
3. Review - (End)

According to Mike Eisenberg, one of the model's creators, "[t]he importance of the Super3 lies in the fact that it gets the youngest students to start thinking in terms of process. Many students are not able to see past the Do component of the process when thinking about the work that they do in school or any other information problem-solving activity." [1]

Using an information processing model such as the Super3 in the early elementary grades provides both advantages and challenges. A step-by-step approach to answering an information question is likely to help students go about their research in an organized way, hopefully avoiding confusion and wasted time. I believe that helping students to focus on the process of learning, as Eisenberg suggests, will not only help them navigate their first research experience, but also serve them well as they continue their studies.

One drawback to implementing such a model would the difficulty for both student and teacher in trying a new approach. Another is the extra time needed for planning. The amount of work involved in teaching students to use a model as well as the content of the unit is an added burden that must be seen as worth the effort.

At this age, it would certainly be possible to use a model such as the Super3 to plan and implement the unit without explaining the structure to the students. However, I believe the benefits gained from explicit use of the model make it worthwhile despite the additional effort required. The additional support that comes from understanding what comes next and why will be helpful to the students, and early exposure to models such as this one will make future encounters with information inquiry easier to handle.

In this unit, I have chosen to focus on the second step in the Super3 model, the Do or Middle stage, for my detailed lesson. This is the stage when students are interacting with resources and creating a product or otherwise presenting what they have learned. This stage of the model provides abundant opportunities for the media specialist to participate in the inquiry process. I have chosen to teach basic note taking and citation skills at this stage, which relate directly to the second grade Language Arts standards from the state of Indiana and to the Information Literacy standards. As one example, using fact fragments to create notes would correspond to Language Arts standard 2.2.5 regarding students' ability to restate facts and details. Information Literacy standard 2 would be addressed when students evaluate the text to extract the relevant fact fragments.

All models of information search and use contain a stage equivalent to the "Do" stage in the Super3, though it is rarely described so broadly. Most models do not cater to children as young as Kindergarten and use quite different, and more numerous, terms. In Jamie McKenzie's Research Cycle model [2], most of the cycle could be described as falling under the "Do" category. The "Planning" and perhaps "Gathering" steps of the Research Cycle would be in the first step of the Super3. McKenzie does not specifically call for a reflection and assessment step. The nearest to it, "Evaluate" is part of the "Do" category, since it is the amount of information still needed which is being evaluated, not the overall process or the product.

The closest another model comes to matching the utter simplicity of the Super3 might be the I-Search model [3], which includes four basic steps:

• Selecting a topic
• Finding information
• Using information
• Developing a final product

While all of the models mentioned, and others, are very useful in different ways, I believe that the Super3 is the most appropriate for use with the youngest children. Since I think it likely that second graders are very inexperienced at information problem-solving, I believe they would respond best to a very simple model. I also like that the Super3 (and its parent the Big6) explicitly ask students to reflect and assess the process of learning and the product they have created. This is a good habit for young learners to cultivate.

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