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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

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I-search

Learn more about I-search

Winter Olympics: Inquiry into Statistics
Following the excitement of Olympic events, students are involved in an I-search http://www.avon.k12.in.us/hickory/pages/hickoryhome2.htm (click on Media Center then I-Search) activity that helps them develop question and search techniques. Their research provides them with data to enter into spreadsheets and display in graph format.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–12 English Language Arts and Information Skills)
By Carol Horne, Nancy Cowal, and Victoria Lunetta.

Method of inquiry grounded in students’ curiosity about a topic. Students develop a question for inquiry based on personal interest, assumed to faciltiate greater investment in the project and more meaningful research experiences for students.

See also Big6, research cycle, scientific method.

Additional information

I-search has four phases.

  1. Student develops a question based on personal connection to or interest in a topic.
  2. Driven by the I-Search question, student develops a search plan.
  3. Student gathers, sorts, and integrates information.
  4. Student prepares a paper or project to represent what he or she has learned in the I-Search process.

I-Search capitalizes on the KWL strategy in helping students identify what they Know, Want to know, and Learned about a topic.

I-Search was coined by Ken Macrorie in 1988 and is elaborated in his book The I-Search Paper.

Examples and resources

See the Literacy Matters site for information on an "I-Search Curriculum Unit." In addition, Eduscapes maintains a site on I-Search that includes an overview as well as numerous online resources.