UCLA Asia Institute

Thank you for your interest in strengthening teaching about Asia.
Please visit our updated Asia in the K-12 Curriculum site.

www.asia.ucla.edu/asiak12.asp

Developing Research Skills

Asia via the Web

The web is an immensely powerful research tool, but students must be trained in its use. Many of the usual search and evaluation techniques used for print sources are still employed, but the unique characteristics of the web requires that students receive even more thorough instruction in assessing the credibility of their sources and in properly drawing upon such sources. The UCLA Center for East Asian Studies recommends teachers draw upon the following resources in teaching students on effective web research.

Evaluating Websites
Citing Internet Sources
Reference Books
Search Engines

Comparative Government Project

UCLA's Steve Williams and Manual Arts High School's Brent Boltinghouse developed a web-centered research project for Boltinghouse's comparative government students. Students investigated specific websites, returned information back to a customized form, sent information to a web database, and then analyzed and compared data with other students as needed to help in drafting term papers. The papers created by students are not on-line, but the web pages they created are: http://www.glo.org/mahs-isa-countries/regions/default.htm.

Contrasting Viewpoints

Students can draw upon a wide variety of news sources to compare interests, values, assumptions, and more across cultures. The UCLA Center for East Asian Studies has prepared specialized pages to aid teachers and students in this regard:

Newsfiles

Thanks to the web, students can draw upon a far wider array of publications and broadcast outlets than library budgets and cable linkups would ordinary allow. These include foreign language sources which can allow LEP students to draw upon their native languages to gather information and then use English to convey to others. English speakers can get useful real world language experience by plunging into primary sources in the target language. The UCLA Center for East Asian Studies has prepared annotated lists of print and broadcast websites useful in studying Asia:

General Periodicals

Country pages in the Asia via the Web resources include guides to country-specific periodicals, e.g., China focused periodicals

Broadcast Sources

Historical Research Using Documents/Images

Students can be assigned to read treaties, speeches, diaries, and other textual sources as well as to interpret graphical primary sources such as political cartoons, paintings, maps, and photographs. Museums, libraries, and universities are leading the way in making such valuable resources available to teachers and students all over the globe. The UCLA Center for East Asian Studies has its own documents index (http://www.isop.ucla.edu/eas/documents/doc-index.htm) and regularly evaluates new and expanded sites for inclusion in the Asia via the Web collection (e.g., the Kyoto National Museum, The Confusion Era, Visual Literacy Exercise: Woodblock Prints and Chinese Propaganda Posters).

Teaching about Asia