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Movement 4: Research Paths + Metadata Connection

From Spark to StakesFriction and SurpriseListening for MediumApplied Podcast Analysis
Research Paths + Metadata Connection
Framing Through LanguageExpectations and the Black BoxSynthesis Reflection

Movement 4: Research Paths + Metadata Connection​

*This is about becoming a strategic searcher. When you know what you're curious about, how do you find your way into the conversation? What tools can help? What terms matter? What platforms mislead or surprise?
Learning to search isn't just about technique, it's how you begin to shape what becomes visible in your inquiry.

Core Question:​

How do my evolving search strategies and the language I use to find information shape, expand, or limit the questions I can ask and the story I can tell? How do I search strategically and efficiently by using the right tools, terms, and discovery strategies to support my evolving research?

Pedagogical Purpose:​

This movement transitions students from internal orientation to external exploration. This movement introduces students to the practical work of research: how to design effective searches, use discovery tools with purpose, and reflect on the recursive nature of finding information. It emphasizes research as a generative act shaped by vocabulary, perspective, and metadata frameworks and invites learners to recognize that how they name their inquiry influences what they find, and what remains invisible. It helps students transition from intuitive or unfocused searching into strategic research planning — highlighting how search terms, tools, and sequence shape the scope and direction of inquiry.

Student Outcomes:​

Students will be able to:

  • Identify and iterate search terms, synonyms, and conceptually adjacent ideas,
  • Use discovery platforms (databases, archives, scholarly search engines) strategically,
  • Reflect on the relationship between search tools and the shape of what is found,
  • Evaluate source relevance and gaps,
  • Build a personal search plan that supports their story-in-progress.

Interaction Design: Research Path Mapping Prompts​

(Move through each step sequentially.)

6.1 — Name Your Topic in Your Own Words​

  • Ground the inquiry in your voice and context.
  • How has your research path been influenced by friction moments, early gaps, and analysis of narrative structures?

6.2 — Identify Key Concepts​

  • What are the building blocks of this inquiry?
  • How does the chronology of your research (what you found first, second, etc.) shape the emerging story?

6.3 — Expand Your Terms (AI-Supported Optional)​

  • Explore related terms, synonyms, and controlled vocabularies.
  • How do your search terms reflect or challenge assumptions surfaced in earlier movements?

6.4 — Sketch the Source Landscape​

  • What kinds of sources (formats, disciplines, voices) seem most fruitful?
  • What databases, archives, or discovery tools have been most revealing?
  • What does this tell you about where and how knowledge on your topic is structured?

6.5 — Reflect on Search Strategy​

  • What surprised you about what was easy (or hard) to find?
  • How could your research path itself become part of your narrative?
    (e.g., “I started looking for X, but then I found Y...")
  • As you move toward production, what final research areas do you need to explore to support nuance and depth?
  • How does your evolving "metadata" already frame the stakes of your story?

Reflection Journal Companion​

Follow the standard Reflection Journal structure:

  • What I Am Noticing,
  • What Feels Hard or Unsettled,
  • What I Want to Carry Forward.

(See Movement 1 for a full detailed example.)

Black Box Micro-Engagement

At the end of this Movement, you will complete a Black Box Micro-Engagement:

  • Action Step: A production-related activity focused on exploring the searching and the finding process, keyword strategy, and source discovery as rhetorical processes. (Specific task TBD.)
  • Personal Reflection: Reflect on the tools used, surprises, frustrations, and solutions.
  • Relational Reflection: Reflect on any outside help you sought (e.g., tutorial, video, peer, etc.).
  • Source Acknowledgment: Briefly cite any external resources or discovery tools you consulted.
  • Organization Reflection: Describe how you saved, tagged, and organized your evolving search strategies or source materials.

(See Movement 1 for detailed reflection structure.)

AI Role​

  • Current AI Role:
    Keyword Builder + Search Strategy Support.
    âž” Suggests related academic terms, controlled vocabulary expansions, and broadens search possibilities. Primo and scholarly metadata API integrations. Exportable Research Path Reflection or Search Log

  • Explore Further AI Role (Cross-Disciplinary Lens):
    Surfaces unexpected subject fields or disciplines using similar concepts promoting broader, more interdisciplinary research horizons.

Future Feature Notes (Prototype Aspirations)​

  • Controlled vocabulary crosswalks,
  • Peer-shared term sets (collaborative discovery prompts).

🤔💭 More Reflection Prompts​

Additional Prompts
  • How does the language of a database or archive shape the limits of what you can find?
  • What possibilities emerge when you expand your inquiry across disciplines?
  • Where might your inquiry benefit from reframing like starting with different words, metaphors, or communities?
  • How could your search path itself become part of your final story?
  • Which sources seem to be in conversation with each other and how?
  • Where did your research lead you away from academic sources and why?
  • How would you diagram the path your research actually took?
  • If someone else followed your trail of inquiry, what would they learn about your thinking?