1.
To help your students identify the questions that will drive their research, it is often helpful to have them create a concept map. This will allow them to define what they know and ask questions about what they don’t.
To begin, open the Inspiration program. You’ll see in the middle of the screen, a bubble that says “Main Idea.” Double click on that bubble, delete the text that says
“Main Idea,” and type in the topic of your research paper. If your topic was “Genetic
Engineering,” then you would type that in the bubble:
Genetic
Engineering
2.
Next, type in a few things that you know about the topic and a few questions you have. You can click anywhere on the screen and start typing. Each time you click on a blank area of the screen, a new bubble will appear.
Why does
Europe feel this way?
longer shelf life for produce
Europe doesn't want
GM food imported
How do scientists genetically modify food?
How does GM food taste?
Genetic
Engineering
Do I eat GM food?
Is it safe for the environment?
3.
Now, try to link some of your ideas together. To create a link in Inspiration , click on the Link button at the top of the window. Then click on the first bubble you want to
Using Inspiration to Generate Questions for the Research Paper
Copyright © 2000, Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) page 1

link and then the second. Inspiration will then automatically draw the arrow. You may find, as with this example, that you want to create some subtopics for your research. You can click and drag on your bubbles to reorganize them.
Why does
Europe feel this way?
longer shelf life for produce
How do scientists genetically modify food?
Europe doesn't want
GM food imported Politics/
Economics
Science
Genetic
Engineering
Is it safe for the environment?
Eating/
Cooking
How does GM food taste?
Do I eat GM food?
4.
You can “dress up” your concept map by using the different graphics Inspiration makes available. Pick one of the questions you generated and click on the bubble to highlight it. Next, click on the question mark button on the Basic menu to the left of your work area. Notice how it changes your bubble to visually emphasize the fact that it is a question.
Using Inspiration to Generate Questions for the Research Paper
Copyright © 2000, Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) page 2

How does
GM food taste?
5.
Now that you have finished your concept map, click on the Outline button at the top of the screen so that you can see how Inspiration can take the diagram and convert it into an outline. Return to the Diagram view by clicking on the Diagram button at the top of the screen.
6.
When you are finished creating your graphic organizer, you need to export it as a
JPEG file so that you can attach it to the message that you post in this session's discussion forum. By attaching your graphic organizer as a JPEG file, others will be able to view it as an image in the online discussion.
Click and hold down on "File" on the menu at the top of your screen and pull down to
"Export". Under "Diagram Formats", select "JPEG". Click on the "Save" button.
Decide where to save your file (floppy disk, desktop, etc.) and do so. Save it to a place that is easy to find because you will need to attach this file to your posting in this session's online discussion.
Using Inspiration to Generate Questions for the Research Paper
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