IGCSE -GP 0457

INTRODUCTORY MODULE FOR STUDENTS

MORDECAI JUMA B.
INFORMATION SKILLS

By the end of this module, you should be able to develop the following information skills :

1) Perspectives

2) Research

3) Analysis

4) Synthesis

5) Evaluation

1) Perspectives

- Perspectives refer to a particular way of regarding something (a certain world view)

- In this chapter, we will be exploring issues from global, national, local, cultural and

personal perspectives.

- The global perspectives course is aimed at enabling you to view ideas from different

points of view and to be able to reflect beyond yourself, your family and your

community or country.

- A global perspective is a view on an issue that either has global influence or takes into

account the nature of the issue globally. For example, the UN's view on climate

change is by definition a global perspective on climate change because it is an

international organisation with a global influence.

- Global perspectives enable you to think different about issues affecting the world.

- An issue is an important topic or problem for debate or discussion.

- Issues can either be social (people and societies), economic (money) or political

( politics)
- In order to solve issues, one can propose a course of action ( a plan that can be used

to solve the issue) and a solution (a means of dealing with a difficult situation)

 Types of information

1. Fact - Pieces of information that are true, and are verifiable by observation and

prior knowledge to prove their truth.

2. Opinion - Beliefs, views or judgements. It is not verifiable by observation, but

can be agreed/disagreed with.

3. Predictions - Attempt to foresee or say what will happen in the future. It is not

verifiable by observation until the event occurs.

4. Value Judgements - Particular kinds of opinions which attempt to differentiate

good from bad or right from wrong.

 Cause: something which produces a result; a person or thing which is responsible for

a situation, action or event.

 Consequence: an effect which follows logically from a cause; something which

happens because of another situation, action or event.

 Types of perspectives

o Personal perspectives: this is a perspective that an individual has about an

issue. It is influenced by local and national perspectives, but also by the

reflective thinking that each individual does.

o Local perspectives can be related to a small part of a country, especially when

there are differences within a country. Local perspectives can also relate to a
 region which is much bigger than a country and which can share a common

perspective on some issues.

o National perspectives are related to a particular country as a whole. National

perspectives include:

 Issues relating to government policy

 What is best for the country

 The way in which the people of that country see things.

o Global perspectives are related to the world as a whole.

Activity

Q1. Define the following key terms:

Global

National

Local

Cultural

Personal

Q2. From which perspectives are the following ideas written:

1) The education system in the USA is not centralized and consists of over 50

different educational systems with 50 different department of education and

literally thousands of school districts within each state.

 The federal department of education has no power over the different state

educational systems except the “power of the purse” to force the states into

compliance with federal guidelines on education.

2) There is no global education system, there are education systems that are different.

When I was born, we had a communistic regime in my country, so the school

education up to 12 grades was obligatory. There was also obligatory kindergarten.

There is a certain asymmetry in the world when it comes to education and, in my

opinion, this exists for a purpose. Some countries create a system that will ensure

many people will not have an access.

3) I run a private school called Tower of Light in a rural place commonly known as

Yala Swamp 17km away from Siaya town in Kenya. It is a registered school with

the Ministry of Education. On March 16th the President closed down all the

learning institutions in the country because of the Coronavirus. My concern is that

this might waste all the education efforts the children of this village have made. I

worry it could send them back to their old life where girls get married and boys

have to go back to the lake to fish.

Key points

- Perspectives at times differ from an individual to another

- Just because an individual has a different perspective from yours does not mean they

are wrong

- In your individual report, you will be required to write about issues from a global,

national, local and personal perspectives while the group report will require you to

write about issues from different cultural perspectives

Activities for reflection

1) Consider any three issues that may be important for you in the next 20 years f your

life. List them down in the order of priority

2) Consider the following issues; with the hep of your partner arrange them in the order

of priority

Unemployment, poverty, disease, war, crime, migration, population growth, lack of

clean water, crime

2. Research

1) Using the information already taught in class:

Define:

- Primary research

- Numerical data

- Narrative data

- Create a questionnaire that can help you find out the level usage of internet for

educational purposes among your peers

- Discuss the key ethical considerations when undertaking research

- Why do you think citation referencing is important?

Referencing

Referencing is how you acknowledge the source of the information you have used

(referred to) in your work. It helps to make clear to the reader how you have used the

work of others to develop your own ideas and arguments.

Whether you are quoting directly from a book, summarizing an idea from an article,

illustrating a point with an image, or paraphrasing an opinion from a newspaper

article, you need to give credit to the original creator of the work.

Explore methods for effectively managing information throughout your research.

To reference correctly, you need to include the author, the title, the date it was

published, the website address and the date you looked at the article

Sometimes the words used to describe referencing can be confusing, especially as

they are often used interchangeably. To keep things simple, here is a quick summary

of key referencing terms:

Citation: this is an acknowledgement that you place in your writing at the point you

have referred to someone else’s work. It may be in the author-date format (e.g.,

Jones, 2020) or in numeric format (e.g. [1].)

Reference: each citation should have a corresponding reference, which provides

further details about the source of information you have used. This may include the

creator’s name, date of publication, title of the work, publisher details and a URL if

accessed online. References are usually placed at the end of your writing in a

reference list.

You need to reference every time you use the work of others. This could include:
ideas

words

data

designs

images

music

computer code

Whatever the information source: website, textbook, journal article, magazine,

newspaper, YouTube Video, or social media site, if you have quoted, paraphrased or

summarized another person’s work, you need to reference it.

However, you do not need to reference commonly known facts, for example:

"The Pacific Ocean is larger than the Atlantic Ocean".

Why do you need to reference?

Referencing is important for the integrity and quality of your academic writing.

Here’s why:

Referencing:

gives authority to your work by showing the breadth of your reading

shows the reader how you have developed your arguments and engaged with the ideas

of others
enables a reader to see the original sources that you've used; they can follow up on

your references so they can learn more about the ideas you’ve discussed in your work

or check any facts and figures

makes clear which ideas are your own and those inspired by others; this enables you

to avoid plagiarism (or academic theft)

The quality of your referencing can affect the marks you’re given for assessments, so

it’s worth taking the time to get them right.

Example of correctly referenced sources:

1. Book

Cerutti, F. (2017). Conceptualizing Politics:An introduction to Political Philosophy.

Oxford: Routledge.

2. Website

Greenhouse, S. (2020, July 30). The coronavirus pandemic has intensified

systemic economic racism against black Americans. The New Yorker.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-pandemic-has-intensified-

systemic-economic-racism-against-black-americans

Developing research questions

In your individual report, you will be required to create your own research

question.

The research question states the specific issue or problem that your assignment

will focus on. It also outlines the task that you will need to complete.

There is no universal set of criteria for a good research question.

Different topics have different priorities and requirements.

A good research question for a report focusing on climate change will differ

from a good research question focusing on technology.

In general, however, a good research question should be:

One that you are personally interested in.

Clear and focused. In other words, the question should clearly state what the

writer needs to do.

Not too broad and not too narrow. The question should have an appropriate

scope. If the question is too broad it will not be possible to answer it thoroughly

within the word limit. If it is too narrow you will not have enough to write about

and you will struggle to develop a strong argument.

Not too easy to answer. For example, the question should require more than a

simple yes or no answer.

Not too difficult to answer. You must be able to answer the question thoroughly

within the given timeframe and word limit.

Researchable. You must have access to a suitable amount of quality research

materials, such as academic books and refereed journal articles.

 Analytical rather than descriptive. In other words, your research question

should allow you to produce an analysis of an issue or problem rather than a

simple description of it (more on this below).

How to develop a research question

1. Choose a topic

The best approach is to choose a topic that you are interested in. If you are interested in your

topic you are more likely to invest more time, effort, and creativity into your research and

writing. The greater your interest, the more likely it is that you will produce an assignment

that is interesting to read.

2. . Conduct preliminary research

Before you write your question it is advisable to read a small number of relevant

sources. Limit your reading to recently published material, websites, books ,

videos and perhaps one or two influential works on the topic. The goal here is to

familiarize yourself with the key debates on the topic.

Reading in order to develop a research question is different from reading in order

to answer it. Focus on the main ideas and arguments (these are usually found in

the introduction and the conclusion). You don’t need to read every word or take

down extensive notes at this stage, as you will probably come back to the text at a

later date.

4. Narrow down your topic

Having conducted some preliminary research you should now be in a position to

narrow down your topic.

In most cases you will need to narrow down your focus to a specific issue or

debate within the broader topic. This is because it is much more effective to cover

a single issue or dimension of a topic in depth than to skim the surface of several.

There are several ways that you might go about narrowing down your topic:

Think about the subtopics, specific issues, and key debates that exist within the

broader topic.

Think about the value of focusing on a particular period of time, a particular

geographical location, a particular organisation, or a particular group of people.

Think about what you want to say in your assignment. What are the key points

and arguments that you want to get across? Which subtopic, timeframe or other

limitation would allow you to make these points in the most effective way?

5. Write your question

Now that you have narrowed down your topic you can turn your attention to the

wording of your research question

As mentioned previously, the research question must outline a clear task that you

will need to complete.

 Remember that you will need to keep the purpose of your assignment in mind

when thinking about the wording of your question.

In general, however, a good research question requires you to analyze an issue or

problem. How and why questions are therefore more useful than what or describe

questions. Other useful words that you might use are critique, argue, examine and

evaluate.

Possible Research methods

-Review of secondary sources/literature/research/documents

interviews

-Interview relevant experts

-Internet search

-Questionnaires

-Surveys

3.Analysis

- Read the article ‘Blacks don’t read and will forever be our slaves’

- Discuss the issues, causes of the issues, consequences and the supporting evidence

Key ideas

- Analysing a source means looking for the causes and consequences

- In your individual report you are supposed to use a variety of sources

 Words that signal causes Words that signal consequences

Since As a result,

Due Therefore

Because Thus

As That’s why

Leads to

Read the following extract and find out the topic, issue, cause , perspective , consequences

and evidence used in the source

Events of the 21st Century: Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic

means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become

increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital sphere has expanded and

technology has advanced. Cyberbullying is when someone, typically a teenager, bullies or

harasses others on the internet and other digital spaces, particularly on social media sites.

Harmful bullying behaviour can include posting rumors, threats, sexual remarks, a victims'

personal information, or pejorative labels (i.e. hate speech). Bullying or harassment can be

identified by repeated behaviour and an intent to harm. Victims of cyberbullying may

experience lower self-esteem, increased suicidal ideation, and various negative emotional

responses, including being anxious, frustrated, angry, or depressed.

In Australia, the nationwide Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Survey assessed

cyberbullying experiences among 7,418 students. The results indicated that rates of

cyberbullying increased with age, with 4.9% of students in Year 4 reporting cyberbullying

compared to 7.9% in year nine. These numbers are a bit lower than in china where data

shows that 34.84% had participated in bullying and 56.88% had been bullied online.

Research has demonstrated a number of serious consequences of cyberbullying victimization.

Victims may have lower self-esteem, increased suicidal ideation, and a variety of emotional

responses, including being scared, frustrated, angry, and depressed. Cyberbullying may be

more harmful than traditional bullying, because there is no escaping it. One of the most

damaging effects is that a victim begins to avoid friends and activities, which is often the

very intention of the bully.

Sometimes, people are afraid or not sure if they're being bullied or not. So, they don't do

anything about it. If you're being bullied, harassed, or teased in a hurtful way — or know

someone who is — you don't have to suffer in silence. In fact, you absolutely should report

any upsetting texts, messages, posts, or emails. You need to speak up to a trusted adult. The

victim can also stay away from the internet but it isn’t always the best thing to do since it

encourages the bullies to keep on doing it. Additionally, there is need for governments to

come up with anti-bullying laws to solve the problem.

4. Synthesis

- A summary is a brief statement or an account of something

- A review is a critical appraisal of a book, a film, hotel or other service or product published

in a newspaper, magazine or on a website

- Comparing means value judgement of similarities and differences between different sources

- Synthesis goes beyond just reading a source and summarizing.

- In synthesis one goes beyond merely summarizing, review and comparison to create

something new.

- In synthesis; one may decide to use different sources to create a new thing; such sources

may include articles from newspapers, web, books, the internet, class discussions. Trips and

video clips

Using a graphic organizer such as a T-chart, gather information about technology.

5 a) Evaluating sources

While evaluating reasoning in source materials, consider:

quality of the argument

clarity

tone – emotive; exaggerated; precise

language

balance

quality of the evidence

relevance

sufficiency – sample

source – media; radio

date – how recent

factual, opinion, value, anecdote

testimony – from experience and expert

knowledge claims

ability to see

sources of bias

gender

political

personal values

experience

likelihood of solutions working and consequences of their ideas

acceptability of their values to others

how likely other people are to agree with their perspective/view

Assessing courses of action

reference to scale of impact on individual/group/governmental behaviour/actions

how long it takes to make a difference

the effects of cultural differences and beliefs

barriers to change

the power of collective action

b. Developing Evaluation Skills

Evaluative skills are used to assess the credibility of the claims people make or post, and to

assess the quality of the reasoning people display when they make arguments or give

explanations

It is good to discuss whether information contains bias.

Bias refers to inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way

considered to be unfair.

The sources you use are an important component of your research. It’s important to evaluate

the sources you’re considering using, in order to:

-Ensure that they’re credible

-Determine whether they’re relevant to your topic

-Assess the quality of their arguments

Evaluating a source’s credibility

Evaluating the credibility of a source is an important way of sifting out misinformation and

determining whether you should use it in your research. Useful approaches include the

CRAAP test and lateral reading.

CRAAP test

One of the best ways to evaluate source credibility is the CRAAP test. This stands for:
  Currency: Does the source reflect recent research?

 Relevance: Is the source related to your research topic?

 Authority: Is it a respected publication? Is the author an expert in their field?

 Accuracy: Does the source support its arguments and conclusions with evidence?

 Purpose: What is the author’s intention?

Lateral reading is the act of evaluating the credibility of a source by comparing it with other

sources. This allows you to:

Verify evidence

Contextualize information

Find potential weaknesses

Activity

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments in the following sources:

SOURCE ONE

Are Schools really necessary?

School is a waist of time because it forces kids to learn something they have no interest In,

plus Something that they personally don’t need to know.

One of the big problems Is kids In high school are being forced to learn knowledge they don’t

need. After middle school you should not be forced to learn math, science, history, And

English unless you want to. We should be taught resources that we want or need not
resources that we don’t want and don’t need just in case, after middle school there’s no need

for these subjects. We don’t need trivia, We should be given six classes of our choice, not six

classes of time waisted, no wonder kids aren’t interested In school It has no meaning to them.

Schools program you to think you are nothing without school there for If you get a bad grade

in a lot of people’s minds you are a failing. They get in your head and threaten you at only

the age of six 6 years old. They scare you into getting a good grade I’m gonna “call your

parents I’m gonna send you down to the office.” All those things kids are afraid of, kids

should not be threatened they should be helped and awarded.

Schools make you either think your smart or your stupid. It should absolutely not be like this

because every kid Is smart. The root of the problem dates back to when they got there first

bad grade, that one grade makes them think there stupid and if there not taught there smart

and they can do better the next time they will think there a failure for the rest of there life.

Same with the kid that got a good grade he or she will think there very smart for the majority

of there life.

Teachers are investing In punishment rather than reward,I personally think there should be no

punishment because your really just making that kid angry and stressed. Teachers just give up

after a while and know you as a bad kid, or they diagnose you with a learning disability. You

can’t blame the teacher though because they don’t get paid unuff, In truth they only get mad

about kids grades because they don’t want to get fired so the kid ends up being stressed and

unhappy for a majority of there life. We need to change this something soon before school

collapses on It self, we need to invest more money into school.

This answer was written by Jake Santistevan on www.quora.com , https://www.quora.com/If-

education-is-not-important-then-why-are-we-going-to-school and retrieved on 24th March

2023

SOURCE 2

Community College of Qatar

English Language Center - ELC

Dr. Abdulghani Al-Shuaibi

The Importance of Education

Education is an important issue in one’s life. It is the key to success in the future, and

to have many opportunities in our life. Education has many advantages for people. For

instance, it illuminates a person's mind and thinking. It helps students to plan for work, or

pursue higher education by graduating from university. Having education in an area helps

people think, feel, and behave in a way that contributes to their success, and improves not

only their personal satisfaction but also their community. In addition, education develops

human personality, thoughts, and social skills. It also prepares people for life experiences. It

makes people have a special status in their own society and everywhere they live. I believe

that everyone is entitled to have education ‘’from cradle to grave’’. There are various

benefits of having education, such as having a good career, having a good status in society,

and having self-confidence.

First of all, education paves the way for us to have a good career. We can have plenty

of chances to work at any workplace we wish. It enhances the opportunities for a better and

easier employment. The highly educated we are the better life chances we get. Moreover,
education polishes our mind, reinforces our thoughts, and strengthens our character and

behaviors toward others. It equips us with information in various fields in general and in our

specialization in particular, especially what we need to master in our job career. Therefore,

without education we may not survive properly, nor have a decent profession.

Furthermore, education grants us a good status in society. As educated people, we are

considered as a valuable source of knowledge for our society. Having education helps us

teach others necessary morals, good manners and wise ethics. For this reason, people deal

with us in a considerable and special way for being productive and resourceful. In addition,

education makes us a role model in society, when our people need us to guide them to the

right way and wise decisions. Thus, it is an honor for us to serve our community and

contribute towards its advancement. In fact, being educated is an advantage to help our

people and build a good society.

Besides, it is very well-known that having self-confidence is always generated from

education. It is a great blessing for us to have self-confidence, which leads to many

advantages and success in life. For example, it helps us manage specific tasks, tackle life’s

challenges and maintain positive stands. Additionally, having self-confidence is typically

based on proper education; paving the path for us to success. Accordingly, self-confidence

makes us aware of how well we perform a task or a range of actions. In short, being educated

is undoubtedly being self-confident and successful in life.

All in all, education is the process of acquiring knowledge and information that leads to a
successful future. As discussed above, there are a lot of positive traits of having education,
such as having a good career, having a good status in society and having self-confidence.
Education makes us view obstacles as challenges to overcome with no fear; facing new
things. It is the main factor behind successful people and the merit of developed countries.
Therefore, education is deemed a real success behind any future success

This article is retrieved from a research website and written by a teacher in charge of
language classes.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260075970_The_Importance_of_Education/link/
5cfb7e21299bf13a3845c1f2/download
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