You should already have a topic for your own big project, an idea of what you will produce, and a rough plan. Today you set up the research log that will carry the evidence of how you get there: your sources, your checklist calls, your decisions, and any AI help you used. By the end of this period you will have a working log with your first real entry in it.
A research log is a running record of how you found, judged and used material. Dated notes, not a neat essay at the end.
A useful entry needs: date · what you looked at · why you opened it · checklist call + reason · next step · AI note.
Look at these two invented entries for the same topic (how young people use group chats for homework help). Do not copy either as a template.
Entry A
- Date: 12 March
- Source: "Five ways group chats help with homework" on StudyBuzz Hub (invented student blog), no named author, dated 5 March. Link saved.
- Why opened: title matched my topic; appeared near the top of my search.
- Checklist call: check it further. No named author, purpose looks like engagement not evidence, claims have no sources. Cross-check needed.
- Next step: find one school or research source on the same claim before I use any of this.
- AI help: none on this search.
Entry B
- Date: 12 March
- Source: "How group chats change homework habits" on TeenTech Daily (invented site). Link saved.
- Why opened: came up in my search and matched the topic.
- Checklist call: trust it.
- AI help: none.
With a partner: which single missing piece in Entry B would stop a marker (or your future self) following this decision? Be ready to share.
This is a quick capture on the board, and the five parts you worked out a moment ago are already your draft standard, so you are not starting from scratch.
- Read the five headings, each of which already has one starter bullet under it:
- When and what: date, title, who made it, link or where found
- Why you opened it: one short line
- Checklist judgement: trust / check further / do not rely on it + short reason
- Decision or next step: what you will do because of that call
- Honest AI note: name any AI help, or write "no AI help yet"
- If a bullet sounds stiff, call out a better wording of your own for that heading, and keep the list short enough that you would actually use it.
- Then agree one extra rule together for what you will do when a source cannot be fully traced. For example, instead of logging a vague "a website", you either find the missing detail or replace the source.
- The agreed list stays up, and you copy it into the top of your log in the next step, because you will be using it for the rest of your project.
Now make the log real for your own Student Project.
First three minutes (quick win): create the file in the place the class uses for project work, put your name, project title and today's date at the top, write the AI line (even if "no AI help yet"), and save it the class way. That already counts.
Before you finish, check:
- Your research log exists with your name, project title and today's date at the top, and the class log standard copied in (or kept visible beside you).
- You have recorded at least one complete source entry linked to your topic, with: date, what it is and where it came from, why you opened it, a checklist call (trust / check further / do not rely on it) with a short reason, a next step, and the AI line.
- Use the class checklist on the board (for example: who made it, purpose, evidence, date/currency). Write the call plus a short reason that answers those prompts.
- You have saved the log the class way so it is there next session.
Stretch if time: a second source, or one rejected path (terms tried, why the results were weak).
If a source fails the checklist, still log it. Note why you will not rely on it. That is useful process evidence, not a failure.
Pull back together. Hear two or three strong entries read aloud (with permission), and name what made them useful against the class list. Notice especially: a clear checklist reason, a next step, and an honest AI line.
The critical point: your research log is the evidence of your process. When your project is judged, how you found, judged and credited material matters alongside the finished piece. A tidy project with no traceable process is weaker than a solid piece with a living log behind it.
Save your log the class way so it is waiting next time. That save is the evidence of your work, so nobody leaves without doing it.
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