Lake Region Union High School

The Big Six Approach to Research

The Big Six approach has six components: task definition, information seeking strategies, location and access, use of information, synthesis, and evaluation.

Task Definition: In the task definition stage, students need to
determine what is expected from the assignment.

Information Seeking Strategies: Once students know what's expected of them, they need to identify the resources they will
need to solve the task as defined. This is information seeking.

Location & Access: Next, the students must find potentially
useful resources. This is location and access--the
implementation of the information seeking strategy.

Use of Information: Use of information requires the students to engage the information (e.g., read it) and decide how to use it (e.g., in text or in a footnote).

Synthesis: Synthesis requires the students to repackage the information to meet the requirements of the task as defined.

Evaluation: Finally students need to evaluate their work
before it is turned in to the teacher. Students need to know if their work
will their teacher's expectations for (1) quality and (2) efficiency.
The Big Six steps may be applied in any order, but all steps must be completed.