Synthesizing

McKenzie compares the Synthesizing stage to putting a jigsaw puzzle together.  Students begin putting the information they found together, and rearrange the 'pieces' if necessary.  Peggy Milam mentions in her article on The Research Cycle that in this stage students may use the SCAMPER strategies.  According to an article from Education Digest by Robert E. Glenn, SCAMPER is a procedure used by educators to foster creative thinking in their students.  Here is what each letter stands for:

S- Substitute
C- Combine
A- Adapt
M- Modify, magnify, or minify
P- Put to other uses
E- Eliminate
R- Reverse or rearrange

I think this is a great strategy to incorporate into The Research Cycle, because as students cycle through the stages, they can use these strategies to make their research work more efficient and direct.

For this stage of the cycle for me, I am starting to see where I can find inspiration for upcycling/repurposing projects, what materials I could use, as well as where I could go for help or ideas.  I've mentally organized the answers to my questions into a process for doing upcycling/repurposing of my own.  Here is the two processes I would use to start a project on my own:

1.  Look on Pinterest, in books, on blogs, or a craft/hobby database to find inspiration.
2.  Seek out necessary materials.  Local studios could provide assistance in finding materials as well as helping with the actual process of the project.

OR

1.  Acquire material that inspires a project.
2.  Use Pinterest, books, blogs, craft/hobby database or local studio/shop to find ideas of what to do with the materials.



Resources:

Glenn, Robert E. "SCAMPER For Student Creativity." Education Digest 62.6 (1997): 67. Teacher Reference Center. Web. 9 Feb. 2013.

McKenzie, Jamie.  The Research Cycle.  2000.  Web.  8 Feb. 2013 

Milam, Peggy. "Moving Beyond Technology With Strategic Teaching: Jamie Mckenzie's RESEARCH CYCLE." School Library Media Activities Monthly 19.4 (2002): 22. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.