Answered By: Davy Gibbs Last Updated: Jun 11, 2020 Views: 151
"Differentiation" is a pretty broad term, and could mean many things in the context of elementary schools.
Thankfully, there's a wealth of information on differentiation in our online resources. For educational research, I always start with Education Source, which you can access by clicking the Online Research tab in the center of our homepage, selecting Education from the Subject menu, then finding and clicking Education Source in the alphabetized list.
Once you've reached the search screen for Education Source, try out different keywords -- "differentiation in reading," for example, or "differentiation and literacy," etc. Include whatever search terms your research dictates.
Once you find a relevant article, be sure to check the Detailed Record -- each one contains subjects and keywords that will link you with other articles sharing those topics. It's a great way to get started with your research projects.
While it always helps to try different ways of phrasing your topic, the preferred subject term in this case seems to be "differentiated instruction," but you can widen your net by trying variations like "individualized instruction," and "personalized education," etc. Remember to use the quotation marks to search for the entire phrase!
Add secondary terms like "reading" or "language arts" in one of the other search boxes to include those topics as well. I found 364 results by searching for "individualized instruction" in one box and "reading" in another.
This is a popular topic, so I don't think you'll have too much trouble finding the articles you need! They aren't all going to be relevant, but you'll have a lot to choose from, and when you find a good one, remember to check the detailed record for subject headings and keywords!
Hope this helps. Please let us know if you need further assistance!
Davy Gibbs
Information Services Librarian
dgibbs@piedmont.edu
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