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1. Read your assignment
   • Before choosing a topic or starting your research, make sure you understand the assignment. 
     • This short video demonstrates how to read an assignment and spot the research questions.
2. Choose a topic
   • An assignment may list the specific topic you need to use OR it may ask you to come up with your own topic. Topic ideas may be found through your textbook and other class readings; conversations you have with your professor, classmates, or friends; or even from news or social media.
     • For even more suggestions on how to choose a topic, check out this research guide.
3. Develop a research question
   • Once you have a topic that interests you, develop some potential research questions on your topic. A good research question does not have a simple yes or no answer, and will generally start with a word like why, how, or what. 
     • Example topic: Endangered species.
     • Example research question on this topic: What is required for an animal to be added to the endangered species list?
4. Turn your research question into keywords  
   • Keywords are the most important words or concepts from our research question plus synonyms (or related words) for each. We need to use these, rather than our longer research question, when searching for books and articles in library databases. 
     • This short video shows you how to translate a research topic into keywords. 
5. Search for sources
   • Search using your keywords in One Search, or another library resource, and examine your results. You may find no relevant results, way too many results, results that are not interesting, or results that are just different from what you expected. These are signs that you may want to tweak your research question to find better results. This is normal as few of us rarely start with a topic that works perfectly.
     • This video shows you how to shape your topic into one that is "just the right size" for the assignment.
6. Continue searching for relevant books/ebooks, articles, and other sources using the resources included in this guide. If you have questions, or get stuck, click on the "Need Help?" tab for assistance.

PrepStep has information on careers in education as well as books and tutorials on the CBEST exam. To find both:

1. Go to PrepStep.
2. Search for teacher (or teaching), CBEST, or another keyword using the search bar at the top of the screen.
3. Login or create an account to begin the practice tests and tutorials.