Research: Related vs. Relevant Resources

Last class, my APUSH students worked on the distinction between "related" vs. "relevant" resources. We did this for several reasons. First, they are working on independent research projects and this work gave them the opportunity to hone their research skills. Distinguishing between related resources and relevant resources (relevant to one's research question) is a subtle, but important distinction. It is one that separates good research from excellent research.

But how does this relate to the APUSH curriculum and exam? One giant misstep that APUSH students can make on exam day is to write essays that do not answer the questions asked. The exercise of selecting resources relevant to one's research question and setting aside resources that are merely related, I hope, helped my student to better see the relationship between a question asked and an appropriate, relevant response.

Here is a video I shared with them on how to identify research resources based on "relevance":