If you have ever heard a student say, "I don't know what topic I would like to study," this book is for you!

Some students experience problems in selecting topics, while others have difficulty narrowing down their interests to a manageable size. Many students learn the tools of creative and critical thinking, problem solving, library research, or even methods of collecting, analyzing, and reporting data, but they still find it difficult to make the decisions necessary for success in independent, creative learning. They need to learn how to find a worthwhile, stimulating, and interesting topic for their creative efforts. In line with current studies of creative problem solving that emphasize the need for the student investigator to have ownership of the problem, this book will show students how to find and explore problems and challenges in which they are truly interested and in which they feel they have a personal stake.

This book guides students through a step-by-step process of looking at interests, finding an area to research, and narrowing it down to an appropriate topic. It will also help them choose a product in which they can share their research with others.

But before you share this guide with your students, you will want to become familiar with the format yourself. Read through the Path of Progress flow chart and the Table of Contents as well as the What Lights Me Up section, the What Makes Me Tick questions, the General Categories, and the Product Ideas pages.

Although this book is designed for students to use independently with little assistance, you may need to explain to students how to use it the first time. Students need not begin on page one and work through every page each time they start a new research project. He or she may spend time using most of the pages in the book in planning an initial independent project, but then only need to use particular pages for subsequent projects.

Many pages, such as the parent letter, interview forms, and the How to Do It section, are optional; if they are not appropriate for your students' projects, adapt them or exclude them.

You may copy pages as necessary. Once students have completed the What Makes Me Tick and the What Lights Me Up sections, they need not repeat them. These parts of the book are to help you and your students find more avenues to explore and act as guides to allow students to pursue their study in ways best suited to their personal needs and interests. (You may wish to go over these sections after students have completed them to familiarize yourself with student interests so that you can appropriately group students for interest-based team projects and activities.)

I sincerely hope that this book will be useful in your students¹ quest for topics to investigate and products to share their new knowledge. ENJOY!

--Lindy T. Redmond